The leech tubes are awesome! I can think of a couple other explanations for the tubes as that are also in the medicinal category: Ligature spools(sterilized catgut or thread wound on a spool, submerged in alcohol and sealed in glass)  or as connectors (between the soft rubber reservoir of a douche kit and the hose that led to an irrigator). I also like the idea of a syringe or eyedropper. It really depends on a good picture in order to see how complete the example is. 
Dan Martin

-----Original Message-----
From: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Bob Skiles
Sent: Monday, February 04, 2013 11:23 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: clear glass tubes

"Leeching," or "bleeding" was a far more common medical practice than TB treatment. The tube fragments, as described, are more in the diameter range expected for "leeching tubes" than medical vials or ampules. For a photo of an intact example, see:

http://phisick.com/item/leech-tube-antique-glass/




On 2/4/2013 12:56 PM, Nancy S. Dickinson wrote:
> I am only guessing, but perhaps the thin glass tubes, less  than 3 
> inches long, may have to do with some sort of therapy for tuberculosis.
> N
>   
>   
> In a message dated 2/2/2013 4:23:54 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, 
> [log in to unmask] writes:
>
> I  thought about light bulbs, but it seems unlikely to me that worker 
> housing in  a mining town in the mountains would have been wired for 
> electricity so early.  The place was abandoned in the 1890s.
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On  Feb 2, 2013, at 2:13 PM, sent <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
>>   although your date is earlier I would check electronic tubes for 
>> radios
> etc....
>> lightbulbs also possible
>> also insulator
>> have  fun
>>
>> Conrad
>>
>> -----Original Message----- From:  Doug Ross
>> Sent: Saturday, February 02, 2013 1:28 PM
>> To:  [log in to unmask]
>> Subject: Re: clear glass tubes
>>
>> Could  they be from the inside of a light bulb?
>>
>> Doug
>>   
>> On 2013-02-02, at 10:19, Sarah Sportman  <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>
>>>   Hello,
>>>
>>> I'm trying to identify a few artifacts we  recovered from back yard
> contexts in a 19th century mining town in the  Adirondacks.  We found 
> six fragments of thin, clear glass tubes. They are  a little smaller 
> in diameter than a modern drinking straw and round in  cross-section.  
> All are broken and each fragment is less than 3 inches  long.  The 
> fragments came from the yards of three different domestic  sites, 
> including a tenement house, a double house, and the superintendent's  
> house. The sites were occupied from the mid 1870s to the mid 1890s.  
> Any  help in identifying them would be greatly appreciated!
>>>   
>>> thanks,
>>> Sarah