Burn Notice: A Practical Solution for Labels Damaged by Pyritic Specimens

2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 18-35
Author(s):  
Lu Allington-Jones ◽  
Kieran Miles ◽  
Lucia Petrera ◽  
Anna Fenlon
Keyword(s):  
Sulfuric Acid ◽  
Natural History ◽  
Iron Sulfide ◽  
Pyrite Oxidation ◽  
Iron Sulfate ◽  
Practical Solution ◽  
High Extent ◽  
Natural History Collections

Abstract Oxidation of pyritic fossils and iron sulfide-bearing minerals is a common problem in natural history collections, and several solutions have been developed to treat and restore these specimens to reduce continued deterioration. Labels associated with these specimens are often also severely damaged by the sulfuric acid and iron sulfate products of pyrite oxidation. This article documents trials undertaken on labels that have been contaminated with these deterioration products to a high extent and are therefore extremely fragile. It recommends a potential salvage method, even for labels that are seemingly impossible to lift out of storage trays. This project exemplifies how techniques developed across different conservation disciplines can benefit natural history collections.

scholarly journals High Temperature Pressure Oxidation of a Low-Grade Nickel Sulfide Concentrate with Control of the Residue Composition

Minerals ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 249 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robbie G. McDonald ◽  
Jian Li ◽  
Peter J. Austin
Keyword(s):  
Sulfuric Acid ◽  
High Temperature ◽  
Iron Sulfide ◽  
Iron Sulfate ◽  
Low Grade ◽  
Metal Sulfate ◽  
Pressure Oxidation ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
Sulfide Content ◽  
Oxidative Transformations

High temperature pressure oxidation of a low-grade nickel concentrate was examined to demonstrate the potential benefits and shortcomings of this approach. The high iron sulfide content ensured that acid generation was much greater than for higher grade concentrates. This results in the formation of basic iron sulfate phases and a significant amount of sulfuric acid. Kinetic sampling during pressure oxidation tests also demonstrated the transformation of sulfide minerals, including the oxidative transformations of pentlandite to violarite and then to vaesite, the latter phase not previously noted in studies of this kind. Finally, addition of a divalent metal sulfate buffer, here magnesium sulfate, mitigates the formation of basic iron sulfates but with greater generation of sulfuric acid in the leach liquor. Under the conditions employed in this study, this acid could be employed to leach other nickel-containing materials such as nickel laterites.

Joseph Sidebotham: vicissitudes of a Victorian collector

2015 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 197-210 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurence M. Cook
Keyword(s):  
Natural History ◽  
Species Limits ◽  
Clear Cut ◽  
Natural History Collections ◽  
As Species ◽  
Scientific World

Joseph Sidebotham (1824–1885) was a Manchester cotton baron whose natural history collections are now in the Manchester Museum. In addition to collecting he suggested a method for identifying and classifying Lepidoptera and investigated variation within species as well as species limits. With three close collaborators, he is credited with discovering many species new to Britain in both Lepidoptera and Coleoptera. A suspicion of fraud attaches to these claims. The evidence is not clear-cut in the Lepidoptera, but a possible reason is suggested why Sidebotham, as an amateur in the increasingly professional scientific world, might have engaged in deceit.

The Banksian natural history collections of the Endeavour voyage and their relevance to modern taxonomy

1981 ◽  
Vol 1981 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-70
Author(s):  
H. B. Carter ◽  
Judith A. Diment ◽  
C. J. Humphries ◽  
Alwyne Wheeler
Keyword(s):  
Natural History ◽  
Natural History Collections

Correspondence between Adolphe Brongniart and Robert Schomburgk: trading natural history collections for honours

2002 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 333-336
Author(s):  
PIOTR DASZKIEWICZ ◽  
MICHEL JEGU
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Natural History ◽  
Dominican Republic ◽  
Southeast Asia ◽  
Herbarium Specimens ◽  
British Guiana ◽  
Natural History Collections ◽  
History Of ◽  
Source Of Information ◽  
German Naturalist

ABSTRACT: This paper discusses some correspondence between Robert Schomburgk (1804–1865) and Adolphe Brongniart (1801–1876). Four letters survive, containing information about the history of Schomburgk's collection of fishes and plants from British Guiana, and his herbarium specimens from Dominican Republic and southeast Asia. A study of these letters has enabled us to confirm that Schomburgk supplied the collection of fishes from Guiana now in the Laboratoire d'Ichtyologie, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris. The letters of the German naturalist are an interesting source of information concerning the practice of sale and exchange of natural history collections in the nineteenth century in return for honours.

Assessing Environmental Acidity in Storerooms of Natural History Collections

2021 ◽  
Vol 64 (1) ◽  
pp. 155-182
Author(s):  
Marta Pérez‐Azcárate ◽  
Berta Caballero‐López ◽  
Francesc Uribe ◽  
Neus Ibáñez ◽  
Glòria Masó ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Natural History ◽  
Natural History Collections

scholarly journals “Attractive to Strangers and Instructive to Students.” The McCullochs’ 19th Century Bird Collection in Dalhousie College

2014 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 88-108
Author(s):  
Eric L. Mills
Keyword(s):  
Natural History ◽  
19Th Century ◽  
Liberal Education ◽  
Natural World ◽  
Hybrid Origin ◽  
Careful Examination ◽  
Great Caution ◽  
Natural History Collections ◽  
Thomas Mcculloch

Thomas McCulloch, Presbyterian minister and educator, founder of Pictou Academy, first President of Dalhousie College 1838-1843, established a museum in Pictou, NS, by 1828, including a bird collection. To McCulloch, the order of the natural world instilled in students principles of a liberal education and a model of society. His first collections were sold, but when McCulloch came to Dalhousie in 1838 he started a new collection, hoping to make it the basis of a provincial museum. In this he was aided by his son Thomas, who had been trained as a taxidermist. The younger McCulloch kept and expanded the collection until his death, after which it passed to Dalhousie College. The current McCulloch Collection, mainly the work of Thomas McCulloch junior, seems to exemplify purposes and practices of 19th century natural history. But research shows that the collection has a hybrid origin and must be viewed with great caution as an historical artifact. This is a case study in the difficulty of interpreting 19th century natural history collections without careful examination of their history.

scholarly journals The Natural History Collections

Nature ◽  
1878 ◽  
Vol 18 (456) ◽  
pp. 328-328
Author(s):  
A. NATURALIST
Keyword(s):  
Natural History ◽  
Natural History Collections
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