An earthenware culture vessel for the large-scale production of penicillin circa 1941,

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Property from the Estate of Dr Norman Heatley Proceeds to be donated to The Norman Heatley Memorial Fund, The Sir William Dunn School of Pathology at the University of Oxford. Dr Norman Heatley, OBE DM - Penicillin's Unsung Hero In the early 1940s, a team of Oxford University scientists, led by Professor Howard Florey, carried out pioneering research work which led to the large-scale production of penicillin - the 'miracle drug' that saved thousands of Allied troops' lives and literally millions since. Dr Norman Heatley was a key member of that team. Born in 1911 in Woodbridge, Suffolk and with a doctorate from Cambridge, Heatley joined Florey's research team at the Sir William Dunn School of Pathology in Oxford in 1936. Soon after the start of World War II, work began on penicillin after Sir Ernst Chain read Sir Alexander Fleming's 1929 paper on penicillin and thought the subject worthy of further research. With limited resources in wartime Britain, the Oxford team's ingenuity was taxed to the full. Heatley was responsible for many of the technical innovations that were necessary to carry out the extremely difficult processes of purification and extraction of penicillin. He also became expert at growing the mould from which penicillin was extracted. Initially all kinds of containers were used ranging from sheep-dip tins to gallon juice bottles, biscuit tins and bedpans. The solution was a stackable rectangular ceramic vessel designed by Heatley (offered in lots 196, 198 & 200) who organised their immediate production. Heatley also monitored the experiment on mice in 1940 which first showed penicillin's great potential, and grew the penicillin for the first clinical tests on human patients in Oxford in 1941. Britain's full engagement in the war meant that further development and large-scale manufacture of penicillin could not realistically take place here; the collaboration of the USA would be needed. Ignoring the danger, Heatley and Florey flew to the US in 1941 to share their knowledge and to try to enlist American support. Fortunately this was forthcoming, and treatment of soldiers began in North Africa in April 1943. Soon, increased production of penicillin became the second highest priority at the American War Department. Only the development of the atom bomb was considered more important. The US government encouraged chemical and pharmaceutical firms to collaborate without fear of potential antitrust violations with the result that penicillin became available in time for the closing stages of the war. Fleming, Florey and Chain shared the Nobel prize for their work on penicillin in 1945. Various studies since the 1980s have argued that Heatley's contribution was seriously underestimated. In apportioning the credit for penicillin's development, Professor Sir Henry Harris linked the four principal scientists: 'Without Fleming, no Chain or Florey; without Chain, no Florey; without Florey, no Heatley; without Heatley, no penicillin'. In 1990 Heatley was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Medicine - an unprecedented award from Oxford University - in recognition of his great contribution. Norman Heatley, a kind, much loved, and self-effacing man, died in January 2004

細節

An earthenware culture vessel for the large-scale production of penicillin circa 1941,
made by J. Macintyre and Co., oblong in shape with cylindrical spout, glazed in the interior -- 22.5 x 28 x 6cm. (8 7/8 x 11 x 2 3/8in.); a glass jar with plastic screw-lid containing yellow penicillin, with handwritten paper label (folded and worn) reading Calcium Salt - WB ?28 - 156 ?? - 100mg - 100? - 25.43gms -2/12/43; a carton of 12 packages containing 10,000 Oxford Units PENICILLIN Sodium Salt - Commercial Solvents Corporation, Indiana, U.S.A. -- Expiration date November 12, 1944, all boxes with instruction leaflets and empty bottles, signed on the box N.G. Heatley; and other cases and bottles of penicillin produced by American and British pharmacists during latter part of World War II; and the British Medical Bulletin, vol. 2, no. 1 [Penicillin 1929-1943]. London: Spottiswoode, Ballantyne and Co. Ltd. for The British Council, 1944. Folio. Half-tone illustrations. Original printed wrappers.

See Illustration (9)

出版

ABRAHAM, E.P., CHAIN, E., FLETCHER, C.M., FLOREY, C.M., GARDNER, A.D., HEATLEY, N.G. and JENNINGS, M.A. Further Observations on Penicillin. London: The Lancet Office, 1941. (Page 7)
FLEMING, A. On the Antibacterial Action of Cultures of a Penicillium, with Special Reference of the use in the Isolation of B. Influenzae. In The British Journal of Experimental Pathology, Vol. 10, No. 3, pp. 226-236.
LAX, Eric. The Mould in Dr Florey's Coat - The Remarkable True Story of the Penicillin Miracle. London: Little, Brown, 2004.

注意事項

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis

拍品專文

Wartime Britain was tight on resources, and the Dunn School on funds, thus Heatley, as mentioned in the introduction, used a variety of containers to manufacture penicillin before he designed this vessel in the autumn of 1940. The Staffordshire pottery, James Macintyre and Company, produced the oblong, ceramic vessel which could hold a litre of broth to the depth of 1.7cm: its flat surface allowed for easy stacking for autoclaving and sowing; filling and emptying was through the sloped spout; glazing on the interior both reduced the cost and rendered them easier to handle. This vessel allowed for the larger-scale production of penicillin, faciliating further animal testing and the first human trials in Oxford, in January 1941.