Tools & Equipment for Scientific Processes in the Science & Technology Collection

Medical Equipment 

The Louisiana State Museum maintains a fairly large collection of Medical equipment from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. This includes dozens of instruments used in the medical profession including phrenology heads from the 1890s, mortar and pestles, leech jars, bleeders, and an autopsy table. Of particular note in the collection is the late 19th-century microscope used by Dr. V. Grima. In addition, the museum has a post-mortem dissection kit that belonged to Dr. Joseph Jones, Confederate States Army Surgeon and professor of Chemistry and Medicine at the University of Louisiana. 

Photographic Equipment 

Several famous Louisiana photographers are represented by the museum’s collection of photographic equipment. Items used by H. F. Reynick, Charles L. Franck, and Fonville Winans are all housed at the museum. Of particular interest is a hand-made film processing machine that belonged to Winans. 

Surveying and Navigation

Several compasses and telescopes are held in this collection as well as other items used to aid navigation and survey work. Interesting items in this collection include: 

• A French-made lighthouse lens that was used at South Pass at the mouth of the Mississippi River from the 1890s until the 1920s
• A transit used by Louis Pilié, surveyor of the City of New Orleans in the mid-nineteenth century 
• Drafting tools of General P. G. T. Beauregard
• Bottles containing parchment were used to mark the border between Louisiana and Texas during the 19th century