Today in Technology History

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July 24

Dr. Albert Coombs Barnes died exactly fifty years ago. A famous art collector, he made his fortune by selling a medicine he helped invent.

Barnes was born in 1872 to a poor family in Philadelphia. His intellect lifted him from poverty: he was accepted into an elite high school, and he obtained a medical degree by age 20. Rather than practice medicine, he traveled to Germany to study chemistry and philosophy.

He befriended a German chemist named Herman Hille with whom he came back to the U.S. to work in the pharmaceuticals industry. Together, they developed a silver-based tonic with antiseptic properties, which they began selling as Argyrol (from the Latin word for silver, argentum).

Barnes marketed Argyrol directly to doctors, and the product sold extremely well. It was used to treat bacterial infections, and many people used it as an all-purpose wonder-drug (with dubious results). Unfortunately, Argyrol -- like certain other medicines that use silver -- occasionally caused a disorder called argyria, which involves permanent gray discoloration of the skin.

Overall, however, Argyrol was safe, and Barnes amassed a great fortune. He began to invest in art, preferring his own judgment to that of the art critics. He created the Barnes Foundation in the 1920s to further the cause of art appreciation. His art collection is today considered one of the most important private collections in the world. (These days, the Barnes Foundation, which now owns the collection, is running out of money.)

Dr. Barnes died in a car accident on July 24, 1951.

Related links:

• Use these links to read more about Dr. Barnes:
  http://www.barnesfoundation.org/h_main.html
  http://www.redlandsfortnightly.org/barnes.htm
  http://www.cosmopolis.ch/english/cosmo13/barnes.htm
   

• Click here to read about the effectiveness and dangers of silver in medicine:
  http://www.clspress.com/history.html
   

• Click here to read the story of a woman suffering from argyria:
  http://homepages.together.net/~rjstan/rose2.html
   

• Click here for the homepage of the Barnes Foundation:
  http://www.barnesfoundation.org/
   

 

 

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