



Photo courtesy of the Trustees of the British Museum





possibly Newbury, Mass.

Actinolite/tremolite asbestos;

Natural History Museum (London), Mineral Collection, BM 61063, on deposit at the British Museum

Franklin brought this purse made from the fibrous mineral asbestos to London from North America in 1725, and sold it to Sir Hans Sloane, collector, scientist, antiquary, and founding father of the British Museum.