This copper canister is sitting on a shelf in a storage room of the Oregon State Hospital in Salem, along with more than 3000 others. Each contains the cremated remains of a psychiatric patient. Stamped on the lid of this can are the digits 1470 - a clue to the identity of the person whose ashes are inside. But due to medical privacy laws, this is a secret that only a handful of people - mainly hospital staff - have access to.

All of the stored patients died between 1883 and the 1970s, but their remains were never collected by next of kin. Over the years the tins have been shunted between various dark and dusty corners of the hospital campus, and at times been exposed to flooding. This is why the tins foam with oceans of colour. Chemical reactions between the moisture, the copper, the lead with which the cans were sealed and the ashes inside have produced startling colours, such as the bright blues and greens seen here. These probably consist of the copper minerals azurite, malachite and rosasite.

This picture was taken by photographer David Maisel and appears with many others that he has taken of the canisters in Library of Dust (Chronicle Books), published this month. The collection of ashes still awaits a permanent home.

Source: New Scientist

Click [HERE] to see an enlarged version of the image.

Note: The current plans to preserve portions of the historic J Building include creation of a space to properly house the remians.

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