Relevant quote to this rp and why it's a good thing we're in the 1920s:
"Not to mention that mass spec should be the last thing a Cthulhu-anything GM stops you from doing. Seriously, skipping straight to destructive analysis on an eldritch artifact not obviously made of any known material? You're just asking for your head to explode and the computer to melt right after spitting out a spectrum graph that drives anyone who reads it insane (or, as they call it over at Miskatonic, "Tuesday")."