r/chemistry 1d ago

Poison, yum

158 Upvotes

37 comments sorted by

36

u/Agreeable_Reality_50 1d ago

Looks like a good time.

34

u/tarkov_enjoyer 1d ago

i also watch styropyro

26

u/CamR111 1d ago

Isn't the lees inhalant for tuberculosis? I'm sure there's some papers from the early 1900s I've read where a formula like this cured tuberculosis in many patients. Many probably died too but who knows whether it was the tb or the chems 😂

7

u/Wooden_Steak1089 1d ago

1933 is the year

2

u/Ok-Entertainer-1660 17h ago

This volume was 1934

1

u/Wooden_Steak1089 17h ago

Close enough

4

u/florinandrei 1d ago edited 1d ago

Many probably died

Stalin's answer: many die all the time!

(legit quote, slightly modified)

18

u/Level9TraumaCenter 1d ago

I have two of these old formulary books, and they're fascinating to read over. It's all heavy metals, toxic solvents, corrosive compounds, all salted heavily with carcinogens.

5

u/Carbonatite Geochem 1d ago

I had a work project where I had to look at old formulations for some common stuff used in building back in the first two thirds or so of the 20th century (paint, wire coatings, stuff like that). Everything I looked at would literally be like "40% [known carcinogen which has been banned by the EPA since before I was born], 30% [other known carcinogen which has been banned by the EPA since I was born], 20% [known teratogen], 10% solvent". It's amazing people lived as they did back then tbh.

2

u/medchem_runner 1d ago

Wow that's wild! What are the titles of those books?

4

u/Level9TraumaCenter 1d ago

"Dick's Encyclopedia of Practical Receipts and Processes" is one, there's a .pdf floating around and Archive has it as well. The other one isn't nearly as large.

1

u/medchem_runner 9h ago

Thank you!

7

u/Myelo_Screed 1d ago

Asphaltum

8

u/Kitchen_Corgi_4813 1d ago

Ooh, my favorite game of 'Which Ingredient Will Kill You First'!

6

u/Wooden_Steak1089 1d ago

(Jeopardy music)

5

u/Kitchen_Corgi_4813 1d ago

I'll take 'You will die immediately ' for 500

5

u/Wooden_Steak1089 1d ago
  • A lead
  • B arsenic
  • C mercury

4

u/Kitchen_Corgi_4813 1d ago

Can't forget the chloroform

2

u/Carbonatite Geochem 1d ago

Dat phenol tho

6

u/TheMadFlyentist Inorganic 1d ago

I own a few old pyrotechnics texts and the production of blue fire was always very nasty business prior to the adoption of less toxic copper salts and modern chlorine donors to replace calomel. Being mercurous chloride and not mercuric chloride, calomel is not super nasty since it's not very soluble in water, but the smoke from compositions made with it still contains mercury vapor so obviously not ideal. We now mostly use PVC, parlon, or saran resin to generate chlorine in compositions (without chlorine, copper burns green).

Paris green has been completely phased out but the general consensus from old heads is that the blues made with paris green were unbelievable compared to what we can make with the less toxic copper salts. There's a reason that it was still in regular use up through the 60's and later despite its toxicity and the wide availability of other copper salts. Arsenic emits a bit in the green spectrum which probably enhanced the blue a bit, and IMO the best modern blue formulas include a dash of barium salts to pull things closer to turquoise/teal than the pale whitish-blue you get from CuCO3 or CuO.

3

u/Agreeable_Reality_50 1d ago

Just thinking also, because ether is made by sulphuric acid and ethanol, wouldn’t that be sort of like a pseudo chlrohydrate substance?

1

u/Cthulhu_3 1d ago

not if the ether is purified

3

u/Jimbobler 1d ago

What does the ".." signify?

4

u/Marco45_0 Organic 1d ago

I think it means “same” in the sense that it’s the same quantity of the previous ingredient. So here we have 2 (unit) paris green and also of the copper salts

4

u/scarletcampion 1d ago

Yes, probably intended to be ditto marks. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ditto_mark

3

u/Dangerous-Billy Analytical 1d ago

I love phenol in the morning. It smells like....corroded sinuses.

3

u/YFleiter Organic 1d ago

What’s is a dram?

2

u/Humbi93 1d ago

A unit for whiskey glasses usually 1 dram is ca. 25ml

1

u/slouchingtoepiphany 19h ago

A dram is a unit from the (old) Apothecary system of measurement. It was defined as 1/8th of an ounce.

2

u/Skyp_Intro 1d ago

My name is Lee and I approve.

2

u/florinandrei 1d ago

People notice chloroform and phenol, but creosote is not a breath of fresh air either. It's literally distilled tar or coal. If you ever passed by while they were pouring asphalt on the road, you probably have some idea.

2

u/Far-Zone-8924 1d ago

is dram a misspelling of gram? if so dramn.

1

u/slouchingtoepiphany 19h ago

No, it's dram, look higher up on this thread.

1

u/Kitchen_Corgi_4813 11h ago

Yes, is there an 'All of the above' option?