RE: LEAD ACETATE ! ! ? ?

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh, grass happahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
Once again, the fall of Rome. Most people don't know that Rome reached its
widest influence between 250 and 300 AD, well after it stopped being a
Republic and became an Empire. When did it fall? Between 500 and 600 AD?
Let's do the math: The Republic was formed in the last century BC and the
Empire fell around 500 AD. 6 centuries! Hmmmmmmmmmm. Some claim that it
was the lead plumbing that poisoned the Roman's minds (Pb = lead from the
Latin word plumbus). Many have claimed that "After the Republic fell, the
Empire became decadent and fell due to its decadence". This fallacy is
often used as an historical analogy for any nation which doesn't conform to
some fundamentalist's dogma. Well, again, 6 centuries is one heck of a long
time to be decadent... and I have only one life time to practice my
decadence and hedonism! Darn!
        All seriousness aside, lead can kill you quickly or slowly, depending on
the dosage. If you are going to work with it take EXTREME precautions of
which any chemist is aware: fume hoods, respirators, gloves, etc., etc.
                CHEERS!
                        BOB
PS: Arma virumque cano...

 Please check my website: http://www.bobkiss.com/

-----Original Message-----
From: Ed STander [mailto:glassact@compuserve.com]
Sent: Thursday, April 20, 2006 9:44 PM
To: INTERNET:alt-photo-process-l@usask.ca
Subject: Re: LEAD ACETATE ! ! ? ?

Roman Emperors were know to store their wine in lead amphoras to sweeten
the wine. The lead would leach into the wine, and produce lead acetate.
Some folk believe that the mental toll produced by imbibing copious amount
of the leaded wine partially explain why rome fell... Ed.
Received on Thu Apr 20 20:32:09 2006