Re: Dichromated sausages for fighting men
Luis Nadeau (nadeaul@nbnet.nb.ca)
Sat, 8 Apr 1995 19:51:33 +0300
>I hesitate to introduce a note of levity into what is rightly a very
>serious discussion, but I cannot resist sharing with the Group the
>following extract from Dr Hermann Vogel's 'The Chemistry of Light and
>Photography' (1888):
>
> "The Chemical Action of Light and the Pea-Sausage.
>
>In the campaign of 1870, the well-known pea-sausage (Erbswurst) was one of
>the most important articles of food for the army, and was prepared daily by
>thousands. The fabrication of the interior portion caused little
>difficulty, but obtaining so many skins created much difficulty. As the
>supply fell short, a substitute was sought in vegetable parchment. This
>paper, which is produced by dipping blotting paper in sulphuric acid for
>about a second, then washing and drying, is distinguished by its skin-like
>properties of resistance. It is impenetrable to water, and difficult to
>tear. It is therefore used for the production of banknotes. It was
>attempted to make sausage skins of this paper by doubling a sheet
>cylindrically and pasting it together. No glue or gum can however resist
>the effect of the boiling water in which the sausage has to be cooked, and
>so the artificial sausage skin fell asunder. Dr. Jacobson solved the
>problem by producing an adhesive substance, with the help of the chemical
>action of light, which could resist boiling water. He mixed the glue
>intended for the sausage skin with bichromate of potash, and exposed the
>glued parts to the light. This made the glue insoluble, and now the
>artificial skin endured boiling water thoroughly well. The number of
>sausage skins prepared in this way, by the chemical action of light,
>amounted to many hundred thousands."
I remember reading the above. I also have the book, and I saw it in the
perdiod's literature.
In one of the early carbon books (Marton ?) there is a story about
someone's idea of a practical joke, where he put a gallon of dichromate in
a barrel of cider... Those who drank it were not amused.
>
> Perhaps there is a historian in the Group who can tell us how
>successful was the army's campaign of 1870. And who will be the first among
Well, it was very successful! The Germans won the Franco-Prussian War!
I have never been fond of German cuisine;-)
Luis Nadeau
NADEAUL@NBNET.NB.CA
Fredericton, NB, Canada
>us to make photographically illustrated sausages? The Phagotype : it's
>better to eat your pictures than eat your words.
>
> BTW, the Material Safety Data Sheets (from BYU) can be consulted
>for toxicological chapter and verse at the following site (which I obtained