I'm not sure which category sprouts would come under..
Oi....Sprouts are lovely and very good to eat...
I'm not sure which category sprouts would come under..
Oi....Sprouts are lovely and very good to eat...
...Phoenicians used to store water, wine, and vinegar in silver bottles to prevent spoiling. In the early 1900s people would put silver dollars in milk bottles to prolong the milk's freshness...
Silver compounds were used successfully to prevent infection in World War I before the advent of antibiotics
In addition, Samsung has introduced washing machines with a final rinse containing silver ions to provide several days of antibacterial protection in the clothes.[5] Kohler has introduced a line of toilet seats that have silver ions embedded to kill germs.
The FDA has recently approved an endotracheal breathing tube with a fine coat of silver for use in mechanical ventilation, after studies found it reduced the risk of ventilator-associated pneumonia.
Today, various kinds of silver compounds, or devices to make solutions or colloids containing silver, are sold as remedies for a wide variety of diseases. Although most are harmless, some people using these home-made solutions excessively have developed argyria over a period of months or years
In fact, during dynastic times it was thought that silver chopsticks would turn black if they came into contact with poisoned food. It is now known that silver has no reaction to arsenic or cyanide, but if rotten eggs, onion, or garlic are used, the hydrogen sulfide they release might cause these chopsticks to change color.
I'm with you bikething,you sound like my mum !!!
A few notes about Silver yoinked from Wikipedia Just to expand on its uses.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver
No mention of silver needles, or any form of silver used to detect poison, though.
Google searches turned up little, but after seeing one site that said that silver chopsticks were used, I did a search on those and found the following:
Source: http://research.calacademy.org/research/anthropology/utensil/chpstck.htm
All in all, doesn't sound particularly useful to me; some poisons won't react, some will, and some edible things will react. Interesting historical application, though far from watertight.
Peace!
PS: Interested in seeing the tests nonetheless! It'd be interesting if some tests were conducted with poisonous plants/berries/seeds/nuts that are oft mistaken for edible ones, and then with their edible counterparts; just to see how it pans out!
The issue with cyanide is interesting ... In some cultures it's believed to encourage thick, shiny hair growth.
Great work, well it seems that this silver needle thing is really bogus then afterall.