tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19678732.post5388961023893829746..comments2023-07-31T10:39:53.182-05:00Comments on The Blog of the American Chesterton Society: The Poet and the Lunatics: Chapter OneNancy C. Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06169395014931291729noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19678732.post-15451067555447261092007-06-01T11:44:00.000-05:002007-06-01T11:44:00.000-05:00My favorite quote is "...and she wanted to hear mo...My favorite quote is "...and she wanted to hear more about the picture of St. Peter, or something interesting." <BR/><BR/>I love it! I feel just that way sometimes, ravenous for interesting conversations. And what I wouldn't give to hear some from Gabriel Gale!Lucia Rosahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11660122555147748097noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19678732.post-46767444559113109862007-05-31T09:57:00.000-05:002007-05-31T09:57:00.000-05:00I love this book too.The "prussic acid" exchange I...I love this book too.<BR/><BR/>The "prussic acid" exchange I think has a dual meaning. The depressed inkeeper was contemplating suicide, but the good doctor totally misses the point, thinking of a real medicine (which sometimes did accidentally induce death) See: http://www.henriettesherbal.com/eclectic/kings/acidum-hydr.html <BR/><BR/>This 1898 book lists medical uses for spasm and nervous irritability. But it also lists dispepsia, "hysteria", angina, and "consumption", and "pointed tongue". It's cautioned that the practitioner might be disappointed because it sometimes doesn't work and sometimes causes death. (!)Markhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14830740919973561925noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19678732.post-40702172594488646812007-05-30T13:51:00.000-05:002007-05-30T13:51:00.000-05:00Prussic acid is HCN - hydrogen cyanide, a deadly p...Prussic acid is HCN - hydrogen cyanide, a deadly poison. Very small amounts can be found in peach pits (NEVER eat them!) and other such seeds.<BR/><BR/>High-Tech GKC link: this chemical has practical uses in industry - it is used in refining of gold. In a different chemical form, ferric ferrocyanide is called "Prussian Blue" first made in 1704 - it is the first of the modern synthetic pigments (colors used for painting): "A cake of prussian blue contains all the sea stories in the world" [GKC, <I>The Coloured Lands</I>]<BR/><BR/>I love P&L. After Lepanto & Father Brown, my father quoted it most...<BR/><BR/>--Dr. ThursdayAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19678732.post-84757905519817538452007-05-30T12:21:00.000-05:002007-05-30T12:21:00.000-05:00"if you will play Haroun Alraschid"--what is that?..."if you will play Haroun Alraschid"--what is that?<BR/><BR/>From Alfred Lord Tennyson's Recollections of the Arabian Nights, a poem of childhood wonder. On the net see: http://www.darsie.net/library/tennyson.html<BR/><BR/>The refrain goes "For it was in the golden prime/ Of good Haroun Alraschid."Theresehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16905841559234909838noreply@blogger.com