[TheForge] question for Bruce F. the Chemist

[Jerry Smith]

Bob,

What happen to the whiskey?

Jerry

--- Bob Willman <blcksmth at wcnet.org> wrote:

> 	My slack tub is a used 1/2 wiskey barrel. Maybe I
> should change my
> opinion. 
> 
> 
> Bob Willman
> Bowling Green, Ohio
> The Eagle's Anvil
> WB8NQW
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net
> [mailto:theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf
> Of Bruce Freeman
> Sent: Wednesday, July 04, 2007 10:08 PM
> To: Sponsored by ABANA
> Subject: Re: [TheForge] question for Bruce F. the
> Chemist
> 
> Albin,
> 
> Albin,
> 
> I don't know to what extent the heat of the metal
> would have an effect, but
> I'd be surprized if a slack tub didn't contain
> considerable iron, in perhaps
> both the ferrous (2+) and the ferric (3+) states.
> 
> Whether this would have a tonic effect, I don't
> know. 
> Anemia can be treated with iron, but that's by
> ingestion, and I don't
> suggest anyone drink slack tub water.  This is
> especially true today, when
> cadmium and lead could well be present in this
> water.  (In the old days,
> copper, zinc, or lead might be present in a
> blacksmith shop, but probably
> not in great
> quantities.)
> 
> Furthermore, I'm a subscriber of what might be urban
> legend that we should
> NOT include supplemental iron in our diets.  Rumor
> has it iron's the
> responsible entity for causing cholesterol to form
> arterial plaque.
> 
> Now, it MIGHT be that the water in a slack tub was
> beneficial when topically
> applied specifically because it was mildly toxic. 
> If it kills disease
> organisms or parasites faster than it kills the
> patient, then it cures the
> patient!
> 
> "Honey, Mud, and Maggots" is a fascinating book
> about old-time treatments.
> Honey is excellent for open wounds.  Maggots (of the
> correct species only)
> are wondrous for cleaning out dead or gangrenous
> tissue from a wound.  I
> don't recall the benefits of mud.  In wartime,
> wounds were bound and allowed
> to drain, and though they smelled to high heaven,
> the wounded often
> recovered fully due to the power of the white
> corpuscles in the oozing pus.
> Even the notorious bleeding procedure was apperently
> efficacious in 70% of
> the cases - though this would not be true today
> because the diseases for
> which it was efficacious no longer commonly afflict
> mankind.
> 
> Accordingly, I consider the question of the efficacy
> of an iron tonic water
> to be outside the realm of my expertise.
> 
> Bruce
> 
> --- Albin Drzewianowski <dski1045 at qis.net> wrote:
> 
> > Bruce,
> > 
> > I was demonstrating in the Historic Forge at the
> local Farm Musuem 
> > today.
> > 
> > Towards the end of the day, as my arm starts
> giving out, I look for 
> > any excuse to talk instead of hammering.  So when
> someone asked about 
> > the slack tub, I gave them the story about how in
> the "old days" 
> > people would come and buy water from the slack tub
> for medicinal 
> > purposes.
> >  I thought that was
> > just a scam by blacksmiths to make a little money
> on the side.  But 
> > one of the guests asked whether the water in the
> tub would pick up an 
> > iron from having all the hot steel quenched or
> cooled in the slack 
> > tub.  Also, small pieces of hot steel that have
> been cut off are often 
> > just tossed into the slack tub.
> > 
> > So the question is:   would quenching  or cooling
> > hot steel  or the presence
> > of small pieces of steel in the bottom of the
> slack tub increase the 
> > iron content of the water such that it would have
> some medical benefit 
> > as some
> > kind of tonic???   Today, we have extra iron as a
> > supplement in lots of
> > things that we eat, but back in the "old days"
> they did not.
> > 
> > Inquiring minds want to know.
> > Albin
> > Westminster, MD
> 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> 
> 
> 
>        
>
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