429
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] spittingimage@lemmy.world 102 points 9 months ago

Nine out of ten hatters recommend that you don't do this. The tenth hatter purple monkey dishwasher.

(Victorian-era hat makers were notorious for going mad because they used mercury to treat felt cloth.)

[-] Akasazh@feddit.nl 24 points 9 months ago

I wondered what the Mercury actually did with the felt, as I couldn't think of anything from the top of my hat:

Mercury made the felting process in hat production more efficient. The compound used to moisten the fibers was Mercury Nitrate, a process known as carroting. It produced a superior-quality felt, which in turn, resulted in higher-quality hats

[-] JohnEdwa@sopuli.xyz 9 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

Mercury Nitrate

Which, should be noted, is not the mercury show in the picture. Mercuric nitrates are a white/yellow dry powder that is the result of mixing mercury with nitric acid. The process of making mercuric nitrates, and carroting itself, both result in rather toxic fumes that you really should not breathe in.

Handling liquid mercury is basically almost harmless as it absorbs through the skin really slowly and doesn't produce much vapours. Putting it in acid, heating it up, and putting the cloth treated with it in an oven is not.

[-] Akasazh@feddit.nl 1 points 9 months ago

Thnx for elaborating!

[-] overcast5348@lemmy.world 12 points 9 months ago

Is this the origin story of The Mad Hatter? 🙄

[-] spittingimage@lemmy.world 7 points 9 months ago

Could have been. I know Lewis Carroll liked to lampoon issues of the day in his writing.

[-] XTL@sopuli.xyz 4 points 9 months ago

I'm kind of guessing the mad as a hatter phenomenon was known then, but don't really know.

[-] SPRUNT@lemmy.world 4 points 9 months ago

I think the original idiom was "mad as a hatter" which was eventually shortened to "mad hatter", possibly due to the Alice in Wonderland character.

[-] troyunrau@lemmy.ca 11 points 9 months ago

I wonder what secondary compounds this was creating. Elemental mercury is pretty much fine, but if it was reacting with other things to create wacky fun times...

[-] insufferableninja@lemdro.id 6 points 9 months ago

they chewed the leather to hides to soften them, IIRC. so it wasn't just getting on their hands, they were ingesting it.

[-] threelonmusketeers@sh.itjust.works 5 points 9 months ago

I think it was mercury nitrate. Much more soluble.

[-] darkpanda@lemmy.ca 9 points 9 months ago

Sneaky Simpsons reference here for those who didn’t notice.

[-] Taniwha420@lemmy.world 6 points 9 months ago

I thought it was the vapours from using mercury inside that got them.

[-] Dasus@lemmy.world 5 points 9 months ago

It's so much harder believing in six impossible things before breakfast when you're allergic to quicksilver.

this post was submitted on 12 Mar 2024
429 points (98.9% liked)

Science Memes

11426 readers
2713 users here now

Welcome to c/science_memes @ Mander.xyz!

A place for majestic STEMLORD peacocking, as well as memes about the realities of working in a lab.



Rules

  1. Don't throw mud. Behave like an intellectual and remember the human.
  2. Keep it rooted (on topic).
  3. No spam.
  4. Infographics welcome, get schooled.

This is a science community. We use the Dawkins definition of meme.



Research Committee

Other Mander Communities

Science and Research

Biology and Life Sciences

Physical Sciences

Humanities and Social Sciences

Practical and Applied Sciences

Memes

Miscellaneous

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS