Re: Mercury and lead

--- In cybalist@..., Omar Karamán <diogenes@...> wrote:

> Torsten,
>
> It is not the first time that you talks about mercury and its

strange

> consequences. Today you are joking again, don't you?
>
> > 2. National Geographic, some years back, did an excavation of
> > Columbus' first camp on Hispaniola. On one of the pictures you

see a

> > broken bottle, filled with mercury. Columbus eventually behaved in
> > such a manner that he had to be taken home to Spain in chains.
>
> Please show a clear connection between the broken bottle and

Columbus'

> behaviour. Can you prove that he was near enough this featured

bottle in

> his camp to have been impoisoned by its contents?
>

As I recall, there was only one house in the camp. And they would be
using the contents of the bottle, so it wouldn't be corked up most of
the time.

> > 3. Another picture in National Geographic: a diving expedition to

a

> > Spanish galleon: broken clay containers of mercury. Mercury

spilling

> > out on the sea bottom. Spain transported 150 tons of mercury each
> > year to the New World (from Spain and the Philippines). One broken
> > container and mercury would spill out in the ship sailing for

months

> > in the tropics. Without a thorough clean-up (which they most

likely

> > didn't do, there's no record of it) anybody sleeping below deck

would

> > become brain-damaged, deranged and stark raving mad. As to the
> > behavior of the Spanish, I don't think I have to comment on that.

The

> > mercury was used in the gold mines, mercury in a gold pan would
> > amalgamate the gold specks, and then mercury was gotten rid of by
> > heating to evaporation. Anybody's guess how that affected the
> > panners. This happened especially in Mexico, Colombia and Peru.
>
> Am I wrong, or perhaps you are trying to associate it with Mexican,
> Colombian and Peruvian guerrillas?
>

No, no, no. You did that. I am a nice person. I only have nice
opinions. I don't think there is any more violence in the three
countries you mention than in any other civilized nation.

Torsten