I was showing a neighbor around the shop yesterday and although she wasn't
much interested in the tools, she was fascinated by the different kinds of
wood. (ooohhh, pretty)
Note: I think many people believe the lumber they see at Home Depot is the
only kind of wood there is.
Anyway, she picked up a scrap of jatoba off the band saw and asked what it
was. I told her it was "aspirin wood".
She said she didn't know aspirin came from trees. And I replied, "I don't
know where aspirin comes from, but that's the kind of aspirin that
prevents the headache of cutting my thumb off on that saw..."
Oh well, I thought it was good for a chuckle.
K
In article <[email protected]>, Kim
<[email protected]> wrote:
> She said she didn't know aspirin came from trees. And I replied, "I don't
> know where aspirin comes from, but that's the kind of aspirin that
> prevents the headache of cutting my thumb off on that saw...
Aspirin does come from trees, BTW.
Willow bark contains the precursor...
djb
--
Okay, so this is my new sig line, eh?
Infinite number of monkeys. The marvels of natural selection.
As to the case in hand, I favor the fact that starving folks made meals of
what they could. Kamchadals ate the contents of the reindeer (caribou)
rumen to help stave off scurvy.
"Morris Dovey" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> Agreed. Some of these "happy accidents" would seem to be almost
> no-brainers; and some would seem to require multiple generations
> of exacting empirical observation and analysis by incredibly
> bright, intellectually-disciplined individuals.
>
> One of the more interesting stories tells about an
> African tribal group that used a locally-sourced mud quite
> effectively in curing what visiting medical teams recognized as
> skin cancer. Turned out the mud had a high-pitchblende content.
>
> Who would have imagined that radiation therapy would be first
> used by a low-tech society with only a verbal tradition?
>
> --
> Morris Dovey
> DeSoto, Iowa USA
>
I like my chitlins and tripe well washed, too.
Of course I can always follow them with orange juice....
"Luigi Zanasi" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Mon, 5 Apr 2004 08:34:33 -0400, "George" <george@least> scribbled:
> >As to the case in hand, I favor the fact that starving folks made meals
of
> >what they could. Kamchadals ate the contents of the reindeer (caribou)
> >rumen to help stave off scurvy.
>
> The Gwich'in (Loucheux) people of the northern Yukon, Alaska & NWT
> still consider the stomach contents of caribou a delicacy, not that
> I've had the pleasure of trying it.
The salicylic acid that is available in Willow bark, Oil of
Wintergreen and Aspirin are very similar in chemical composition and
metabolic effect.
In 1859 a German chemist, Hermann Kolbe, synthesized salicylic acid
but the result was found to be too irritating to the stomach.
In 1899, Felix Hoffman, another German chemist, who had been searching
for a solution (sic) to his Father's arthritis symptoms, used
Acetylsalicylic Acid, after having tried Phenyl Salicylate and Sodium
Salicylate.
Herr Hoffman was an employee of the Bayer Company.
To this day, what we call Aspirin is essentially AcetylSalicylic Acid,
with buffers and other crap included in the mix.
I am actually more interested in the first guy who got the connection
between the Willow and the ameliorative effect - that sumbitch was an
observational genius.
Thomas J. Watson-Cabinetmaker (ret)
Real Email is: tjwatson1ATcomcastDOTnet
Website: http://home.comcast.net/~tjwatson1
"Kim" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Anyway, she picked up a scrap of jatoba off the band saw and asked what it
> was. I told her it was "aspirin wood".
>
> She said she didn't know aspirin came from trees. And I replied, "I don't
> know where aspirin comes from, but that's the kind of aspirin that
> prevents the headache of cutting my thumb off on that saw..."
Really you're not really that far off. Willow bark has been used for ages
to relieve pain due to its salicylic acid contend.
http://www.bluestem.ca/willow-article1.htm
Larry
--
Lawrence L'Hote
Columbia, MO
http://home.mchsi.com/~larrylhote
http://home.mchsi.com/~llhote
Willow bark use is two or three hundred year old practice in europe at
least....mjh
--
http://members.tripod.com/mikehide2
"Tom Watson" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
>
> The salicylic acid that is available in Willow bark, Oil of
> Wintergreen and Aspirin are very similar in chemical composition and
> metabolic effect.
>
> In 1859 a German chemist, Hermann Kolbe, synthesized salicylic acid
> but the result was found to be too irritating to the stomach.
>
> In 1899, Felix Hoffman, another German chemist, who had been searching
> for a solution (sic) to his Father's arthritis symptoms, used
> Acetylsalicylic Acid, after having tried Phenyl Salicylate and Sodium
> Salicylate.
>
> Herr Hoffman was an employee of the Bayer Company.
>
> To this day, what we call Aspirin is essentially AcetylSalicylic Acid,
> with buffers and other crap included in the mix.
>
> I am actually more interested in the first guy who got the connection
> between the Willow and the ameliorative effect - that sumbitch was an
> observational genius.
>
>
>
> Thomas J. Watson-Cabinetmaker (ret)
> Real Email is: tjwatson1ATcomcastDOTnet
> Website: http://home.comcast.net/~tjwatson1
Tom Watson wrote:
> I am actually more interested in the first guy who got the connection
> between the Willow and the ameliorative effect - that sumbitch was an
> observational genius.
Tom...
I've heard that keeping a small piece of willow in one's mouth
was a common method for laborers to stave off thirst while
working in pre-Igloo cooler times. If that's true, then the
degree of genius required may not have been quite so high.
I seem to recall that willow bark tea was used for general relief
from aches and pains by pioneer folk - and wonder if they brought
that bit of medical technology from Europe or learned it from the
"native" north americans...
--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto, Iowa USA
On Sat, 03 Apr 2004 16:16:51 GMT, Kim <[email protected]> wrote:
>She said she didn't know aspirin came from trees.
Surprised no-one has mentioned it yet. Aspirin's active ingredient is
salicylic acid, which takes its name from the willow's latin name -
salix.
And don't forget quinine too - another bark extract.
Ya know, Morris, we are all, almost without exception, enamoured
(spelling reflective of current reading - so fugg off) of the
"specific genius" theory of discovery.
I guess we all figger (spelling reflective of upbringing - so fugg
off) that what really happens is a happy repeated accident, that
eventually gets noticed. A guy gets handed a willow branch to bite on
whilst they pull out the arrow. After the two hour surgery, he says
tha tit didn't really hurt as much as he thought it would.
Repeated on a more intelligent level, some pre-sentient dude noticed
that it didn't hurt so much, while he was being treated for a hurt
ankle, taken on while trying to turn the pre-upright-posture version
of the double play - if he sucked on this piece of tthis tree, rather
than that.
Happy accidents prolly have more to do with the advancement of science
than all the most carefully laid plans of both mice and men. (cf:
unnatural rubber).
But, ya know, once it got within the purview of them little German
Scientist fellas, and them having access to a pretty decent backlog of
writings on more or less the same stuff; the Happy Accident could
rightfully be starting to be called Science.
Gott bless 'em.
On Sun, 04 Apr 2004 17:13:48 -0500, Morris Dovey <[email protected]>
wrote:
>Tom Watson wrote:
>
>> I am actually more interested in the first guy who got the connection
>> between the Willow and the ameliorative effect - that sumbitch was an
>> observational genius.
>
>Tom...
>
>I've heard that keeping a small piece of willow in one's mouth
>was a common method for laborers to stave off thirst while
>working in pre-Igloo cooler times. If that's true, then the
>degree of genius required may not have been quite so high.
>
>I seem to recall that willow bark tea was used for general relief
>from aches and pains by pioneer folk - and wonder if they brought
>that bit of medical technology from Europe or learned it from the
>"native" north americans...
Thomas J. Watson-Cabinetmaker (ret)
Real Email is: tjwatson1ATcomcastDOTnet
Website: http://home.comcast.net/~tjwatson1
On Sun, 04 Apr 2004 18:49:14 -0500, Morris Dovey <[email protected]>
wrote:
>One of the more interesting stories tells about an
>African tribal group that used a locally-sourced mud quite
>effectively in curing what visiting medical teams recognized as
>skin cancer. Turned out the mud had a high-pitchblende content.
>
>Who would have imagined that radiation therapy would be first
>used by a low-tech society with only a verbal tradition?
Prolly about the same percentage of folks who woulda thought that the
first reactor would go critical under the home stands of the
University of Chicago foosball stadium.
That always seemed odd to me.
But, what do I know?
Thomas J. Watson-Cabinetmaker (ret)
Real Email is: tjwatson1ATcomcastDOTnet
Website: http://home.comcast.net/~tjwatson1
Tom Watson responds:
>>One of the more interesting stories tells about an
>>African tribal group that used a locally-sourced mud quite
>>effectively in curing what visiting medical teams recognized as
>>skin cancer. Turned out the mud had a high-pitchblende content.
>>
>>Who would have imagined that radiation therapy would be first
>>used by a low-tech society with only a verbal tradition?
>
>
>Prolly about the same percentage of folks who woulda thought that the
>first reactor would go critical under the home stands of the
>University of Chicago foosball stadium.
>
>That always seemed odd to me.
>
>But, what do I know?
Isn't that the one they called The Manhattan Project?
Sneaky, these scientists.
Charlie Self
"It is not strange... to mistake change for progress." Millard Fillmore
Charlie Self wrote:
>
> Tom Watson responds:
>
> >>One of the more interesting stories tells about an
> >>African tribal group that used a locally-sourced mud quite
> >>effectively in curing what visiting medical teams recognized as
> >>skin cancer. Turned out the mud had a high-pitchblende content.
> >>
> >>Who would have imagined that radiation therapy would be first
> >>used by a low-tech society with only a verbal tradition?
> >
> >
> >Prolly about the same percentage of folks who woulda thought that the
> >first reactor would go critical under the home stands of the
> >University of Chicago foosball stadium.
Fermi. Squash court.
> >
> >That always seemed odd to me.
> >
> >But, what do I know?
>
> Isn't that the one they called The Manhattan Project?
>
> Sneaky, these scientists.
>
> Charlie Self
> "It is not strange... to mistake change for progress." Millard Fillmore
Tom Watson wrote:
> Happy accidents prolly have more to do with the advancement of
> science than all the most carefully laid plans of both mice
> and men. (cf: unnatural rubber).
>
> But, ya know, once it got within the purview of them little
> German Scientist fellas, and them having access to a pretty
> decent backlog of writings on more or less the same stuff; the
> Happy Accident could rightfully be starting to be called
> Science.
>
> Gott bless 'em.
Agreed. Some of these "happy accidents" would seem to be almost
no-brainers; and some would seem to require multiple generations
of exacting empirical observation and analysis by incredibly
bright, intellectually-disciplined individuals.
One of the more interesting stories tells about an
African tribal group that used a locally-sourced mud quite
effectively in curing what visiting medical teams recognized as
skin cancer. Turned out the mud had a high-pitchblende content.
Who would have imagined that radiation therapy would be first
used by a low-tech society with only a verbal tradition?
--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto, Iowa USA
On Mon, 5 Apr 2004 08:34:33 -0400, "George" <george@least> scribbled:
>Infinite number of monkeys. The marvels of natural selection.
>
>As to the case in hand, I favor the fact that starving folks made meals of
>what they could. Kamchadals ate the contents of the reindeer (caribou)
>rumen to help stave off scurvy.
The Gwich'in (Loucheux) people of the northern Yukon, Alaska & NWT
still consider the stomach contents of caribou a delicacy, not that
I've had the pleasure of trying it.
Luigi
Replace "nonet" with "yukonomics" for real email address
www.yukonomics.ca/wooddorking/antifaq.html
www.yukonomics.ca/wooddorking/humour.html
Luigi Zanasi responds:
>>As to the case in hand, I favor the fact that starving folks made meals of
>>what they could. Kamchadals ate the contents of the reindeer (caribou)
>>rumen to help stave off scurvy.
>
>The Gwich'in (Loucheux) people of the northern Yukon, Alaska & NWT
>still consider the stomach contents of caribou a delicacy, not that
>I've had the pleasure of trying it.
Is that any worth than my ancestors' haggis? Or a U.S. Southerner's chitlins
(you gotta smell this stuff to believe it!).
Charlie Self
"It is not strange... to mistake change for progress." Millard Fillmore
Ah fried chitlins for breakfast with english [hot] mustard ,as soon as the
local butcher let it be known he had chitlins they were all gone just like
when he had faggots [and peas] they were gone also ......mjh
--
http://members.tripod.com/mikehide2
"Charlie Self" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Luigi Zanasi responds:
>
> >>As to the case in hand, I favor the fact that starving folks made meals
of
> >>what they could. Kamchadals ate the contents of the reindeer (caribou)
> >>rumen to help stave off scurvy.
> >
> >The Gwich'in (Loucheux) people of the northern Yukon, Alaska & NWT
> >still consider the stomach contents of caribou a delicacy, not that
> >I've had the pleasure of trying it.
>
> Is that any worth than my ancestors' haggis? Or a U.S. Southerner's
chitlins
> (you gotta smell this stuff to believe it!).
>
> Charlie Self
> "It is not strange... to mistake change for progress." Millard Fillmore
Mike Hide writes:
>Ah fried chitlins for breakfast with english [hot] mustard ,as soon as the
>local butcher let it be known he had chitlins they were all gone j
Yeah, but you gotta boil that stuff before you can fry it, and the aroma of
boiled chitlins would make a goat puke.
Charlie Self
"Adam and Eve had many advantages but the principal one was that they escaped
teething." Mark Twain
"Charlie Self" wrote in message
> Is that any worth than my ancestors' haggis? Or a U.S. Southerner's
chitlins
> (you gotta smell this stuff to believe it!).
Menudo, preferably from a small village in rural Mexico. Smells like road
kill, tastes so good you don't care ... if you can ever get the first
spoonful to your mouth. You will sweat in places you didn't think could.
--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 4/02/04
On Sat, 03 Apr 2004 16:31:01 +0000, Lawrence L'Hote wrote:
>
> "Kim" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>> Anyway, she picked up a scrap of jatoba off the band saw and asked what
>> it was. I told her it was "aspirin wood".
>>
>> She said she didn't know aspirin came from trees. And I replied, "I
>> don't know where aspirin comes from, but that's the kind of aspirin that
>> prevents the headache of cutting my thumb off on that saw..."
>
> Really you're not really that far off. Willow bark has been used for
> ages to relieve pain due to its salicylic acid contend.
> http://www.bluestem.ca/willow-article1.htm
>
> Larry
Thanks for the link Larry, I'm tickled every time I learn something new.
I don't know anything about working with willow, but now if I ever find
myself in possession of some, I'll make myself some real "aspirin wood"
push blocks. And I'm sure I'll grin every time I use them.
K
Kim notes:
>Thanks for the link Larry, I'm tickled every time I learn something new.
>
>I don't know anything about working with willow, but now if I ever find
>myself in possession of some, I'll make myself some real "aspirin wood"
>push blocks. And I'm sure I'll grin every time I use them.
>
Think woven wood baskets as a starter.
Charlie Self
"It is not strange... to mistake change for progress." Millard Fillmore
In article <[email protected]>,
Young_carpenter <[email protected]> wrote:
>Way off topic Charlie But I had to grin at your signature.
>I live in the town where Fillmore was born. Most people say "who's he?"
One gets tempted to answer "He's one in a milliard" ("milliard" == Brit.
term for 1,000 million, what those in the U.S. call a 'billion' -- which,
to the Brits, means a 'million million'.)
Way off topic Charlie But I had to grin at your signature.
I live in the town where Fillmore was born. Most people say "who's he?"
--
"Charlie Self" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Kim notes:
>
> >Thanks for the link Larry, I'm tickled every time I learn something new.
> >
> >I don't know anything about working with willow, but now if I ever find
> >myself in possession of some, I'll make myself some real "aspirin wood"
> >push blocks. And I'm sure I'll grin every time I use them.
> >
>
> Think woven wood baskets as a starter.
>
> Charlie Self
> "It is not strange... to mistake change for progress." Millard Fillmore
Young Carpenter notes:
>Way off topic Charlie But I had to grin at your signature.
>I live in the town where Fillmore was born. Most people say "who's he?"
Yeah. I slipped onto the knowledge a looooooooooooooong time ago. One of my
uncles by marriage is named after him, FIllmore, AKA Fil.
Not the best known of our presidents, for sure.
Charlie Self
"It is not strange... to mistake change for progress." Millard Fillmore
Actually the Aspen is where Aspren got it's name from.
"Kim" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I was showing a neighbor around the shop yesterday and although she wasn't
> much interested in the tools, she was fascinated by the different kinds of
> wood. (ooohhh, pretty)
>
> Note: I think many people believe the lumber they see at Home Depot is the
> only kind of wood there is.
>
> Anyway, she picked up a scrap of jatoba off the band saw and asked what it
> was. I told her it was "aspirin wood".
>
> She said she didn't know aspirin came from trees. And I replied, "I don't
> know where aspirin comes from, but that's the kind of aspirin that
> prevents the headache of cutting my thumb off on that saw..."
>
> Oh well, I thought it was good for a chuckle.
>
> K
>
Kim <[email protected]> writes:
>I was showing a neighbor around the shop yesterday and although she wasn't
>much interested in the tools, she was fascinated by the different kinds of
>wood. (ooohhh, pretty)
>
>Note: I think many people believe the lumber they see at Home Depot is the
>only kind of wood there is.
>
>Anyway, she picked up a scrap of jatoba off the band saw and asked what it
>was. I told her it was "aspirin wood".
>
>She said she didn't know aspirin came from trees. And I replied, "I don't
>know where aspirin comes from, but that's the kind of aspirin that
>prevents the headache of cutting my thumb off on that saw..."
Strangely enough, Aspirin (at least the Salicytic Acid component) does come
from trees (willow, IIRC) (the other major component is Acetic Acid).
scott