How Humble Moss Healed the Wounds of Thousands in World War I
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by
daravenh
The Smithsonian has this fascinating post today:
Denise
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Denise - Thanks for posting that interesting article - which has led me to post another interesting one regarding the interesting story regarding the (discovery) of Gun Cotton. Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitrocellulose Gun Cotton was mentioned in the article you posted, i.e. “How Humble Moss Healed the Wounds of Thousands in WW1”.
Also - The explosive nature of Gun Cotton stems from the high levels of nitrate in the material. Also Gun Cotton had many other uses in world war one. It was employed in torpedo warheads and some types of grenades. It was also used as a detonating explosive to fire guns and as a blasting explosive for blowing up bridges and the mines underneath enemy lines.
PS - Link for The Mess Hall Board / First World War Jargon Re Discussion on Gun Cotton posted 6 months ago. https://talk.operationwardiary.org/#/boards/BWD000000n/discussions/DWD00019az
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by
cyngast
moderator
in response to daravenh's comment.
I saw that yesterday but haven't yet had a chance to read it. Will definitely get to it today. Looks interesting.
The Smithsonian also posted an article about the training trenches, but it was basically just a report on the article you posted for us.
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daravenh
in response to marie.eklidvirginmedia.com's comment.
Marie, enjoyed your Gun Cotton article. It is very interesting just how many further advancements were made of the nitrocellulose - from photographic film to explosive weaponry.
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by
cyngast
moderator
Here are a couple more articles that have recently been published relating to World War I from the Smithsonian: The Animals that Helped Win World War I http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/animals-that-helped-win-world-war-I-180963042/ and one on a bit of an unusual topic, How Shaving Brushes Gave World War 1 Soldiers Anthrax http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/how-shaving-brushes-gave-world-war-i-soldiers-anthrax-180963125/
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Another article re shaving brushes ww1. Link: https://www.fuzzjunket.com/he-got-anthrax-off-his-shaving-brush/
The whole health scare over anthrax started in World War I. People at the time shaved with a shaving brush, which they used to lather the soap and apply it to their face. These brushes were supposed to be made out of badger hair, but there were a lot of cheap knock-offs made out of horsehair or pig bristles instead: The large majority of the so-called badger-hair brushes now on the market are really clever imitations made by treating white hair or bristles by secret processes.” The United States got its supply of horsehair from Russia, China and Japan by way of Europe where the horsehair was treated and disinfected. That was until the war disrupted supply lines and the horsehair had to come via the Pacific Ocean, where the cleaning procedures weren’t so well established. Little did innocent barbers know the terrors that lurked in their shaving brushes.
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