Sentimental Journey

[Tom Stanton]

At 06:47 AM 3/31/97 -0500, Ted Samsel wrote:
>> Gilbert was my first chemistry set & I went on to build a basement
>> lab with it...
>
>I was toy-shopping a few Christmases ago and was rudely dissapointed
>to find that today's chemistry sets are RILLY wimpy. One should look
>at such tomes from 1900-1950 as THE BOY CHEMIST. They give nifty recipes
>for such things as thermite & hydrofluouric acid. 
>
>How we have fallen.....

When I was 11 the chemicals were poisonous, there were no sissy
safety caps, & the pharmacist sold me hydrocloric & nitric acid by the
bottle. Mom & dad were blissfully ignorant of the danger...Today you
could be cited for negligence for letting an 11 year old loose with such
haz-mats.