AtDTDA: (8) 236/237 Cyclomite and Cricket

[robinlandseadel at comcast.net]

We continue with our tour of "The War Office"

A cart arrives with coffee in an Erlenmeyer flask:

           An Erlenmeyer flask (also known as a conical flask) 
           is a widely used type of laboratory flask which 
           features a conical base with a cylindrical neck. 
           They are usually marked on the side (graduated) 
           to indicate the approximate volume of their 
           contents. It is named after the German chemist 
           Richard Erlenmeyer, who created it in 1861.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erlenmeyer_flask

And some strange muffins.

Dr. De Bottle starts disscussing Cricket:

           "You might not as an American appreciate this, 
           but among the last surviving bits of evidence 
           that a civilization once existed on this island 
           is the game of cricket." 236. 2/4

'Innocent' as it ever gets round these parts, but even 
that innocence is being undermined by:

           . . . .the Gentleman Bomber of Headingly, after 
           the only known photograph of him with the 
           usual cricketer's bag slung from one shoulder, 
           inside which he carried  a number of spherical 
           hand bombs disguised as cricket balls. 236. 7/10

Gas bombs, really---phosgene:

           Phosgene was used extensively during World War 
           I as a choking (pulmonary) agent. Among the 
           chemicals used in the war, phosgene was 
           responsible for the large majority of deaths.

http://www.bt.cdc.gov/agent/phosgene/basics/facts.asp

Quite diabolical, wouldn't you say?

Then in come the muffins:

           "Lovely shade of purple, isn't it, boiled logwood 
           I believe. . . .236. 30

OBA continues to channel Brigidier Pudding.

           "For pity's sake Lewis, don't eat them all!" cried 
           Neville, followed closely by his co-adjutor, both 
           of them traveling in some cuurious exhiliration, 
           inches above the floor." 236, 5/7

Ah yes, to be a glove upon that hand. . . .

           "And see what we've found?" Nigel producing a sort 
           of a dinner pail with a quantity of beige substance in 
           it which Lew recognized immediately. 237. 1/3

Cyclomite!

http://valdefierro.com/times35b.jpg

Then Dr. De Bottle lays a wager for cricket based on the advice of the 
luscious Madame Eskimoff.