Ben Franklin said “if you take a pill of Turpentine your urine will smell like violets.” Why would you take a pill of Turpentine? Is this common still today?
Thanks
I wouldn’t trust Turpentine to medicate me, that’s for sure! Why, do you realize he once wrote a letter to Kotex asking why they didn’t use red liquid instead of blue to demonstrate how their products worked?
The man is certifiable.
It does have a history of use in folk medicine, both in topical and internal (!) preparations:
http://www.rx.com/reference/natural/Turpentine_Oil.jhtml
God knows what they thought it was good for in Franklin’s day. Somebody else may, too, and enlighten us.
Turpentine and sugar was taken as recently as 50 years ago for worms.
What i want to know is what violets smell like. I have tried but i can’t get any scent from them.
Hijack-
Violets do not have any smell. They have a compound in them which actually numbs the sense of smell for a few minutes. Try it sometime, it’s fun to play with.
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Well, I always thought that C’thulu sort of liked me. Here’s to the Nymph of the Woods With A Thousand Young!
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[really gigantic hijack]
Erm, you mean Shub-Niggurath, the Black Goat of the Woods With a Thousand Young? Of course you did.
***Iä! Iä! ***
[sub][sup]huh? turpentine? what?!?[/sup][/sub]
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You know, Turpentine is a GAL. Pure lay-dee!
–Tim