4 ms·
Lead causes people to behave aggressively and erratically. The idiom “mad as a hatter” comes from the fact that hatters were around lead a lot for some reason I
by toxik 5y ago
Lead causes people to behave aggressively and erratically. The idiom “mad as a hatter” comes from the fact that hatters were around lead a lot for some reason I forgot.
Edit: Ah, apparently it was mercury, not lead. Cute anecdote anyway.
- dcminter 5y agoI think you're confusing lead with mercury for the hat-making connection.
- nytgop77 5y agowhy do you need either of those for making a hat?
- Spooky23 5y agoWhen felt was made from animal fur, it made it easier and less gross the remove the hair from the hide and soften it. Previously, urine was used.
- lostlogin 5y agoYikes. Knowing what we know now, is mercury the worse option?
- Spooky23 5y agoIt depends. Urine is not pleasant, but is usually safe to work with. I’d rather smell than suffer brain damage. :)
- redis_mlc 5y agoUrine is cleaned by the kidneys. Surgeons drain the urethra directly into the body during kidney surgery because it's antiseptic. So urine is not gross or dirty. (Some idiotic US town a few years ago considered draining their large water reservoir because a teen urinated from the bank. Nevermind that fish and birds do that all day long. But the residents had no common sense.)
- snowmanbob 5y agoshiny when applied to silk.
- cafard 5y agoHatters used mercury, not lead.
- Tade0 5y agoI knew a person who suffered from lead poisoning (long term occupational exposure). She wasn't aggressive in any way, just not really "here".
- arbitrage 5y agoDid she ever get better?
- Tade0 5y agoUnfortunately not. Or, any chance for that was lost when she had a stroke.
- Gauge_Irrahphe 5y agoLead is needed for the brain. The person is fully there (in fact more than before) they only stop uncontrollably reacting to everything, and stand straight, instead of being all wobbly.
- api 5y agoMercury and lead poisoning have similar effects.