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I'd expect the inspiration was the actual historical practice of collecting urine for industrial use. The ammonia in urine was used for leather tanning for at l
by throwaway5752 2y ago
I'd expect the inspiration was the actual historical practice of collecting urine for industrial use. The ammonia in urine was used for leather tanning for at least 10,000 years. Urine contains all the elements in the NPK (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium) acronym in fertilizers, and was used for agriculture, also.
https://www.ancient-origins.net/history-ancient-traditions/money-does-not-stink-urine-tax-ancient-rome-003408 https://www.ancient-origins.net/history-ancient-traditions/m... is just one of many examples. The practice of collecting urine was less unusual at the time than this article suggests.
- compiler-guy 2y agoUrine has dozens of uses historically, including as a detergent, at least since Roman times. Also as a an ingredient for setting dyes, with pregnant women’s urine being especially valued for this. So valued that pregnant women could actually sell their own urine during medieval times. It’s hard for the modern mind used to modern chemistry to wrap around just how cleverly people used the chemicals available to them.