Monday, April 04, 2005

And now for something completely different...

(Because I know listening to someone do nothing but whinge is nothing if not annoying) here is a little snippet I came across whilst reading a book on Jack the Ripper;

"...the job done by these women was dangerous because Byrant and May [a match making company] used white/yellow phosphorus, which was banned in other countries because it led to a form of bone cancer nicknamed phossy jaw, which could case the jawbones to rot and glow greenish-white in the dark. Phossy jaw was sometimes immediately fatal, but could be resolved by the agonising and disfiguring surgical removal of the jawbone. (Page 17, Jack the Ripper: The Facts, Begg, P. Robson Books, 2004)

The emphasis is mine. I can't figure out how the jawbone glows, given there's all this flesh in the way. Does it glow through the meat? Wikipedia is not forthcoming, and all other entries on the internet seem to be lifted from that.

...well. I said 'different', I didn't say it wouldn't be morbid.

2 comments:

  1. Anonymous4/4/05 12:31

    Thats what they call a bright glowing smile. Colgate use that to this day. Allegedly. Actually, thats a vicious lie.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Man, that rocks.

    Er, not the suffering and death bit. The imagery.

    Going now.

    ReplyDelete