OT: Chemistry Sets (was RE: Rubber Restorer...)

Yeah, chem sets are pretty tame now :( -- can't do many real reactions other than make C02 from bicarb. My father was a chemist and added many chemicals to the Gilbert set we had (more than 10 years old, so somewhat on topic). I do shudder a bit to think of some of things we did, though, like playing with big globs of mercury in our hands. BTW, water glass is Sodium Silicate, not phenothalien. And carbon tet, not benzene, was dry cleaning fluid. As kids, my brothers and I used carbon tet in killing jars to gas butterflys for our collection. It is banned in most places now, and benzene use is severely restricted, as it too is a strong carcinogen and bad for your internal organs. -----Original Message----- From: Russ Blakeman [mailto:rhblakeman@kih.net] Sent: Tuesday, November 06, 2001 8:14 AM To: classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org Subject: RE: Rubber Restorer... And many of the classic sets have replacements for the original chemicals. A friend bought a 1965 chemistry set and in place of phenothalien (water glass) it was just plain water, as had the sulfur been filled with dry mustard and confectioner's sugar mixed. No telling what else... -> -----Original Message----- -> From: owner-classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org -> [mailto:owner-classiccmp@classiccmp.org]On Behalf Of Douglas Quebbeman -> Sent: Tuesday, November 06, 2001 7:37 AM -> To: 'classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org' -> Subject: RE: Rubber Restorer... -> -> -> > I wonder if children's chemistry sets still come with all the -> > interesting chemicals? -> -> For the most part, no... you have to buy the old chemistry -> sets if you want those (many vintage chemistry sets trade -> on E-Bay). -> -> -dq ->