Posted on 01/05/2014 1:03:03 PM PST by Carriage Hill
I have read that ethanol alcohol—the kind of alcohol that makes us drunk—was the first synthesized product that humans made. Originally made from honey, fruits, berries, grains, and other plants left in the sun to ferment, alcohol and its first use documented as far back as 10,000 B.C.
Historically, fermented beverages:
Acted as a substitution for water Fixed nutritional deficiencies Served medicinal purposes
Alcohol also had its place in religious ceremonies and even used as currency. Supposedly, vodka was an ingredient in early European gunpowder. And of course, people drank alcohol in order to become intoxicated.
When shopping for liquor, you will find two different numbers on the bottle. One is the percentage and one is the proof. The percentage is the amount of true ethanol alcohol content, while proof is the official government designation of how much alcohol content is in the beverage. Divide the proof in half to get the actual percentage of alcohol.
(Excerpt) Read more at cheaperthandirt.com ...
Ping to alcohol use.
Does anyone know if this pub has to be excerpted? If not, I can C&P it all here.
Help Repopulate??
LOL????
And, in a dire emergency, you can even drink it.
Purely for medicinal purposes only!
You can also make ethanol from wood.
Stock/store ‘Everclear’ in this country. Many medicinal and cooking uses, and if you can drink it-You NEEDED a drink. Trades well and beats building that still right away.
A very lively substance chemically. It can make people more attractive, less attractive, funny, not funny, pathetic, empathetic, horny, and virtually celibate. And it can even make me believe I can dance.
Powerful stuff ...
Alcohol is great for cleaning lenses. It floats the dirt off the lense so it can be blotted up with tissue or cloth, dries quickly and does not attack the glue or sealers.
Ben Franklin said that alcohol is proof God loves us and wants us to be happy.
I add that ugly women are proof God wants us to exercise self-control.
You big dummy, read the article first:(
That's Methanol — ingested in large quantities is metabolized to formic acid or formate salts, which is poisonous to the central nervous system, and may cause blindness, coma, and death.
So I wouldn't advocate drinking it.
1. Drinking
...
45. Drinking
I’d be interested to know the chemical process for #41 - drying wet clothes. Alcohol evaporates more easily than water - does it accelerate the evaporation process for H2O ?
On a (somewhat) related note.... I don’t know how correct this is, but I’ve read that one of the handier things you can keep around for emergencies is a bottle of hand sanitizer. Being 70% ethyl alcohol, it can be used for a firestarter, cleaner, etc. I’m told that if you mix salt into the stuff, the gels precipitate out and you liquid ethyl at your disposal for use as a fuel, etc.
Everybody needs a beer after a hard day of hunter/gathering.
I’ll drink to those...
Yes, methanol can be used for that too. It’s just not the same as ethanol, which can be important in a survival situation.
Plus, it’s faster than “beer goggles”.
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