Jan
Vial Cork
Posted in Ribbons | No Comments »How does anyone alive know what cyanide smells like?
I'm curious.
Even a tiny trace of cyanide in the air kills a person, right? It's that toxic. Instant death, or pretty close to it.
I read somewhere that it smells like almonds.
But if even the tiniest trace in the air kills a person, how did they figure out what it smells like? I am assuming that the person smelling it would hardly be thinking "Hmm. This smells just like almonds" as they are dying, let alone have the fore-thought to say it out loud. And who on earth would volunteer for that job of finding out? I am picturing scientists in lab coats passing a corked vial back and forth in the manner of a Gary Larson Far Side cartoon, saying "No way, dude - *you* do it".
Its not THAT toxic as you are saying. Many people have been given the antidote at a hospital and saved from the poisoning.
Just the poisoning doesn't mean instant death.