aspasia wrote in message
...
On Fri, 20 Oct 2006 01:08:32 GMT, "Arfa Daily"
wrote:


aspasia wrote in message
om...
On Thu, 19 Oct 2006 13:47:46 GMT, "Michael A. Terrell"
wrote:

aspasia wrote:

Tell that to the Romans, whose much-lauded plumbing systems-- a marvel
of the ancient world -- were made with lead pipes, which many
historians have indicted as one of the reasons for the Decline and
Fall (crazy emperors, etc.)

Aspasia


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead_acetate

Thanks also for this link.

That's a fine story, but it refers to a lead compound, deliberately
introduced to a foodstuff that the Romans were consuming, not to lead
pipes
dissolving as a result of drinking water passing through them ...

Arfa

Got to wondering whether -- with all this encyclopediac (pun intended)
talk about whether the pipes were earthen or lead -- hasn't there been
any serious archeology, digging up said pipes for analysis?



That's an interesting point. I'm sure that someone will find some. I'm
almost willing to bet that any such pipes turned up, would be nearly as good
as the day they were buried. I'm going away for a couple of weeks in a day
or two, but I'll flag the thread, and have a look when I get back ...

Arfa