"Al" wrote in message
. 4...
....
When I was there (first year I think), someone in the higher years had bet
20 quid that he wouldn't swallow some Potassium Cyanide (yes, there really
was that sort of stuff in the chem lab store room). Someone took the bet
on. He swallowed it. He died. By the time I was doing 'interesting'
chemistry there was nothing remotely dangerous left. ..

Must have changed the A level syllabus - potssium cyanide (in a bright red
bottle that we had to request from the lab technician) was an essential part
of at least one experiment. We were requested, rather than instructed (it
was probably more effective) not to dispose of cyanates down the sink, as
the local water authority had complained.

I used to make a primitive nitrocellulose during chemistry practicals, which
proved to be popular with my peers. Mind you, the girl next door, a couple
of years older than me, had started experiments of her own with me at an
early age, so I tended to have other interests than just blowing things up.

Colin Bignell