Re: [OT] Princess Bride and Lead Rot

At 13:17 2002-06-10 -0500, Allan Goodall wrote:
>On Mon, 10 Jun 2002 13:24:53 -0400, "Tomb" <tomb@dreammechanics.com>
wrote:
> >Someone mentioned (Henrix?) not storing figures cold. How cold is
cold?
> >Air conditioned chilly basement cold? Or freeze-your-ass-off winter
ice
> >cold?
>
>I would think that cold temperatures would slow down the chemical
process, not
>speed it up. Perhaps someone has stored figures in a basement and
assumed lead
>rot was from being cold when it was something else entirely. A root
cellar,
>for instance, may have a higher concentration of CO2, which was part of
the
>chemical reaction cycle.

The process I'm talking about is not chemical, it's physical. Tin has
both 
a metallic and a non-metallic form. The metallic form is more stable at 
higher temperatures, say room temperature and above. The non-metallic is
a 
gray powder.

Pewter plague is, and has been, a serious problem with stuff made out of

tin (wholly or partially).
It can start spontaneously at lower temperatures (I think it reaches a 
maximum at -13C), and is inhibited, even when an item has been affected,
by 
higher temperatures. At above 13C it does not seem to arise
spontaneously.

Pewter today is a lead/zinc alloy, but that is not true historically,
when 
it was usually tin/lead, or almost pure tin.
Pewter plague is what a friend's chemical dictionary translates it
(swedish 
tennpest) into.

This other lead rot I am unfamiliar with, but the article linked by A. 
Goodall seems to know what they are talking about.

____
Henrix