1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:27,360 Speaker 1: Ridiculous History is a production of I Heart Radio. Welcome 2 00:00:27,400 --> 00:00:30,720 Speaker 1: to the show Ridiculous Historians. As always, thank you so 3 00:00:30,920 --> 00:00:35,200 Speaker 1: much for tuning in. It is a dark and stormy 4 00:00:35,360 --> 00:00:39,440 Speaker 1: mid afternoon here in Atlanta, Georgia. Uh, you know, and 5 00:00:39,680 --> 00:00:45,160 Speaker 1: I'm feeling the mood. Are are super Producer Casey Pegram 6 00:00:45,159 --> 00:00:49,559 Speaker 1: has my new favorite virtual background on the zoom And 7 00:00:50,040 --> 00:00:51,959 Speaker 1: my name is Ben. My name is No. Yeah, it's 8 00:00:51,960 --> 00:00:54,880 Speaker 1: like the it's the it's fine dog, but just the flames. 9 00:00:54,880 --> 00:00:57,279 Speaker 1: And I guess in this scenario, Casey, I'm hanging out. 10 00:00:57,320 --> 00:01:00,240 Speaker 1: I'm the dog in this picture, you're the dog, and 11 00:01:00,360 --> 00:01:06,360 Speaker 1: everything's fine. All right, everything's fine, everything's great. Oh yeah, yeah, 12 00:01:06,440 --> 00:01:09,800 Speaker 1: the best best things going on? Best left to unpacked 13 00:01:09,880 --> 00:01:13,720 Speaker 1: two others. But needless to say, it has been. I 14 00:01:13,760 --> 00:01:18,039 Speaker 1: think Ben described it as like a year long week 15 00:01:18,160 --> 00:01:21,560 Speaker 1: or something like that, which I would completely agree with. 16 00:01:21,880 --> 00:01:26,240 Speaker 1: There's a quote from Lenin he says there are decades 17 00:01:26,280 --> 00:01:30,199 Speaker 1: where nothing happens, and weeks where decades happen. I feel 18 00:01:30,200 --> 00:01:32,600 Speaker 1: like that's kind of where we are right now. And 19 00:01:32,959 --> 00:01:36,320 Speaker 1: who was it who said that any uh, any society 20 00:01:36,480 --> 00:01:41,880 Speaker 1: is uh seven days without food from a revolution? I'll 21 00:01:41,920 --> 00:01:45,399 Speaker 1: find I'll find that and post it. Uh. Today we're 22 00:01:45,400 --> 00:01:48,680 Speaker 1: exploring a story that a lot of people don't know about. 23 00:01:48,840 --> 00:01:53,560 Speaker 1: M For mcgever fans in the audience, you are going 24 00:01:53,680 --> 00:01:59,080 Speaker 1: to enjoy this one. I'll always remember when I learned 25 00:01:59,400 --> 00:02:04,800 Speaker 1: about all all the improvised medical procedures that uh people 26 00:02:05,360 --> 00:02:09,359 Speaker 1: created or invented out of necessity, like you know, using 27 00:02:09,480 --> 00:02:12,360 Speaker 1: glue to seal up a wound, or duct tape or 28 00:02:12,440 --> 00:02:14,720 Speaker 1: something like that. And you hear some of that become 29 00:02:14,800 --> 00:02:18,320 Speaker 1: modern medical practice. Uh, but where does this come from? 30 00:02:18,520 --> 00:02:22,000 Speaker 1: We we found some older practices, old enough that they 31 00:02:22,080 --> 00:02:25,320 Speaker 1: might surprise you in today's episode. Yeah, do you mind 32 00:02:25,400 --> 00:02:28,280 Speaker 1: if I have very quickly just read an exerpt from 33 00:02:28,360 --> 00:02:32,240 Speaker 1: a poem about this the very topic of our show today. 34 00:02:32,560 --> 00:02:35,680 Speaker 1: Oh yeah, please. I love poetry by all means. I'm 35 00:02:35,800 --> 00:02:37,880 Speaker 1: I'm wondering if I know which one it is too. 36 00:02:38,080 --> 00:02:40,920 Speaker 1: I want to see. This is a new one to me. Um, 37 00:02:41,280 --> 00:02:44,919 Speaker 1: and I'm just going it's it's got like three sections. 38 00:02:45,000 --> 00:02:46,600 Speaker 1: I'm not gonna read the whole Thing's gonna read the 39 00:02:46,639 --> 00:02:51,240 Speaker 1: last section. This is some cathedral to die in sunlight 40 00:02:51,600 --> 00:02:56,360 Speaker 1: on stained glass arched cloisters like a real cathedral. There's 41 00:02:56,400 --> 00:03:01,040 Speaker 1: a Catholic priest and a black three peaked hat ci laison, 42 00:03:01,480 --> 00:03:04,240 Speaker 1: stench of gang green and piss. A nurse in a 43 00:03:04,280 --> 00:03:09,880 Speaker 1: white apron replaces his drench dressing with dog tooths phagnum moss. 44 00:03:10,440 --> 00:03:15,320 Speaker 1: It's magic, she says, magic to sweeten you as you go. 45 00:03:16,080 --> 00:03:19,480 Speaker 1: And that's a poem by an anonymous poet um specifically 46 00:03:19,520 --> 00:03:23,920 Speaker 1: talking about the use of sphagnum moss as a wound 47 00:03:24,040 --> 00:03:30,680 Speaker 1: dressing during World War One. And it occurs in three chapters, 48 00:03:30,720 --> 00:03:32,960 Speaker 1: with the first one being about a young couple kind 49 00:03:32,960 --> 00:03:35,119 Speaker 1: of back at home and then the man being sent 50 00:03:35,160 --> 00:03:37,280 Speaker 1: off to war, and then in the third one, he 51 00:03:37,400 --> 00:03:41,560 Speaker 1: you know, was laying laying dying in a cathedral um 52 00:03:41,560 --> 00:03:46,320 Speaker 1: overseas and is attended to by uh, you know what 53 00:03:46,400 --> 00:03:48,760 Speaker 1: could only really be described it's like a guardian angel 54 00:03:48,800 --> 00:03:52,280 Speaker 1: type situation, dressing the wound in this moss. Uh. And 55 00:03:52,360 --> 00:03:54,960 Speaker 1: that might sound weird, the idea of of packing a 56 00:03:55,000 --> 00:03:58,600 Speaker 1: wound with moss, but it turns out, um, it was 57 00:03:58,760 --> 00:04:05,280 Speaker 1: a much more are available and efficient uh dressing than 58 00:04:05,360 --> 00:04:09,920 Speaker 1: even something like cotton or gauze. Yeah, this sounds weird 59 00:04:09,920 --> 00:04:12,320 Speaker 1: to phrase it this way, but there's a there's a 60 00:04:12,400 --> 00:04:18,000 Speaker 1: morbid and fascinating thing about war, and that's war leads 61 00:04:18,080 --> 00:04:21,560 Speaker 1: to great invention. Uh, you know, a lot of a 62 00:04:21,600 --> 00:04:25,400 Speaker 1: lot of things that we take for granted nowadays were 63 00:04:25,480 --> 00:04:30,840 Speaker 1: discovered in war related research, and medicine made huge advances 64 00:04:31,120 --> 00:04:35,000 Speaker 1: in World War One, right where that anonymous poem takes place, 65 00:04:35,080 --> 00:04:38,320 Speaker 1: nineteen sixteen. I believe you said, that's right. This. You know, 66 00:04:38,720 --> 00:04:41,360 Speaker 1: we don't want to we don't want to ignore the 67 00:04:41,400 --> 00:04:45,640 Speaker 1: fact that World War One is often called the first 68 00:04:45,760 --> 00:04:50,840 Speaker 1: mass killing of the twenty century, with like around ten 69 00:04:50,920 --> 00:04:55,840 Speaker 1: million military deaths alone. Again, that's just ten million military deaths, 70 00:04:56,560 --> 00:05:00,560 Speaker 1: but but we also see an inspiring story of doctors 71 00:05:00,839 --> 00:05:04,600 Speaker 1: who were doing everything they could to help soldiers survive 72 00:05:04,880 --> 00:05:08,760 Speaker 1: these new dangerous weapons of war. Yeah, and it's not 73 00:05:08,839 --> 00:05:11,200 Speaker 1: it wasn't even the weapons of war that always resulted 74 00:05:11,200 --> 00:05:15,479 Speaker 1: in their deaths. It was, you know, complications because of 75 00:05:15,520 --> 00:05:18,840 Speaker 1: any number of injuries, like a small injury left untreated 76 00:05:18,839 --> 00:05:23,880 Speaker 1: on the battlefield could result incepsis or gas gang green um. 77 00:05:23,920 --> 00:05:26,400 Speaker 1: And that early in World War One that had been 78 00:05:26,440 --> 00:05:29,600 Speaker 1: a huge problem because of the conditions and the trenches. 79 00:05:30,000 --> 00:05:33,440 Speaker 1: We know that the cleanliness of these kind of foxhole 80 00:05:33,560 --> 00:05:37,320 Speaker 1: trench kind of situations were not up to snuff for sure. 81 00:05:37,360 --> 00:05:39,520 Speaker 1: I mean they were like digging with trains in the ground, 82 00:05:39,560 --> 00:05:42,880 Speaker 1: and there was like human waste everywhere and possibly even 83 00:05:43,160 --> 00:05:48,440 Speaker 1: decaying bodies, and you know, just any number of unsanitary conditions. Uh. 84 00:05:48,440 --> 00:05:50,919 Speaker 1: And that means that you know, and not to mention 85 00:05:51,000 --> 00:05:54,719 Speaker 1: the lack of ability to bathe or change clothes and 86 00:05:54,760 --> 00:05:57,200 Speaker 1: all of that. So there would be like bodily kind 87 00:05:57,240 --> 00:06:01,080 Speaker 1: of filth residue, like all of our clothes litterally across 88 00:06:01,120 --> 00:06:03,839 Speaker 1: the battlefield. And this can get into these wounds, even 89 00:06:03,880 --> 00:06:07,080 Speaker 1: a small wound, and cause sepsis, which is a condition 90 00:06:07,240 --> 00:06:11,279 Speaker 1: that results from an infection and can absolutely lead to 91 00:06:11,279 --> 00:06:14,680 Speaker 1: to death. You know, that's an important fact to hit 92 00:06:14,800 --> 00:06:19,839 Speaker 1: as well. Even surviving an initial wound, your immune system 93 00:06:19,960 --> 00:06:23,120 Speaker 1: might be so compromised already, you might have pre existing injuries. 94 00:06:23,160 --> 00:06:27,120 Speaker 1: You are in a very very filthy place. Uh. So 95 00:06:27,680 --> 00:06:31,320 Speaker 1: people would tend to die from things that maybe didn't 96 00:06:31,360 --> 00:06:34,720 Speaker 1: seem like the initial major causes of death one might 97 00:06:34,760 --> 00:06:38,599 Speaker 1: imagine war, and that's why we see so many advances 98 00:06:39,200 --> 00:06:42,440 Speaker 1: in the field of medicine at this time. Ambulances weren't 99 00:06:42,480 --> 00:06:46,640 Speaker 1: really a thing until World War One, or antiseptic even right, 100 00:06:46,720 --> 00:06:51,160 Speaker 1: like sepsis septic Like you point out all uh anesthesia, 101 00:06:51,680 --> 00:06:55,200 Speaker 1: Thank goodness, none of us were alive before nineteen sixteen. 102 00:06:55,800 --> 00:06:59,080 Speaker 1: I'm a woss on any medical operation. Oh God, even 103 00:06:59,080 --> 00:07:01,320 Speaker 1: the thought of it gives me makes me squeamish. But 104 00:07:01,400 --> 00:07:02,599 Speaker 1: you know, it makes you think about like you know, 105 00:07:02,680 --> 00:07:04,680 Speaker 1: someone's pulling a bullet out or something like that, or 106 00:07:04,800 --> 00:07:06,600 Speaker 1: dressing a wound or stitching up a wound and they 107 00:07:06,640 --> 00:07:08,640 Speaker 1: give you like a leather belt to bite down on. 108 00:07:08,880 --> 00:07:12,320 Speaker 1: That was like the equivalent of of anesthesia at the time. 109 00:07:12,480 --> 00:07:15,080 Speaker 1: And it was because of the horrific conditions and all 110 00:07:15,080 --> 00:07:17,880 Speaker 1: of the suffering that went into the early days of 111 00:07:17,880 --> 00:07:20,960 Speaker 1: World War One that these things were in fact developed. 112 00:07:21,120 --> 00:07:24,040 Speaker 1: But there's a guy by the name of Charles cath 113 00:07:24,120 --> 00:07:29,240 Speaker 1: Kart who was an army surgeon in nineteen fifteen. He 114 00:07:29,320 --> 00:07:30,920 Speaker 1: has also a bit of a history buff, and he 115 00:07:31,040 --> 00:07:37,360 Speaker 1: knew that UH using bog bosses UH known as svagnum 116 00:07:37,400 --> 00:07:42,080 Speaker 1: had been something that was very successful in ancient times 117 00:07:42,480 --> 00:07:46,760 Speaker 1: um even for dressing like really egregious wounds. UH. And 118 00:07:46,840 --> 00:07:51,600 Speaker 1: so he decided to run some tests and established a program. 119 00:07:51,640 --> 00:07:54,000 Speaker 1: It kind of reminds me of that corporation that sort 120 00:07:54,000 --> 00:07:58,360 Speaker 1: of enlisted like school kids to capture fireflies for their 121 00:07:58,400 --> 00:08:04,480 Speaker 1: industrial product. What was it, Yeah, the Sigma Firefly Scientists Club, 122 00:08:04,560 --> 00:08:07,760 Speaker 1: that's what they called themselves. They were based in Missouri. 123 00:08:08,000 --> 00:08:13,600 Speaker 1: This company wanted kids to hunt firebugs, fireflies because they 124 00:08:13,680 --> 00:08:18,800 Speaker 1: could use the bioluminescent, the juice stuff. Yeah. The reason 125 00:08:18,800 --> 00:08:21,440 Speaker 1: there buds glow I think called lucifer race. Uh, to 126 00:08:22,240 --> 00:08:25,880 Speaker 1: detect life forms. They built life detecting kids with them. 127 00:08:25,960 --> 00:08:27,840 Speaker 1: Oh that's right. Yeah, yeah, Well this is you know 128 00:08:27,920 --> 00:08:30,120 Speaker 1: that that was obviously for profit. And of course, as 129 00:08:30,160 --> 00:08:32,680 Speaker 1: we talked about, war does a couple of things. It 130 00:08:33,160 --> 00:08:36,800 Speaker 1: causes technological advancement and also makes certain sectors of the 131 00:08:36,800 --> 00:08:39,880 Speaker 1: economy a hell of a lot of money. UM, So 132 00:08:40,040 --> 00:08:44,080 Speaker 1: you know, well it's not all entirely altruistic. Uh. This 133 00:08:44,200 --> 00:08:48,080 Speaker 1: certainly was something that Charles kathkar Um spearheaded in order 134 00:08:48,160 --> 00:08:50,800 Speaker 1: to kind of figure out how to you know, create 135 00:08:51,240 --> 00:08:55,319 Speaker 1: a repeatable dressing that would be really helpful in the battlefield. 136 00:08:55,360 --> 00:08:58,760 Speaker 1: So he got people um across the UK. He started 137 00:08:58,760 --> 00:09:02,800 Speaker 1: a program uh to collect these bog mosses, and it 138 00:09:02,800 --> 00:09:07,840 Speaker 1: would ultimately become the most widely used field dressing in 139 00:09:07,960 --> 00:09:12,440 Speaker 1: the United Kingdom and uh in the Imperial Land Forces. Um. 140 00:09:12,480 --> 00:09:14,440 Speaker 1: And it became like a part of their kit that 141 00:09:14,480 --> 00:09:16,400 Speaker 1: they carried or even it was I believe sewn into 142 00:09:16,480 --> 00:09:18,959 Speaker 1: the inside of their uniforms. Uh. In the event that 143 00:09:19,000 --> 00:09:20,880 Speaker 1: they were injured, they could actually like you know, stuff 144 00:09:20,920 --> 00:09:24,240 Speaker 1: it with this uh, this material until they were able 145 00:09:24,280 --> 00:09:27,720 Speaker 1: to get more you know, direct medical attention. And so 146 00:09:27,800 --> 00:09:30,760 Speaker 1: there are these swamps or bogs that you hear about 147 00:09:30,760 --> 00:09:34,880 Speaker 1: all across the UK, UH, something like bodmin more Um 148 00:09:34,920 --> 00:09:40,600 Speaker 1: that's in the north of Shetland. Uh. And Stagnum moss 149 00:09:40,720 --> 00:09:45,559 Speaker 1: has some really interesting qualities beyond just you know us 150 00:09:45,640 --> 00:09:48,920 Speaker 1: as a as a field dressing. UH. It retains much 151 00:09:48,960 --> 00:09:51,480 Speaker 1: more liquid than cotton. Like I think you can hold 152 00:09:51,559 --> 00:09:54,080 Speaker 1: like three times its own weight in liquid or something 153 00:09:54,120 --> 00:09:56,680 Speaker 1: like that, and it distributes it more evenly. It's also 154 00:09:56,800 --> 00:10:00,480 Speaker 1: cooler and softer, and weirdly, it being an organic material 155 00:10:00,559 --> 00:10:04,280 Speaker 1: that exists in swamps doesn't irritate the skin as much 156 00:10:04,280 --> 00:10:06,320 Speaker 1: as cotton. That that blows my mind. And it could 157 00:10:06,360 --> 00:10:09,319 Speaker 1: be gathered very cheaply and quickly. You know. One thing 158 00:10:09,320 --> 00:10:12,040 Speaker 1: I love about these kind of stories is it shows 159 00:10:12,080 --> 00:10:15,040 Speaker 1: that even now in the modern day or in our 160 00:10:15,080 --> 00:10:20,120 Speaker 1: modern age, the technology that we as humans create often 161 00:10:20,320 --> 00:10:24,720 Speaker 1: pales in comparison to the natural stuff that was already around. 162 00:10:24,920 --> 00:10:28,600 Speaker 1: Like we you know, some of our biggest scientific breakthroughs 163 00:10:29,640 --> 00:10:33,520 Speaker 1: have been things where we learned to mimic forms and 164 00:10:33,600 --> 00:10:37,800 Speaker 1: functions that existed in nature already. And you know, I 165 00:10:38,120 --> 00:10:41,240 Speaker 1: think also we should point out that part of this 166 00:10:41,360 --> 00:10:45,520 Speaker 1: Pete Moss decision or part of this people most discovery 167 00:10:45,840 --> 00:10:51,600 Speaker 1: came from a a desperate mcgever attempts. People didn't you know, 168 00:10:51,720 --> 00:10:55,520 Speaker 1: do sedate research into Pete Moss and then say oh, okay, yeah, 169 00:10:55,559 --> 00:10:57,240 Speaker 1: why don't we try it out? We got all this 170 00:10:57,400 --> 00:11:02,199 Speaker 1: moss Instead, they were they were searching for an alternative 171 00:11:02,240 --> 00:11:07,320 Speaker 1: to bandages, which were in very short supply because tons, 172 00:11:07,520 --> 00:11:10,439 Speaker 1: literal tons of people were being injured. Yeah, there was 173 00:11:10,480 --> 00:11:14,880 Speaker 1: this guy named w Watson Shane UM of the Royal 174 00:11:15,040 --> 00:11:18,000 Speaker 1: College of Surgeons in England, and he was one of 175 00:11:18,080 --> 00:11:20,560 Speaker 1: the first people that realized the sepsis was a real 176 00:11:20,640 --> 00:11:23,480 Speaker 1: issue UM and kind of helped try to get the 177 00:11:24,120 --> 00:11:27,600 Speaker 1: ground swell going to Um come up with a solution, 178 00:11:27,640 --> 00:11:30,280 Speaker 1: like you said, and that was everything from using like 179 00:11:30,440 --> 00:11:34,520 Speaker 1: chlorine solutions to spray down these wounds to coming up 180 00:11:34,559 --> 00:11:38,240 Speaker 1: with alternatives to um, you know, creating bandages that had 181 00:11:38,280 --> 00:11:42,240 Speaker 1: like carbolic acid or formalde hide or even mercury chloride 182 00:11:42,280 --> 00:11:44,040 Speaker 1: and all this this is these are not things you 183 00:11:44,080 --> 00:11:47,200 Speaker 1: hear about. These obviously were failed experiments and you know, 184 00:11:47,440 --> 00:11:50,920 Speaker 1: mainly none of them works. And uh it was truly 185 00:11:51,080 --> 00:11:53,559 Speaker 1: to your point, Ben, because of a shortage of cotton 186 00:11:54,200 --> 00:11:58,320 Speaker 1: um that this really became an issue and they were 187 00:11:58,400 --> 00:12:00,920 Speaker 1: kind of at a loss. And that's when the British 188 00:12:01,000 --> 00:12:04,920 Speaker 1: Army surgeon Charles Cathcart uh really saved the day because, 189 00:12:04,960 --> 00:12:07,240 Speaker 1: like I said, he kind of knew about some of 190 00:12:07,240 --> 00:12:10,560 Speaker 1: the stuff from antiquity. Uh. The notion of using these 191 00:12:10,640 --> 00:12:14,760 Speaker 1: um these mosses too stuff wounds um and they kind 192 00:12:14,800 --> 00:12:18,800 Speaker 1: of took that and ran with it. Yeah, peat moss. Also, 193 00:12:19,160 --> 00:12:22,880 Speaker 1: you know street names spagnum, which I can't decide whether 194 00:12:22,960 --> 00:12:25,440 Speaker 1: that's my least favorite word of the of the day 195 00:12:25,600 --> 00:12:29,640 Speaker 1: or my most favorite word of the day. But anyway, spagnum, 196 00:12:29,640 --> 00:12:33,160 Speaker 1: which sounds like a very strange sort of spaghetti, is 197 00:12:33,280 --> 00:12:37,560 Speaker 1: common in that area you described in Shetland, and it 198 00:12:37,640 --> 00:12:42,400 Speaker 1: basically thrives in cold, damp climates. By itself, it doesn't 199 00:12:42,440 --> 00:12:45,760 Speaker 1: look really impressive. It's tiny, it's a little star shaped plant. 200 00:12:46,600 --> 00:12:51,040 Speaker 1: But for thousands and thousands of years, people in the 201 00:12:51,080 --> 00:12:57,440 Speaker 1: region have been preserving bog bodies. They're called in in 202 00:12:57,640 --> 00:12:59,880 Speaker 1: peat moss in the peat, and it's also been used 203 00:13:00,040 --> 00:13:04,640 Speaker 1: as fuel. Cathcart is kind of reapplying something that ancient 204 00:13:04,920 --> 00:13:09,000 Speaker 1: people knew about. We found that there are some sources 205 00:13:09,000 --> 00:13:12,320 Speaker 1: from the Gaelic record who said that people fighting in 206 00:13:12,360 --> 00:13:17,520 Speaker 1: the ancient Battle of Clontarf were documented doing the same thing. Well, 207 00:13:17,559 --> 00:13:19,440 Speaker 1: it's sort of the same thing. They were packing their 208 00:13:19,440 --> 00:13:22,360 Speaker 1: wounds with moss. I believe it's also something that was 209 00:13:22,440 --> 00:13:27,319 Speaker 1: used by Native Americans um as absorbent material to align 210 00:13:27,520 --> 00:13:31,600 Speaker 1: their children's cradles with um and and used as kind 211 00:13:31,600 --> 00:13:35,120 Speaker 1: of like a naturally occurring diaper because of those absorbing qualities. 212 00:13:35,360 --> 00:13:38,160 Speaker 1: They were even using the Napoleonic and Franco Prussian Wars. 213 00:13:38,880 --> 00:13:43,319 Speaker 1: But it wasn't really until this you know, need came 214 00:13:43,360 --> 00:13:46,280 Speaker 1: about in World War One with these men just you know, 215 00:13:46,960 --> 00:13:49,760 Speaker 1: suffering in agony and then dying left and right, that 216 00:13:49,880 --> 00:13:52,040 Speaker 1: they realized, Okay, we've kind of got something on our 217 00:13:52,040 --> 00:13:56,040 Speaker 1: hands here, and it was very readily available in the UK. Yeah, yeah, yeah, 218 00:13:56,040 --> 00:13:59,640 Speaker 1: and our guy Cathcart teams up with a botanist named 219 00:13:59,679 --> 00:14:04,560 Speaker 1: is Bailey Balfour, and they're looking into this moss, right 220 00:14:04,600 --> 00:14:07,640 Speaker 1: because pete moss. This happens pretty often with plants, right. 221 00:14:07,800 --> 00:14:12,160 Speaker 1: Pete moss is sort of a group name describing several 222 00:14:12,280 --> 00:14:17,520 Speaker 1: different species. They found two species in particular that seemed 223 00:14:17,559 --> 00:14:21,960 Speaker 1: like they would be able to function as natural bandages, 224 00:14:22,280 --> 00:14:26,160 Speaker 1: and they wrote an article about it in the Scotsman's 225 00:14:26,160 --> 00:14:29,760 Speaker 1: Science and Nature section where they were basically pitching moss 226 00:14:29,880 --> 00:14:32,720 Speaker 1: to the crowd, you know, not quite snake oil level, 227 00:14:32,760 --> 00:14:35,160 Speaker 1: but they were like, look, we're I'm a botanist, I'm 228 00:14:35,240 --> 00:14:37,440 Speaker 1: I'm a doctor. We know our stuff, and you know, 229 00:14:37,640 --> 00:14:40,480 Speaker 1: we agree moss is for the right thing for you. 230 00:14:40,840 --> 00:14:44,120 Speaker 1: They also said something that was pretty hardcore. This is 231 00:14:44,120 --> 00:14:49,560 Speaker 1: in the article fossest at a host. It is right 232 00:14:49,600 --> 00:14:52,840 Speaker 1: to be taught even by the enemy. That was that's 233 00:14:52,920 --> 00:14:55,360 Speaker 1: movie level, man, that's good. Is that French or is 234 00:14:55,360 --> 00:14:59,040 Speaker 1: that like Latin? I think it's French Latin, I believe, ah, yes, uh, 235 00:14:59,080 --> 00:15:02,680 Speaker 1: And it pretty quickly started developing some level of consensus. 236 00:15:02,760 --> 00:15:05,200 Speaker 1: Um some other field surgeons started to chime in. The 237 00:15:05,200 --> 00:15:09,040 Speaker 1: Lieutenant Colonel ep sewell Um, who worked at the General 238 00:15:09,080 --> 00:15:13,240 Speaker 1: hospital in Alexandria responded to the article saying, yeah, it's 239 00:15:13,400 --> 00:15:16,440 Speaker 1: it's absorbent far more than cotton wools, and and also 240 00:15:16,520 --> 00:15:20,440 Speaker 1: something we haven't mentioned, has a remarkable deodorizing property. Because 241 00:15:20,520 --> 00:15:23,040 Speaker 1: let's not forget if your gangernous or if you're like, 242 00:15:23,240 --> 00:15:26,240 Speaker 1: you know, wounds smell that that that can be a 243 00:15:26,280 --> 00:15:29,320 Speaker 1: real issue. Um. So this was helping that side of 244 00:15:29,360 --> 00:15:32,880 Speaker 1: it too. Um. And they started doing some kind of 245 00:15:33,040 --> 00:15:34,880 Speaker 1: I don't know call them clinical trials, I guess for 246 00:15:34,960 --> 00:15:37,520 Speaker 1: lack of a better term, but they started kind of 247 00:15:37,560 --> 00:15:40,800 Speaker 1: seeing that, uh, these these things were absolutely true and 248 00:15:40,800 --> 00:15:42,680 Speaker 1: could be measured. It's phagnum. Moss could hold up to 249 00:15:42,720 --> 00:15:45,000 Speaker 1: twenty two times its own weight in liquid. I said 250 00:15:45,040 --> 00:15:46,640 Speaker 1: at the top of the show something like five times. 251 00:15:46,680 --> 00:15:49,400 Speaker 1: That was totally off, crazy, twenty two times its own 252 00:15:49,440 --> 00:15:53,120 Speaker 1: weight in liquid. Uh so it is absolutely um twice 253 00:15:53,200 --> 00:15:57,840 Speaker 1: as absorbent as cotton and cath Kart was quoted in 254 00:15:57,960 --> 00:16:00,960 Speaker 1: some of his research saying, whereas a path of absorbing 255 00:16:01,040 --> 00:16:04,840 Speaker 1: cotton allows san yes discharges to penetrate and pass beyond 256 00:16:04,960 --> 00:16:09,320 Speaker 1: to the bedclothes, a pan of sphagnum absorbs and holds 257 00:16:09,480 --> 00:16:12,360 Speaker 1: up the discharges. In other words, it wouldn't leak out 258 00:16:12,520 --> 00:16:15,240 Speaker 1: onto your you know, your bad and your mattress, you 259 00:16:15,280 --> 00:16:18,320 Speaker 1: know your your sheets. Yeah, and I want to shout 260 00:16:18,320 --> 00:16:21,360 Speaker 1: out sandy us as um. You know, forget what I 261 00:16:21,360 --> 00:16:26,240 Speaker 1: said about spactum. Uh, Sannius is probably my favorite word, 262 00:16:26,440 --> 00:16:29,440 Speaker 1: So sphagnum, you're officially my least favorite words. Sorry about that. 263 00:16:29,800 --> 00:16:32,960 Speaker 1: This was a new word for me. Sandius sounds like 264 00:16:33,040 --> 00:16:35,920 Speaker 1: maybe it means something clean because of that, you know 265 00:16:36,000 --> 00:16:40,320 Speaker 1: that commonality with sanitary, But it means quite the opposite. 266 00:16:40,360 --> 00:16:44,440 Speaker 1: Sanius means something consisting of a thin mixture of serum 267 00:16:44,560 --> 00:16:49,720 Speaker 1: and pus with a slight bloody tinge. So it's super 268 00:16:49,760 --> 00:17:00,520 Speaker 1: appetizing stuff. Now, with the benefit of modern science, we 269 00:17:00,520 --> 00:17:04,280 Speaker 1: we've drilled down into the nuts and bolts of what 270 00:17:04,560 --> 00:17:10,360 Speaker 1: makes sphagnum this this moss so good at being an 271 00:17:10,359 --> 00:17:14,240 Speaker 1: improvised bandage. Yeah, and it's really interesting stuff. Um. It's 272 00:17:14,280 --> 00:17:17,040 Speaker 1: all about the cellular structure of the moss. And there 273 00:17:17,119 --> 00:17:21,160 Speaker 1: is a researcher at Sunni Environmental Science and Forestry UH 274 00:17:21,320 --> 00:17:25,800 Speaker 1: named Robin Kimmerer who has done extensive research on moss, 275 00:17:26,119 --> 00:17:28,720 Speaker 1: which seems, you know, on the surface like the world's 276 00:17:28,760 --> 00:17:32,440 Speaker 1: most boring scientists, but it's pretty fascinating stuff. So you 277 00:17:32,480 --> 00:17:35,720 Speaker 1: wrote a book called Gathering Moss, a Natural and Cultural 278 00:17:35,840 --> 00:17:39,480 Speaker 1: History of Mosses. I'm sorry, I can't help but just 279 00:17:39,520 --> 00:17:41,800 Speaker 1: say that does sound like the most boring book ever 280 00:17:41,880 --> 00:17:44,200 Speaker 1: of all time. But not to be the case, because 281 00:17:44,240 --> 00:17:47,560 Speaker 1: it turns out that Sphagnum is really fascinating stuff is uh, 282 00:17:47,680 --> 00:17:52,000 Speaker 1: it's dead, which I thought was fascinating because you know, 283 00:17:52,080 --> 00:17:55,159 Speaker 1: you think of plants having healing properties. You think it 284 00:17:55,200 --> 00:17:57,800 Speaker 1: has something to do with like them being imbued with 285 00:17:57,840 --> 00:18:00,560 Speaker 1: some kind of life giving power. And know, the stuff 286 00:18:00,600 --> 00:18:04,160 Speaker 1: is dead and that's important because it's empty. It needs 287 00:18:04,200 --> 00:18:06,080 Speaker 1: to be that way so that it can be filled 288 00:18:06,119 --> 00:18:09,280 Speaker 1: with water. That's how it functions in the bog and 289 00:18:09,400 --> 00:18:12,439 Speaker 1: keeping the east ecosystem a certain level of acidic, I 290 00:18:12,440 --> 00:18:15,520 Speaker 1: believe is what it is um and that's what allows 291 00:18:15,520 --> 00:18:17,960 Speaker 1: it to soak up blood and all of that. What 292 00:18:18,119 --> 00:18:22,359 Speaker 1: is it sandius fluids? Ben Yeah, sanius fluids. It also 293 00:18:22,440 --> 00:18:27,320 Speaker 1: has antiseptic properties, as we mentioned, we know how those work. 294 00:18:27,400 --> 00:18:32,960 Speaker 1: So thanks again to professor camera here, the cell walls 295 00:18:33,000 --> 00:18:38,680 Speaker 1: of these plants have a particular sugar molecule that creates 296 00:18:39,160 --> 00:18:43,479 Speaker 1: quote camera here creates an electrochemical halo around all of 297 00:18:43,520 --> 00:18:47,160 Speaker 1: the cells, and this means that the cell walls end 298 00:18:47,240 --> 00:18:51,879 Speaker 1: up being negatively charged. Then why are you talking about 299 00:18:52,320 --> 00:18:55,960 Speaker 1: electrochemical stuff. We're talking about antiseptic stuff. Just walk with 300 00:18:56,080 --> 00:19:00,600 Speaker 1: us here. These negative charges make it such that positively 301 00:19:00,720 --> 00:19:05,240 Speaker 1: charged nutrient ions those are things like sodium or potassium, 302 00:19:05,680 --> 00:19:09,960 Speaker 1: get attracted to the spectrum and as the moss soaps 303 00:19:10,040 --> 00:19:15,719 Speaker 1: up all the negatively charged nutrients and soil, it releases 304 00:19:15,920 --> 00:19:20,320 Speaker 1: positively charged ions. This basically long story short, this makes 305 00:19:20,359 --> 00:19:23,600 Speaker 1: the environment around the moss kind of like you said, 306 00:19:24,160 --> 00:19:28,000 Speaker 1: it makes it acidic, and that's part of the reason 307 00:19:28,119 --> 00:19:32,520 Speaker 1: that bog bodies are so creepily well preserved even when 308 00:19:32,560 --> 00:19:35,399 Speaker 1: they're thousands and thousands of years old. So back to 309 00:19:35,480 --> 00:19:38,600 Speaker 1: the war, the Great War, the first what is it 310 00:19:38,760 --> 00:19:43,280 Speaker 1: mass killing of the twentieth century. Um, it continued to 311 00:19:43,440 --> 00:19:48,200 Speaker 1: rage and and was awful uh and continued to produce many, 312 00:19:48,240 --> 00:19:51,320 Speaker 1: many deaths and and horrible injuries that needed to be dressed. 313 00:19:51,320 --> 00:19:53,920 Speaker 1: And so the need for bantages just kept going up 314 00:19:53,960 --> 00:19:58,119 Speaker 1: and up and up, and sphagnum really was crucial because 315 00:19:58,160 --> 00:20:01,360 Speaker 1: it provided this raw material that could be gathered. Um. 316 00:20:01,520 --> 00:20:05,280 Speaker 1: The Canadian Red Cross Society Ontario in nineteen sixteen got 317 00:20:05,280 --> 00:20:10,320 Speaker 1: in on it and started providing dressings using sphagnum, over 318 00:20:10,480 --> 00:20:14,200 Speaker 1: one million of them UM and nearly two million um 319 00:20:14,440 --> 00:20:19,680 Speaker 1: more like padded compresses and a million UM pads. And 320 00:20:19,800 --> 00:20:22,600 Speaker 1: it was all with moss that was collected in British 321 00:20:22,640 --> 00:20:26,159 Speaker 1: Columbia and Nova Scotia, which has very similar kind of 322 00:20:26,240 --> 00:20:31,400 Speaker 1: bog like coastal regions. And by nineteen eighteen you were 323 00:20:31,440 --> 00:20:35,000 Speaker 1: seeing more than a million of these dressings a month 324 00:20:35,200 --> 00:20:39,760 Speaker 1: being sent out in Britain to hospitals all over Europe, 325 00:20:40,160 --> 00:20:45,000 Speaker 1: also even as far as Mesopotamia or Egypt. Yeah, and 326 00:20:45,080 --> 00:20:49,600 Speaker 1: people started taking collective action around the United Kingdom and 327 00:20:49,760 --> 00:20:52,960 Speaker 1: in Canada and the US as well. Of folks got 328 00:20:53,000 --> 00:20:56,720 Speaker 1: together and they organized basically moss hunts to try to 329 00:20:56,800 --> 00:21:01,159 Speaker 1: scare up bandage alternatives. But they called them drives, you know, 330 00:21:01,280 --> 00:21:04,600 Speaker 1: like a fun drive or something, and local papers would 331 00:21:04,640 --> 00:21:07,679 Speaker 1: announce them. A lot of adult men were off fighting 332 00:21:07,720 --> 00:21:12,639 Speaker 1: in the war or candidly already died, so many, you know, 333 00:21:12,680 --> 00:21:16,320 Speaker 1: a great deal of the volunteers here were women and children, 334 00:21:16,840 --> 00:21:20,280 Speaker 1: and they get these weird instructions. One that sounds kind 335 00:21:20,320 --> 00:21:23,480 Speaker 1: of kind of fun, uh, there was a there was 336 00:21:23,520 --> 00:21:26,840 Speaker 1: an announcement in the UK that told people, when you 337 00:21:26,920 --> 00:21:30,760 Speaker 1: get your moss, fill the sack up your moss sack 338 00:21:31,560 --> 00:21:35,000 Speaker 1: not all the way up like maybe seventy and then 339 00:21:35,160 --> 00:21:38,400 Speaker 1: drag it to any kind of hard ground and then 340 00:21:38,520 --> 00:21:41,240 Speaker 1: just dance on it for a while. I mean, there 341 00:21:41,280 --> 00:21:44,680 Speaker 1: was a reason we should put that part in. Uh. 342 00:21:44,720 --> 00:21:47,560 Speaker 1: They wanted to. It was kind of like crushing grapes 343 00:21:47,680 --> 00:21:50,959 Speaker 1: or something. They were they were stomping on this stuff 344 00:21:51,240 --> 00:21:54,600 Speaker 1: to get as much water out as they could. Yeah, 345 00:21:54,640 --> 00:21:57,080 Speaker 1: and kind of distributed a little bit. And exactly and 346 00:21:57,119 --> 00:21:59,200 Speaker 1: on the other side of the war, Germany was really 347 00:21:59,240 --> 00:22:02,600 Speaker 1: into using the stuff to um. And you know they 348 00:22:02,640 --> 00:22:06,679 Speaker 1: have again also like Canada and and and the UK uh, 349 00:22:06,840 --> 00:22:12,359 Speaker 1: similar climates uh and terrains that are very conducive to 350 00:22:12,400 --> 00:22:14,359 Speaker 1: this kind of moss growing. Um. So they have a 351 00:22:14,359 --> 00:22:17,480 Speaker 1: lot of bogs in northeastern Germany and in Bavaria that 352 00:22:17,520 --> 00:22:20,880 Speaker 1: they would just you know, pillage for the stuff. Uh. 353 00:22:20,920 --> 00:22:25,560 Speaker 1: And very similarly, um, they only maybe a little less 354 00:22:25,840 --> 00:22:29,480 Speaker 1: like hey, go team Uh. They actually used Allied prisoners 355 00:22:29,520 --> 00:22:33,600 Speaker 1: of war to go out and gather these these bog mosses. 356 00:22:34,000 --> 00:22:36,400 Speaker 1: There was even like a headline about a gentleman who 357 00:22:36,400 --> 00:22:41,399 Speaker 1: walked over a thousand miles to collect mosses. Uh. And 358 00:22:41,840 --> 00:22:44,800 Speaker 1: you know the ones that weren't like, you know, basically 359 00:22:45,440 --> 00:22:50,160 Speaker 1: POWs that were forced to do it. We're almost always volunteers. Um, 360 00:22:50,200 --> 00:22:52,720 Speaker 1: and it really did seem to make a huge difference. 361 00:22:52,880 --> 00:22:55,240 Speaker 1: It obviously wasn't the same as some sort of life 362 00:22:55,240 --> 00:22:59,959 Speaker 1: saving uh you know, serum or you know, antiseptic or anesthetic, 363 00:23:00,600 --> 00:23:03,680 Speaker 1: but it definitely kept people in the in a pinch 364 00:23:04,280 --> 00:23:07,720 Speaker 1: from getting you know, sept sepsis and and dying on 365 00:23:07,760 --> 00:23:09,639 Speaker 1: the battlefield before they had a chance to actually have 366 00:23:09,720 --> 00:23:12,080 Speaker 1: their wounds properly looked at. Because you have to remember, too, 367 00:23:12,119 --> 00:23:13,960 Speaker 1: this is like the first line of defense if you 368 00:23:14,000 --> 00:23:17,760 Speaker 1: get shot or winged on the battlefield and you need 369 00:23:17,800 --> 00:23:20,879 Speaker 1: to you know, bide some time. This is what you 370 00:23:20,960 --> 00:23:23,760 Speaker 1: have sewn into the lining of your uniform, and you 371 00:23:23,760 --> 00:23:25,919 Speaker 1: you know, rip it out and cover your wound so 372 00:23:25,960 --> 00:23:28,199 Speaker 1: it doesn't get any crap in it that's gonna make 373 00:23:28,240 --> 00:23:30,679 Speaker 1: it get infected, and then you're able to kind of 374 00:23:30,720 --> 00:23:32,800 Speaker 1: live to fight another day, or at least to get 375 00:23:33,040 --> 00:23:35,520 Speaker 1: a proper medic to look at you. I feel like 376 00:23:35,520 --> 00:23:39,359 Speaker 1: I'm almost going into infomercial mode here because but wait, 377 00:23:39,520 --> 00:23:43,560 Speaker 1: there's more. There was one country that still had a 378 00:23:43,640 --> 00:23:46,919 Speaker 1: lot of cotton, and that was the United States. The 379 00:23:47,000 --> 00:23:50,520 Speaker 1: United States had quite a bit of cotton, and they 380 00:23:50,640 --> 00:23:54,879 Speaker 1: understood that these they understood, you know, these bandages, these 381 00:23:54,960 --> 00:23:59,440 Speaker 1: plant based bandages were making a big splash right in society. 382 00:23:59,840 --> 00:24:03,600 Speaker 1: And they ended up trading gas mask parts with other 383 00:24:03,680 --> 00:24:08,400 Speaker 1: countries so that they could get a moss supply because 384 00:24:08,520 --> 00:24:13,400 Speaker 1: they found out spagnum bandages weren't just an alternative, they 385 00:24:13,440 --> 00:24:17,199 Speaker 1: were better than the cotton bandages that everyone once had 386 00:24:17,240 --> 00:24:22,920 Speaker 1: been so worried about. They also people also, um kind 387 00:24:22,960 --> 00:24:25,960 Speaker 1: of like when you see a recipe forums and people 388 00:24:25,960 --> 00:24:28,399 Speaker 1: start arguing about the best way to you know, cook 389 00:24:28,400 --> 00:24:31,160 Speaker 1: a steak or to uh, you know, bake a cake. 390 00:24:32,040 --> 00:24:37,119 Speaker 1: It seems like different countries and institutions started arguing about 391 00:24:37,119 --> 00:24:40,239 Speaker 1: how best how they preferred to do their bandages. And 392 00:24:40,240 --> 00:24:43,840 Speaker 1: and also, let's not forgether, this was a renewable resource. Um, 393 00:24:43,920 --> 00:24:47,320 Speaker 1: they could you know, gather this stuff, uh, and as 394 00:24:47,359 --> 00:24:50,760 Speaker 1: long as they didn't mess with the layer of pete underneath. 395 00:24:50,800 --> 00:24:53,320 Speaker 1: They call it pete moss because it grows in pete. 396 00:24:53,600 --> 00:24:55,399 Speaker 1: What is pete again? Ben I think of it in 397 00:24:55,520 --> 00:24:58,280 Speaker 1: terms of like peated whiskey. It's a material that can 398 00:24:58,320 --> 00:25:02,080 Speaker 1: be burned to make a matic smoke that is used 399 00:25:02,119 --> 00:25:05,959 Speaker 1: in the in the distilling process of certain scotch whiskey's um. 400 00:25:06,040 --> 00:25:08,600 Speaker 1: But it occurs organically, and I believe it's a very 401 00:25:08,680 --> 00:25:12,000 Speaker 1: nutrient rich material. But what what is it exactly? It's 402 00:25:12,080 --> 00:25:19,240 Speaker 1: it's essentially partially decayed vegetable matter. So you'll see it 403 00:25:19,320 --> 00:25:23,280 Speaker 1: called a brown deposit. It's not quite like soil like 404 00:25:23,359 --> 00:25:25,520 Speaker 1: you've heard of people cutting peat and stuff like that 405 00:25:25,600 --> 00:25:29,800 Speaker 1: to burn it. It's it's gunky okay checks out. So yeah, 406 00:25:29,840 --> 00:25:32,680 Speaker 1: you wouldn't want to disturb that layer because that's what's 407 00:25:32,680 --> 00:25:34,880 Speaker 1: going to cause it to be able to continue to regrow. 408 00:25:35,359 --> 00:25:39,160 Speaker 1: But uh M, that botton, as we mentioned, did say 409 00:25:39,200 --> 00:25:41,879 Speaker 1: that you know, when you have folks coming out and 410 00:25:41,960 --> 00:25:44,920 Speaker 1: trumping through these bogs all the time getting the stuff, 411 00:25:45,320 --> 00:25:47,320 Speaker 1: uh there is going to be some kind of collateral 412 00:25:47,400 --> 00:25:50,880 Speaker 1: damage to the peat layers. And that is why it's 413 00:25:50,880 --> 00:25:54,200 Speaker 1: a good thing that we don't use pete as bandages anymore. 414 00:25:54,240 --> 00:25:57,280 Speaker 1: Cotton is much more readily available now, of course, and 415 00:25:57,320 --> 00:26:02,040 Speaker 1: it works just fine. Um. If we continued to forage 416 00:26:02,080 --> 00:26:08,000 Speaker 1: for this pete it could potentially damage those ecosystems significantly. 417 00:26:08,520 --> 00:26:11,840 Speaker 1: They're called pete lands, and they're full of this phagnum 418 00:26:11,880 --> 00:26:15,440 Speaker 1: and other types of mosses that have been accumulating carbon 419 00:26:16,000 --> 00:26:19,240 Speaker 1: um for thousands of years in these underground layers of 420 00:26:19,280 --> 00:26:24,320 Speaker 1: pete um. And if you start clearing away the top 421 00:26:24,440 --> 00:26:27,720 Speaker 1: layers and those bottom layers are eventually going to dry out, 422 00:26:28,160 --> 00:26:31,360 Speaker 1: and then that carbon can leak out into the atmosphere, 423 00:26:31,720 --> 00:26:34,080 Speaker 1: and that could be a problem because peat lands actually 424 00:26:34,280 --> 00:26:39,879 Speaker 1: play a role in uh global climate change. Um pete 425 00:26:39,880 --> 00:26:43,480 Speaker 1: can be used as biofuel and pete lands are very 426 00:26:43,640 --> 00:26:47,280 Speaker 1: rich ecosystems on their own that support a lot of 427 00:26:47,400 --> 00:26:51,159 Speaker 1: rare species of plants, carnivorous plants, I believe. Yeah, that 428 00:26:51,280 --> 00:26:53,960 Speaker 1: was a new one for me to know, the carnivorous 429 00:26:54,000 --> 00:26:59,040 Speaker 1: plants of of the bog lands, which sounds like, you know, 430 00:26:59,080 --> 00:27:01,879 Speaker 1: it sounds like a story you would read in scary 431 00:27:01,920 --> 00:27:04,440 Speaker 1: stories to tell in the dark or something. But this 432 00:27:04,560 --> 00:27:08,280 Speaker 1: is this is true, you know. The professor Camera argues 433 00:27:08,359 --> 00:27:11,600 Speaker 1: that the same things that make this moss great for 434 00:27:11,680 --> 00:27:15,760 Speaker 1: bandaging are the same things that make it great for 435 00:27:16,000 --> 00:27:20,600 Speaker 1: creating and perpetuating bogs, and now you know, there's a 436 00:27:20,600 --> 00:27:24,720 Speaker 1: lot of development in the United Kingdom right in general. 437 00:27:25,040 --> 00:27:29,280 Speaker 1: So if we take that particular example, uh sphagnum, these 438 00:27:29,320 --> 00:27:34,119 Speaker 1: peat lands and these bogs are actually these incredibly bio 439 00:27:34,200 --> 00:27:38,560 Speaker 1: diverse pockets of the region because you know, given the 440 00:27:38,760 --> 00:27:43,920 Speaker 1: acidity involved here, the plants that live in the bogs 441 00:27:44,400 --> 00:27:48,280 Speaker 1: are highly adapted to a very strange and unique environment. 442 00:27:48,359 --> 00:27:52,880 Speaker 1: So there are a lot of distinct creatures that live here. Um. 443 00:27:52,920 --> 00:27:55,439 Speaker 1: But you know, if if you still, if you're like, 444 00:27:55,520 --> 00:27:59,960 Speaker 1: forget it, guys, I am convinced. No more cotton bandages 445 00:28:00,119 --> 00:28:05,320 Speaker 1: for me. Um. I believe a while back, some people 446 00:28:05,320 --> 00:28:08,280 Speaker 1: in the U s we're experimenting with using this moss 447 00:28:08,359 --> 00:28:14,119 Speaker 1: for other sanitary supplies. They called it phag Nikins doesn't 448 00:28:14,200 --> 00:28:16,639 Speaker 1: roll off the tongue exactly. Ben earlier, when you were 449 00:28:16,680 --> 00:28:21,200 Speaker 1: talking about how Sphagnum creates acidity, it made me think 450 00:28:21,240 --> 00:28:28,919 Speaker 1: of how it has a really strong pH sphagnum. Okay, 451 00:28:28,960 --> 00:28:32,080 Speaker 1: I'm done, I'm here. I'm here all week, or at 452 00:28:32,160 --> 00:28:39,960 Speaker 1: least for the rest of the afternoon. This is one 453 00:28:39,960 --> 00:28:44,320 Speaker 1: of those stories that doesn't get the attention it deserves. Obviously, 454 00:28:44,560 --> 00:28:47,680 Speaker 1: you know, Um, I think I speak for all three 455 00:28:47,680 --> 00:28:50,560 Speaker 1: of us when I say we love people who are 456 00:28:51,080 --> 00:28:56,040 Speaker 1: experts at incredibly specific things. If you are a firefly expert, 457 00:28:56,400 --> 00:29:00,400 Speaker 1: if you are what are the anti experts, mrmacologists, you're 458 00:29:00,400 --> 00:29:05,320 Speaker 1: one of those, or the country's foremost expert in underwater explosions. Oh, yes, 459 00:29:05,400 --> 00:29:11,719 Speaker 1: that's right, yes, Dr Rachel Lance. Oh, if you're listening, Rachel, 460 00:29:12,240 --> 00:29:15,600 Speaker 1: you ruined action movie explosions for us. But you did 461 00:29:15,640 --> 00:29:18,040 Speaker 1: the right thing. Thank you so much for doing that. 462 00:29:18,400 --> 00:29:21,360 Speaker 1: Oh that was that was a great interview. Um. I 463 00:29:21,400 --> 00:29:24,680 Speaker 1: do want to leave us with you know, we started 464 00:29:25,080 --> 00:29:30,280 Speaker 1: today's episode on the quotation from Poets world War One, 465 00:29:30,960 --> 00:29:34,240 Speaker 1: and Poets world War One had a lot of important 466 00:29:34,320 --> 00:29:37,440 Speaker 1: things to say, right, and many of them died very, 467 00:29:37,560 --> 00:29:41,400 Speaker 1: very young. There's one poem that, uh, if you guys 468 00:29:41,400 --> 00:29:43,240 Speaker 1: are okay with I'd like to read a little excerpt 469 00:29:43,240 --> 00:29:46,400 Speaker 1: from Awesome. This one I think gives a good picture 470 00:29:46,400 --> 00:29:49,680 Speaker 1: of what the situation was on the ground. It's just 471 00:29:49,760 --> 00:29:53,920 Speaker 1: the very end of it. If in some smothering dreams, 472 00:29:53,960 --> 00:29:56,960 Speaker 1: you two could face behind the wagon that we flung 473 00:29:57,040 --> 00:30:00,360 Speaker 1: him in and watched the white eyes writhing in his face, 474 00:30:00,720 --> 00:30:03,880 Speaker 1: his hanging face like a devil's sick of sin. If 475 00:30:03,920 --> 00:30:07,240 Speaker 1: you could hear at every jolt the blood come gargling 476 00:30:07,320 --> 00:30:11,560 Speaker 1: from the froth corrupted lungs, obscene as cancer, bitter as 477 00:30:11,600 --> 00:30:15,120 Speaker 1: the cud of vile and curable sores on innocent tongues. 478 00:30:15,240 --> 00:30:18,600 Speaker 1: My friends, you would not tell with such high zest 479 00:30:19,040 --> 00:30:23,160 Speaker 1: to children ardent for some desperate glory, that old lie 480 00:30:23,680 --> 00:30:28,200 Speaker 1: dulce at ducora mest pro patria mori, which is Latin 481 00:30:28,280 --> 00:30:31,280 Speaker 1: for it is sweet and fitting to die for one's country. 482 00:30:31,720 --> 00:30:35,200 Speaker 1: Heavy man, heavy stuff. Sorry, it's like my favorite poem 483 00:30:35,240 --> 00:30:39,200 Speaker 1: from that time. That's good, dude, it's good. What was it? Oh, guys, 484 00:30:39,280 --> 00:30:42,800 Speaker 1: we're sorry. Was the froth thing something that was the 485 00:30:42,840 --> 00:30:47,080 Speaker 1: first part? Froth corrupted lungs? It's a very corrupted, No, 486 00:30:47,240 --> 00:30:50,560 Speaker 1: it is. The images is palpable. It's going to haunt me, ben. 487 00:30:51,160 --> 00:30:53,120 Speaker 1: But yeah, I like a poem at the top and 488 00:30:53,160 --> 00:30:55,560 Speaker 1: a poem at the bottom. Maybe we should endeavor to 489 00:30:55,600 --> 00:30:57,880 Speaker 1: do that with every episode of ridiculous history. What do 490 00:30:57,920 --> 00:30:59,840 Speaker 1: you think I think we give it, you know, I like, 491 00:31:00,160 --> 00:31:02,640 Speaker 1: let's give it the old college shot. Uh, maybe it 492 00:31:02,640 --> 00:31:05,960 Speaker 1: will be like our souf John Stevens esque quest to 493 00:31:06,120 --> 00:31:08,880 Speaker 1: have a story about every state. Um, I think at 494 00:31:08,880 --> 00:31:11,760 Speaker 1: one time I was like, I'm gonna recommend comic books 495 00:31:11,840 --> 00:31:14,719 Speaker 1: every single episode, but you know, we come and go 496 00:31:14,760 --> 00:31:16,719 Speaker 1: with these. Or that time where we said we were 497 00:31:16,760 --> 00:31:19,440 Speaker 1: gonna read our bad iTunes reviews and we did it 498 00:31:19,520 --> 00:31:21,719 Speaker 1: like once and it hurt our feelings too bad, so 499 00:31:21,760 --> 00:31:25,160 Speaker 1: we never did it again. Did you have one that 500 00:31:25,200 --> 00:31:27,920 Speaker 1: you wanted to reach? I did bad? I did. I 501 00:31:27,960 --> 00:31:30,120 Speaker 1: like it. I don't quite get the reference because I've 502 00:31:30,120 --> 00:31:34,240 Speaker 1: only seen the movie, but this is from the headline 503 00:31:34,280 --> 00:31:38,040 Speaker 1: is Boring one star by super Nice Broad. Okay, I 504 00:31:38,240 --> 00:31:42,160 Speaker 1: would disagree with that. That Moniker there, I've ever seen 505 00:31:42,240 --> 00:31:44,760 Speaker 1: the show what we do in the shadows. These two 506 00:31:44,760 --> 00:31:47,920 Speaker 1: guys are like Colin. They bore you almost to death. 507 00:31:48,600 --> 00:31:50,960 Speaker 1: Seems like a cool podcast when you read about it, 508 00:31:51,040 --> 00:31:54,600 Speaker 1: but it's not at all. I tried and tried again. 509 00:31:55,200 --> 00:31:58,760 Speaker 1: Now I'm done. Well, we will miss you, super Nice Broad, 510 00:31:58,960 --> 00:32:02,160 Speaker 1: and you know, speaking of that, folks, we certainly hope 511 00:32:02,200 --> 00:32:05,800 Speaker 1: that you enjoyed being Bored two Tears today. If you 512 00:32:05,840 --> 00:32:08,680 Speaker 1: are inspired, why not leave us a review. You can 513 00:32:08,720 --> 00:32:13,280 Speaker 1: find us on Apple podcast, any really any podcast platform, 514 00:32:13,680 --> 00:32:15,920 Speaker 1: and we would also love to hear from you on 515 00:32:16,120 --> 00:32:19,040 Speaker 1: other parts of the internet. We're on Facebook, We're on Twitter, 516 00:32:19,160 --> 00:32:25,000 Speaker 1: We're on Instagram. Um, we're not on We're not on 517 00:32:25,040 --> 00:32:28,320 Speaker 1: the Rooms to Go website yet if you ordered any 518 00:32:28,320 --> 00:32:30,800 Speaker 1: furniture from Rooms to Go been I toyed with the idea, 519 00:32:30,880 --> 00:32:33,560 Speaker 1: but I don't know. I ended up going with Wayfair instead. 520 00:32:33,600 --> 00:32:35,840 Speaker 1: We're not sponsored by any of these brands, by the way, 521 00:32:35,960 --> 00:32:38,080 Speaker 1: nor are we sponsored by what we do in the Shadows. 522 00:32:38,200 --> 00:32:40,280 Speaker 1: But I will say this in our next press release. 523 00:32:40,520 --> 00:32:43,560 Speaker 1: I'm gonna have a pull quote. I'm gonna say, compared 524 00:32:43,680 --> 00:32:48,080 Speaker 1: favorably to what we do in the Shadows, here we go. 525 00:32:48,480 --> 00:32:51,800 Speaker 1: That's that's the spirit. Let's let's uh, you know, like 526 00:32:52,000 --> 00:32:55,440 Speaker 1: doctors and their discoveries during times of war, let's try 527 00:32:55,520 --> 00:32:59,960 Speaker 1: to make something good from something hilarious but bad. How 528 00:33:00,000 --> 00:33:02,320 Speaker 1: about that? Totally agree? And if you want to make 529 00:33:02,400 --> 00:33:05,520 Speaker 1: something good at something hilarious and or bad, um, you 530 00:33:05,520 --> 00:33:08,400 Speaker 1: can do it on our Facebook group Ridiculous Historians. You 531 00:33:08,440 --> 00:33:11,560 Speaker 1: can find this as individuals. Uh. You know, you can 532 00:33:11,600 --> 00:33:13,560 Speaker 1: find us as a show on Instagram and all that stuff, 533 00:33:13,600 --> 00:33:15,720 Speaker 1: but it's not super interesting. I would just go with 534 00:33:15,800 --> 00:33:18,360 Speaker 1: us as individuals. You can find me. I am only 535 00:33:18,400 --> 00:33:20,680 Speaker 1: on Instagram, I'm on Twitter, but I just kind of 536 00:33:20,720 --> 00:33:22,800 Speaker 1: learned and really use it. My Instagram is at how 537 00:33:22,840 --> 00:33:26,520 Speaker 1: Now Noel Brown. You can find me uh many different 538 00:33:26,520 --> 00:33:30,719 Speaker 1: places crossroads at midnight at Ben Bowling hs W on Twitter, 539 00:33:30,880 --> 00:33:36,840 Speaker 1: at Ben Bowling on Instagram. Thanks as always to super 540 00:33:36,880 --> 00:33:42,200 Speaker 1: producer Casey. Everything is fine, Pegram and uh, I still 541 00:33:42,240 --> 00:33:44,520 Speaker 1: it's a movie. I know we can't see this all 542 00:33:44,560 --> 00:33:47,600 Speaker 1: because we're, you know, an audio podcast, but I cannot 543 00:33:47,640 --> 00:33:52,000 Speaker 1: emphasize enough the backgrounds moving. I like that it's animated. 544 00:33:52,160 --> 00:33:55,360 Speaker 1: But yes, thank you Casey, and thanks, of course there's 545 00:33:55,360 --> 00:33:58,760 Speaker 1: always to Alex Williams, who composed our banging track. It 546 00:33:58,880 --> 00:34:00,680 Speaker 1: is a bit, it's a bob because what the kids 547 00:34:00,680 --> 00:34:03,120 Speaker 1: call it these days. Thanks to Christopher Oscoda is here 548 00:34:03,120 --> 00:34:05,720 Speaker 1: in spirit. Jonathan Stricklin, a k. The Quister. I believe 549 00:34:05,760 --> 00:34:08,239 Speaker 1: we're due for him to zoom bomb us any day now. 550 00:34:08,600 --> 00:34:11,400 Speaker 1: I can't wait, and I'm not being sarcastic at all 551 00:34:11,400 --> 00:34:13,920 Speaker 1: when I say that I I look forward to going 552 00:34:14,320 --> 00:34:17,160 Speaker 1: tet tet once more with the Quister. You'll have to 553 00:34:17,320 --> 00:34:19,920 Speaker 1: remind me of where our balance is in terms of 554 00:34:19,920 --> 00:34:23,520 Speaker 1: like point spread. Uh. That was a very convolute way 555 00:34:23,520 --> 00:34:26,600 Speaker 1: of saying are we ahead or behind? Um in the 556 00:34:26,680 --> 00:34:30,600 Speaker 1: Great game of dueling with the quister, which is no 557 00:34:30,680 --> 00:34:35,360 Speaker 1: small task. Ah. Yes, Jonathan Strickland DK the Quister. Is 558 00:34:35,400 --> 00:34:39,640 Speaker 1: he a one of our dear friends, be our Cheryl 559 00:34:39,719 --> 00:34:44,319 Speaker 1: Crew level nemesis or see all of the above. The 560 00:34:44,360 --> 00:34:48,200 Speaker 1: answer is up to history. Follow your heart's folks, We'll 561 00:34:48,239 --> 00:34:59,080 Speaker 1: see you next time. For more podcasts from My Heart Radio, 562 00:34:59,200 --> 00:35:01,400 Speaker 1: visit the I Heart radi you app, Apple podcast, or 563 00:35:01,440 --> 00:35:03,480 Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite shows.