Gentian violet -- Scottish Ex-Pat's Blether Bar & Grill

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Date Posted: 01:31:06 10/26/11 Wed
Author: BB
Subject:

Gentian violet
In reply to: BB 's message, "A spoonful of old medicine............." on 00:57:52 10/23/11 Sun

Aha! It's a complicated molecule, gentian violet. Three aromatic rings linked together in a sort of shamrock leaf arrangement. Now I remember where I used it; to stain bacteria in the microbiology module I did as part of my chemistry course in 1986. Some bacteria take the stain and some don't, giving a system of classification first used in 1884.

It's also known as crystal violet. What about a series of Victorian detective stories about a husband and wife team with the surname Violet and first names Gentian and Crystal? Based in Bathgate of course. They work in the assay laboratory of one of the coal mining companies. Dedicated socialists and friends of Keir Hardie who use their chemical expertise to expose skullduggery, exploitation and......murder! by the cruel mine owners.

To hell with the twentieth-century government lackey James Bond, we need a nineteenth-century hero in a bunnet who says:

"Mah name's Violet, Gentian Violet. Ah'll hae mah tea shoogled, no' stirred."

Mind you, I don't think he'd get past "Mah name's Violet" without guffaws, a few quick slaps to the head and a sign saying "Big Jessy" being stuck on his back. That's when Crystal would leap to his assistance with a Bunsen burner and toast the assailants' pieces, so to speak.

(Pieces, peaces, peases: Scottish sandwiches. Cheese and jam being the filling preferred by miners.)

I'm on a roll here. A roll! A well-fired Scottish roll, with cheese and jam..........

BB

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Replies:

Re: Gentian violet -- Dave in kg., 08:02:05 10/26/11 Wed
- Re: Gentian violet -- Gilly, 11:35:21 10/26/11 Wed
  - Re: Gentian violet -- Jack, 23:35:51 10/27/11 Thu