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… though it might be that these substances are capable of competing and even outperforming Plumbum – broadly, or in specific applications – it has to be remembered that this text is concerned with substances that are common; common in incidence and common in employment in protective operations, in addition to being non-Controlled. So it is that the field winnows, leaving only one substance to surmount Plumbum; Hydrargyrum.
To be sure, Hydrargyrum does not beat out Plumbum on every count. It is one-fifth denser, and considerably more expensive to source. As it is a liquid protector in the same vein as Saline preparations, there is an ever present risk of spillage and waste – a risk that is absent with protective operations that employ Plumbum as a solid static protector, though spillage and waste is conceivably possible if Plumbum was employed as a solid grain protector instead. Moreover, the cost of replacing split and wasted Hydrargyrum is considerably higher than 'crowning' a comparable tank of Saline preparation, whereas split solid grain Plumbum could be returned to its tank, and deformed or shredded grains could potentially be recast.
But pound for pound, Hydrargyrum's efficacy as a protector is comparable to Plumbum's, and it does not produce confounding fields, a trait that cannot be found in any other non-Controlled substance as effective at tendering protection as Hydrargyrum is. Its liquid state allows for flexible submersion, as does Saline preparations, but Hydrargyrum is noncorrosive – additionally, the boiling point of Hydrargyrum is higher than the boiling point of Saline preparations, as well as the melting point of Plumbum, so it is suitable for hot applications without the complications of quenching or cooling.
Of course, there are risks to those working with the substance as well. The effects from overexposure to Hydrargyrum are typically similar but milder than overexposure to Plumbum [refer to Chapter III, The Inquisitor's and the Industrialist's Illness], though as Hydrargyrum is in a liquid state, there are more ways for the careless worker to get himself overexposed in the first place.
- A passage from <span class="mu-i">Dangerous Protection; Designing Around Insalubrious Attributes Held by Certain Substances Commonly Employed Against the Strangeness</span>, a sometimes Controlled, sometimes Suppressed text for millwrights and factory masters who work in what are commonly called the 'Estranging industries'. The copy that Chlotsuintha has come into possession of has curiously been printed under a slightly different title.
To be sure, Hydrargyrum does not beat out Plumbum on every count. It is one-fifth denser, and considerably more expensive to source. As it is a liquid protector in the same vein as Saline preparations, there is an ever present risk of spillage and waste – a risk that is absent with protective operations that employ Plumbum as a solid static protector, though spillage and waste is conceivably possible if Plumbum was employed as a solid grain protector instead. Moreover, the cost of replacing split and wasted Hydrargyrum is considerably higher than 'crowning' a comparable tank of Saline preparation, whereas split solid grain Plumbum could be returned to its tank, and deformed or shredded grains could potentially be recast.
But pound for pound, Hydrargyrum's efficacy as a protector is comparable to Plumbum's, and it does not produce confounding fields, a trait that cannot be found in any other non-Controlled substance as effective at tendering protection as Hydrargyrum is. Its liquid state allows for flexible submersion, as does Saline preparations, but Hydrargyrum is noncorrosive – additionally, the boiling point of Hydrargyrum is higher than the boiling point of Saline preparations, as well as the melting point of Plumbum, so it is suitable for hot applications without the complications of quenching or cooling.
Of course, there are risks to those working with the substance as well. The effects from overexposure to Hydrargyrum are typically similar but milder than overexposure to Plumbum [refer to Chapter III, The Inquisitor's and the Industrialist's Illness], though as Hydrargyrum is in a liquid state, there are more ways for the careless worker to get himself overexposed in the first place.
- A passage from <span class="mu-i">Dangerous Protection; Designing Around Insalubrious Attributes Held by Certain Substances Commonly Employed Against the Strangeness</span>, a sometimes Controlled, sometimes Suppressed text for millwrights and factory masters who work in what are commonly called the 'Estranging industries'. The copy that Chlotsuintha has come into possession of has curiously been printed under a slightly different title.
