Recent posts about Martinsburg, West Virginia on our local forum with over 2,000,000 registered users. Martinsburg is mentioned 2,939 times on our forum: Latest news from Martinsburg, WV collected exclusively by city-data.com from local newspapers, TV, and radio stations.
Cecil replies: The official word is that potassium nitrate (KNO3), more commonly employed as an ingredient in gunpowder, has no therapeutic value as an anaphrodisiac, contrary to legend. Cecil of course believes this. Still, when you look at what the stuff does do, you can see where the idea got started. Saltpeter can cause relaxation of involuntary muscle fiber (for which reason it's used to treat asthma) and it's occasionally prescribed to lower body temperature in cases of fever.
In the modern era, there are less smelly ways to get saltpeter, typically through an industrial process that uses ammonia as a base. While you cannot literally make gunpowder from urine, as you need several other ingredients to produce it, urine can certainly be used to produce one necessary element.In addition to saltpeter, however, you would also need charcoal and sulfur.These ingredients are both readily available, unlike saltpeter, so the popular stories about using urine to make gunpowder do have a rational basis.n the modern era, there are less smelly ways to get saltpeter, typically through an industrial process that uses ammonia as a base. While you cannot literally make gunpowder from urine, as you need several other ingredients to produce it, urine can certainly be used to produce one necessary element.