Picric acid converted it to acetylsalicylic acid, i.e., aspirin, to keep it from the Allies. See Great Phenol Plot. At the time, phenol was obtained from coal as a co-product of coke ovens and the manufacture of gas for gas lighting. Laclede Gas reports being asked to expand production of phenol (and toluene) to support the war effort. Both Monsanto and Dow Chemical undertook manufacture of synthetic phenol in 1915. Dow was the leading producer. Dow describes picric acid as “the main battlefield explosive used by the French. Large amounts [of phenol] also went to Japan, where it was made into picric
The Indian in the Cupboard toys. He also possessed some of Jessica's magical abilities. Jessica had him create the cupboard, which he imbues with his hatred of plastic toys. This caused the cupboard to only bring plastic toys to life, which is why no other materials ever worked when Omri tried them in the cupboard. Omri meets one of the thatchers who worked on the roof when Jessica was dying, a man named Tom, and learns from him that Jessica let him in on the secret. She also gave him a little person to care for, a servant girl named Jenny from the 1800s who