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 The Indian in the Cupboard The Indian in the Cupboard is a low fantasy children's novel by the British writer Lynne Reid Banks, published in 1980 with illustrations by Robin Jacques (UK) and Brock Cole (US). It was later adapted as a 1995 children's film under the same name. The original book was followed by four sequels: "The Return of the Indian" (1985); "The Secret of the Indian" (1989); "The Mystery of the Cupboard" (1993); and "The Key to the Indian" (1998). All were published by Doubleday Books in hardcover, then by Avon Books, now Harper Collins, in paperback. There