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 plastic figurine in the cupboard and locks it with the key, only to discover the following morning that the figurine has come to life as a three-inch tall Iroquois man. After a bewildering first encounter, Omri hastily locks the man back into the cupboard to prevent his discovery while Omri is away at school, only to be crestfallen when he returns home to find the man returned to lifeless plastic. Curious, Omri relocks the figurine in the cupboard and it comes to life once more. Though the tiny man, whose name is Little Bear (Little Bull in some editions),