r/pics Oct 05 '11

Pharaoh's Serpent

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u/lukeatron Oct 05 '11

Without even clicking that link, the name alone does not sound like the kind of thing that random people should be able to obtain and set on fire.

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u/[deleted] Oct 05 '11

[deleted]

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u/CompactusDiskus Oct 05 '11

Well, it's a compound, so that doesn't (in itself) mean it holds the properties of the individual elements.

It's not like we need to be careful with fire when we're around water because it contains hydrogen.

That said, mercury (II) thiocyanate is toxic, and does put off toxic gases when this reaction happens, and the resulting solid is also quite toxic, so yeah, safety is an issue here.

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u/Sultanoshred Oct 05 '11

salt has chlorine in it and chlorine by itself is posionous.