SC - info on period ink formulae

[Thomas Gloning]

On the topic of the Caernarfon Castle cold room, Allison writes, in 
response to Stefan:

> Read it again.  This castle has sea water running through the cold
> room. 

Um, read the original description carefully. It says:

"According to the design, they diverted sea water into a
stream which flowed through the center of a stone room."

That could mean it has a stream of seawater, or they could be 
adding sea water to a freshwater stream. Regardless, it's rather hard 
to see how one could get a regularly flowing stream of seawater, 
what with tides and all. (Yes, I do know about the intriguing example 
of one on whichever Mediterranean island it is, but that's a very 
special case...)

> It will not completely freeze because of the salt content.  I have seen
> 'scales' of ice floating on the North Sea, but the sea was not frozen. The
> water, though, is very near freezing in temperature.

Arctic water temperatures are around the "ice point" of seawater, 
which is around -2 C, according to Encyclopaedia Britannica. 
Temperatures around southern Britain will be rather warmer than 
that, a long way above 15 F.

The mechanism described simply doesn't seem a plausible way of 
getting such low temperatures. Cold, sure. 15 F, no way unless the 
outside temperature is down around that level. Even 34 F sounds 
rather low for summer unless they were using ice.

I have to reject Stefan's suggestion of Celsius temperatures too - 
that would be far too warm. 15 C is 60 F; 34C is 93 F.

This topic is an interesting example of someone citing a presumably 
reputable source which makes claims that just don't sound plausible 
when you look at them. I can't think why the National Trust would be 
wrong (ignoring the possibility of a typo), but I also find it very hard 
to believe they're right.

Edward Long-hair
Southron Gaard, Caid