Hello RDW,
Oh, this chicken bone thing is an old story, one I remember from my junior high school science days.
Take a chicken bone, such as the leg bone and clean off all of the excess materials (skin, chicken and inedible things). Take the remaining bone and "test" it. It's hard and stiff, not at all pliable. Put the bone into a large jar with a cover. Fill the jar with enough vinegar to completely cover the bone. Cover the jar. After 72 hours have passed, uncover the jar and remove the chicken bone. It's now soft and pliable, easily bent, and if thin enough, easy to tie into a knot.
the real question is why?
Why? Vinegar is an acid, acetic acid to be more precise. Chicken bones are composed of calcium and other minerals. The acid (vinegar) acts on the bone to remove all of the calcium from the bone, literally dissolving the calcium out of the bone. Without calcium, the bone loses its rigidity and becomes pliable.
Remember the old WonderBread advertisement, "WonderBread helps build strong bones in 12 ways!"? Well, the biggest of those 12 ways was the addition of calcium to the bread. Without sufficient calcium in our daily diet, we'd all become as pliable as that chicken bone.
How's that for eighth grade science memories? <g>
EK!!! |
