Lasers at Stonehenge Editor Mike Pitts From Ms Gwenda Smith Sir:
How should I go about ordering a back copy of BA? Here in rural
Vermont we have the remains of a copperas works ('The Forgotten
Chemical Revolution', August 2002) that was started up in 1809
at the time of the trade embargo preceding the War of 1812. It
became one of the country's leading producers and ran until 1882
or so, by which time copperas [a chemical used as a dye
fixative] was available as a by-product of the steel industry .
The site is in the process of being wiped out by the US
Environmental Protection Agency in the name of a cleanup, much
to the distress of those of us who feel it is an important
national historic site. US federal regulations evidently require
that a certain amount of ferrous sulphate be added to flour at
the mill as a way of combating anaemia. In meetings about our
copperas, I used to ask the audience whether they had eaten
their copperas for the day, which seemed to get their attention,
given that it is currently