CONTINUING THE THEME, PERHAPS?

In my in-box this morning…I thought readers may be amused.

Manure.  An interesting fact.
In the 16th and 17th centuries, everything had to be transported by
ship and it was also before the invention of commercial fertilizers, so
large shipments of manure were quite common.

It was shipped dry, because in dry form it weighed a lot less than when
wet, but once water (at sea) hit it, not only did it become heavier,
but the process of fermentation began again, of which a by product is
methane gas of course. As the stuff was stored below decks in bundles,
you can see what could (and did) happen.
Methane began to build up below decks and the first time anyone came
below decks at night with a lantern, BOOOOOOOM!

Several ships were destroyed in this manner before it was determined
just what was happening .
After that, the bundles of manure were always stamped with the
instruction ‘ Stow high in transit ‘ on them, wh ich meant for the
sailors to stow it high enough off the lower decks so that any water
that came into the hold would not touch this volatile cargo and start
the production of methane.

Thus evolved the term ‘ S.H.I.T ‘  (Stow High In Transit) which has
come down through the centuries and is in use to this very day.
Bet you didn’t know that !   😉

Here’s Florian Primbs again. Who knew his artwork would be such a handy illustrative device?