Am reading Jules Verne 20,000 leagues under the sea.Jules Verne, writing in 1865-9, was writing only a couple of years after the first mechanically powered submarine (in 1863). Edison’s first successful test of the electric light bulb was over a decade later, in 1879. To propose a submarine 70 m long (he initially suggested a longer 350 ft) powered by electricity was truly visionary.
Are the following scientific claims true or false?
Loin of sea turtle is a red meat.
Dolphin liver, correctly cooked, can resemble stewed pork.
Cream from the milk from the udders of cetaceans is good to eat.
Sugar can be made from huge fucus plants under the North Sea.
Good marmalade can be made from sea anenomies.
Clothing can be made from the fibres that anchor some sea shells in place.
Purple comes from the murex snail and violet from the Mediterranean sea hare.
Perfumes can be made from the oozings of marine plants.
You could write using squid ink, with a pen made from whalebone.
The animals of the sea include 4 zoophyte groups, 3 classes of articulates, 5 classes of mollusks and 3 vertebrate classes (mammal, reptiles and fish).
There are over 13,000 species of fish, of which only 10% live in fresh water.
A good tobacco can be made from nicotine-rich seaweed.
Arago was the greatest French scientist prior to 1865.
The giant clam can grow up to six metres in circumference.
The largest pearls are bigger than a pigeon egg.
Sodium, contained in an amalgam of mercury, makes a battery twice as good as a zinc battery.
A submarine capable of mining undersea coal (or oil) can be made permanently self-sustaining.
A 70 m long submarine with a 6 metre diameter propeller running at 120 rpm could do 50 mph.
Scientist-authors mentioned include Humboldt, Arago, Foucalt, Henri Saint-Claire Deville, Chasles, Milne-Edwards, Quatrefages, John Tindall, Faraday, Berthelot, Father Secchi, Petermann, Commander Maury, Louis Agassiz.Of those, I’m only familiar with Humboldt, Foucalt & Faraday. What did the others do?