It’s a bad ol’ dangerous world out there

There’s a lot to worry about but this week Cecil sets you straight on flaming snakebites and fillings [The Straight Dope] It’s a bad ol’ dangerous world out there By [The Straight Dope]( • Issue #17 • [View online]( There’s a lot to worry about but this week Cecil sets you straight on flaming snakebites and fillings in your teeth, while SDStaff Doug looks under toilet seats for venomous spiders. Threadspotting The best of the Straight Dope Message Board  April 24, 2020: [Just based on current events we’d say it trends lower](. Straight Dope Classic: December 16, 2011 [Illustration by Slug Signorino] Illustration by Slug Signorino [Is setting yourself on fire a good way to treat snakebite]( Dear Cecil: There’s a common belief that “sucking the poison out” is an effective snakebite remedy. I also heard journalist Stephanie Nolen talk about a man in Sudan who set his foot on fire after a snake bite, which he claimed saved him from the poison. Is either of these treatments effective? —  Dyer  Cecil replies: I treasure questions like yours, Dyer, because of the insight they give me into the human mind. Ninety-nine out of a hundred people, on hearing about some birdbrain who sets himself on fire to combat snakebite, think: what an amusing anecdote. Then there’s you, solemnly wondering: is this something I should try? Quick answer …  [Click here to keep reading](. Straight Dope Staff Report: March 18, 2003 [Do poisonous spiders lurk under toilet seats]( Dear Straight Dope:  I recently received the following e-mail and was wondering whether this is just another hoax junk mail or if some person somewhere is stupid enough to not worry about any spider bite on the their butt! Please help save the teeming millions. — Roy ANOTHER REASON WHY I AM SOOOOOOO “MANIAC” ABOUT THE TOILET WE USE! LOOK AND CLEAN BEFORE YOU SIT. WARNIN SDStaff Doug replies: This is a deliberate permutation of an openly-confessed hoax. The original version (in which the poisonous arachnid was called the Blush Spider, Arachnius gluteus, and was found at a restaurant in Chicago’s “Blair Airport”; a web search on “Blush Spider” will reveal all) was a deliberate experiment started by someone who wanted to see how far an easily-debunked urban legend could get, and who ‘fessed up shortly after it became evident that it had gone way too far.  [Click here to keep reading](. Straight Dope Classic: September 5, 1986 [Are you being poisoned by your silver tooth fillings]( Dear Straight Dope: My neighbor has been advised by her holistic dentist that she needs to have her silver alloy fillings replaced with gold ones. The dentist claims that the mercury in her fillings is leaching out and poisoning her. This sounds like bullshit to me, but now I’m beginning to wonder. Should I worry? Is mercury carving divots in my brain? —  M.M., Pasadena, California Cecil replies:  Hard to say. On the one hand, looking strictly at the facts, I’d say the only leaching your neighbor has to worry about is her “holistic dentist” leaching bucks out of her wallet. On the other hand, they say mercury causes severe brain damage, which would certainly account for some of the mail I’ve been getting lately. So you’re just going to have to decide for yourself.  [Click here to keep reading](. Did you enjoy this issue? [The Straight Dope]( By [The Straight Dope]( Fighting ignorance since 1973. (It's taking longer than we thought.) [Tweet](    [Share]( If you don't want these updates anymore, please unsubscribe [here](. If you were forwarded this newsletter and you like it, you can subscribe [here](. Powered by [Revue](