this post was submitted on 03 Sep 2025
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[Dormant] moved to !historymemes@piefed.social

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[–] irishPotato@sh.itjust.works 24 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Dudes obviously magic tho, summoning a strong enough concentrated beam of light inside with a futuristic lens design of unknown origin for the time period!

[–] PugJesus@lemmy.world 33 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Funny enough, using a glass lens to start a fire is pretty ancient

[–] irishPotato@sh.itjust.works 11 points 1 year ago

The what! That’s so cool, thanks for sharing!

[–] AnUnusualRelic@lemmy.world 8 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Pliny the Elder noted the use of glass vases filled with water to concentrate sunlight heat intensely enough to ignite clothing, as well as convex lenses that were used to cauterize wounds.

Ouch.

Cauterising wounds seems to have been a thing outside of movies. I'm not sure how effective it was. You removed the infectious agents but created a larger surface of attack.

[–] sylver_dragon@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago

Cauterizing wounds is still used in some cases.
Source: I had it done on a finger tip I sliced a chunk off of. The difference is that doctors generally use Silver Nitrate and then slather it with betadine to prevent infection. Hurts like a motherfucker, do not recommend.