and how do you say (pinyin) and write it in Chinese, please?
Thanks
Gonna pickle 914 are ya?
It’s Tash Bobbit, right? 
甲醛 jiǎqu
Thanks Taffy.
I tried a couple of pharmacies this morning. Their reactions ranged from baffled to scared. No luck. Will keep trying.
I just hope my fridge is cold enough. I don’t have a freezer. Anyone live close by that can rent me some space in their freezer for a couple of days, until I find this stuff?
Your best bet is probably [url=http://tw.forumosa.com/t/chemicals-store-in-taipei/25788/2 St.[/url]. Good luck! BTW That’s 甲醛 jia3quan2.
[quote=“tash”]I just hope my fridge is cold enough. I don’t have a freezer. Anyone live close by that can rent me some space in their freezer for a couple of days, until I find this stuff?[/quote]My fridge isn’t big enough for a whole body. Or have you already chopped it up ? I could probably fit a head in the freezer compartment next to the peas.
It used to be you could find it in Taiwan beer…
Maybe vet supplies.
We used to have 44gallon drums of it on the farm to make a foot bath for the dairy cows.
Also, surely universities would be supplied with this.
No luck.
It seems that the thing Taffy suggested is Methanol, not Formaldehyde. At least, that’s what I was offered when I asked for it.
Some Taiwanese have suggested asking for something that sounds like “fo-ma-lin”.
I didn’t have time to check out the place Dragonbones suggested, though. Maybe that would have been a hit.
Anyway, the flesh has started to rot away in the fridge, so I might as well experiment with Taiwan beer for fun.
I’ll let you know if it works.
That’s rubbing alcohol, not formaldehyde.
That’s rubbing alcohol, not formaldehyde.[/quote]
Thanks. Actually I was just fixing Taffy’s diacriticals, rather than providing the translation. I didn’t have an ECD handy.
However, now I do, and it says… Formaldehyde is 甲醛 jia3quan2! Perhaps y’all are confusing it with a very similar pronunciation and graphic rendition, 甲醇 jia3chun2, which is industrial or rubbing alcohol (methanol). I’ve double checked these against another dictionary. I think Taffy was right after all. Since methanol is commonly available in pharmacies and formaldehyde is most likely not, I expect that the shop keepers are guessing you mean one even if you say the other. I don’t know how good your pronunciation is, but these are VERY close, and you’d have to be spot-on to say it right. You should probably show them the written graphs, too.
甲醛
It’s also possible fomalin is a Taiwanese variant (romanized) version of the name (dunno for sure).
[quote=“tash”]No luck.
It seems that the thing Taffy suggested is Methanol, not Formaldehyde. At least, that’s what I was offered when I asked for it.
Some Taiwanese have suggested asking for something that sounds like “fo-ma-lin”.[/quote]
Are you sure about that? Another name for formaldehyde is methanal. Formaldehyde is a gas at room temperature so in order to become useful it is usually found in solution - called Formalin. You could trying showing the molecular formula to someone in the know (CH
2
O). By the way, the dictionary entry I have for formalin says 甲醛液 jiǎqu
Did Tash ask for it or show the characters (both)? That could explain it.
HG
It’s too late to save the day, but this lesson in chemistry is great, you guys! Thanks! 
I 
geek-talk
Just checked formalin in the ECD: It’s called 甲醛水 jia3quan2shui3 (meaning formaldehyde in solution), aka 福爾馬林 fu2er3ma3lin2. Taffy’s da man! 
[quote=“Taffy”][quote=“tash”]No luck.
It seems that the thing Taffy suggested is Methanol, not Formaldehyde. At least, that’s what I was offered when I asked for it.
Some Taiwanese have suggested asking for something that sounds like “fo-ma-lin”.[/quote]
Are you sure about that? Another name for formaldehyde is methanal. Formaldehyde is a gas at room temperature so in order to become useful it is usually found in solution - called Formalin. You could trying showing the molecular formula to someone in the know (CH
2
O). By the way, the dictionary entry I have for formalin says 甲醛液 jiǎqu
Really? I’m quite sure I’ve seen it for sale . . . not sure where though.
Back when I was working as a theatre nurse we literally used bucket loads of the stuff for shipping off specimens to the lab. Almost everything that gets lopped out of somebody needs to go to a lab to be tested to see that all you were looking for was removed, and what you removed was what you aimed to. It does burn your eyes and throat and is not surprisingly also carcinogenic.
We also had vast vats of it to soak colonoscopes.Working with the formaldehyde was oddly enough the worst of colonoscpy theatre list.
HG
[quote=“tash”]No luck.
It seems that the thing Taffy suggested is Methanol, not Formaldehyde. At least, that’s what I was offered when I asked for it.
Some Taiwanese have suggested asking for something that sounds like “fo-ma-lin”.
I didn’t have time to check out the place Dragonbones suggested, though. Maybe that would have been a hit.
Anyway, the flesh has started to rot away in the fridge, so I might as well experiment with Taiwan beer for fun.
I’ll let you know if it works.[/quote]
“fo-ma-lin” as in “formalin” —> not exactly the same as formaldehyde, but close.
Edit: Sorry, my reply is wayyyy too late. Some other posters beat me to it.
That’s interesting:
[quote]Formalin
Formalin is 37% solution of formaldehyde in water. Dilution of formalin to 5% results in an effective disinfectant. Formaldehyde is a human carcinogen and creates respiratory problems at low levels of concentration.
Formaldehyde Solutions At a concentration of 8% formaldehyde exhibits good activity against vegetative bacteria, spores, and viruses.
FormaldehydeAlcohol Solutions of 8% formaldehyde in 70% alcohol are considered very good for disinfection purposes because of their effectiveness against vegetative bacteria, fungi, spores and viruses. For many applications, this is the disinfectant of choice.
Activated Gluteraldehyde Two percent solutions exhibit good activity against vegetative bacteria, spores, and viruses. Its use, however, must be limited and controlled because of its toxic properties and the damage to eyes. Limited stability after activation (for alkaline gluteraldehyde).[/quote]
HG