[QUOTE=Peter Scowcroft] I was told it nitrated when I was about 15.[/quote] I think you're getting confused with the classic silver mirror test for aldehydes and ketones - you start off there with silver nitrate and the presence of one of those substances reduces the nitrate to the metal, which is deposited on the walls of the reaction vessel. The nitrate is an essential component of photographic emulsions. It is also an extremely nasty substance.