Semen For Writing
British spies were experimenting with all kinds of invisible inks during the first World War. In 1915, one spy was quite excited to discover a rather handy way to create one. His secret ingredient? Semen.
The founder and head of MI6 at the time, Captain Sir Mansfield Cumming, reportedly declared “every man his own stylo” when presented with this novel method of concocting invisible ink. The only problem? If it wasn’t fresh, the letters would become rather pungent.
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Apparently one spy who was stationed in Copenhagen had built up a supply of semen in a bottle, and his letters in particular were arriving with a nasty smell. Captain Cumming insisted that if this method was to be used, “fresh operation was necessary for each letter.”
But life quickly became unpleasant for the unknown officer who discovered this DIY invisible ink. After he told his fellow spies about it, they ridiculed him so much that he had to be moved to a different office.
