I remember reading a while back the differences between the different tarnishes, like the brown tarnish, the black tarnish, and the ease of removal.

Will someone fill me in on this?

Also, is the black stuff that develops on the downside of the lip plate tarnish or is my saliva eating away at the silver? What about the random black marks on my footjoint (it's like a black ring and silver in the middle... MY FLUTE HAS RINGWORM!!!)?

Curiosity just got the best of me!

These rings come up even when you don't polish your flute? I don't think I've polished my flute since I've gotten it. I've wiped fingerprints off here and there (mostly because it was getting crusty) but would that create the ring? I'll take a picture of it. Maybe that might help.

I was always a little disappointed with my silver headjoint that it had some faint black rings. Now I feel much better.

Thanks for the explaination.

Nowadays a simple mercury spill can close down a whole school during cleanup!