Lilu
June 28th, 2001, 09:38 AM
This was sent to a mailing list I'm on, I did a search for Salem Trials to see if it's been posted previously, but I didn't see anything so I hope this isn't a double post.
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6/27/01
Just for anyone who is interested...I recommend you check out your local PBS station for a series called "Secrets of the Dead." They aired a show last night that focused on the Salem Witch Trials.
A female scholar whose name I forgot (sorry I was on meds at the time) did an extensive study of the behavior exhibited by the so called victims of those accused of witchcraft. After many years of careful research and collaboration with experts in various fields of pharmacology, biology and history it was found that those who
suffered the violent convulsions and hallucinations at Salem were
actually victims of ergot poisoning.
Ergot is a substance from which the hallucenogenic drug LSD was
produced. In Salem it developed and flourished in the rye crops
during wet, damps Springs and early summers of 1691 & 1692. The show also shows how the same scholar, and a peer, did further research to show that in other areas of Europe where witch burning and hysteria broke out during the 15-late 16 centuries there were also cases of rye crops being host to the ergot fungus.
So it turns out that it wasn't Satan at all but a fungus that
produces alkaloids that have a constrictive effect on the arteries
and tissues of the brain, leading to violent convulsions and
sensations of burning, pricking to the skin. A common thread among the hallucinations was the apparitions of wild animals and imaginery beasts, as well as fires consuming those afflicted.
Such a case or ergot poisoning also happened in France in 1952 or 53 in a town called Pont de Sprit. The inhabitants there ate rye bread from a bakery that bought ergot infested grain. The inhabitants were full of fear and called a priest in to perform an exorcism of the bakery. This despite the doctors being able to eventually diagnose the cause for the suffering.
SS
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Lilu
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6/27/01
Just for anyone who is interested...I recommend you check out your local PBS station for a series called "Secrets of the Dead." They aired a show last night that focused on the Salem Witch Trials.
A female scholar whose name I forgot (sorry I was on meds at the time) did an extensive study of the behavior exhibited by the so called victims of those accused of witchcraft. After many years of careful research and collaboration with experts in various fields of pharmacology, biology and history it was found that those who
suffered the violent convulsions and hallucinations at Salem were
actually victims of ergot poisoning.
Ergot is a substance from which the hallucenogenic drug LSD was
produced. In Salem it developed and flourished in the rye crops
during wet, damps Springs and early summers of 1691 & 1692. The show also shows how the same scholar, and a peer, did further research to show that in other areas of Europe where witch burning and hysteria broke out during the 15-late 16 centuries there were also cases of rye crops being host to the ergot fungus.
So it turns out that it wasn't Satan at all but a fungus that
produces alkaloids that have a constrictive effect on the arteries
and tissues of the brain, leading to violent convulsions and
sensations of burning, pricking to the skin. A common thread among the hallucinations was the apparitions of wild animals and imaginery beasts, as well as fires consuming those afflicted.
Such a case or ergot poisoning also happened in France in 1952 or 53 in a town called Pont de Sprit. The inhabitants there ate rye bread from a bakery that bought ergot infested grain. The inhabitants were full of fear and called a priest in to perform an exorcism of the bakery. This despite the doctors being able to eventually diagnose the cause for the suffering.
SS
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Lilu