This is a little story about a fungus. It is called Ergot, or, to be more precise, Claviceps purpurea. It behaves like most living things...it eats, reproduces, completing its life cycle. Its favorite host (food) is rye--and members of the rye family. It has a complex life cycle, one stage during which it infects rye flowers, and then produces "sclerotia".in the place of a rye grain. Such a little thing. But, like so many things, it is not as simple as one would think at first glance. This little fungus has a deadly history.
So, just how did this fungus become associated with the Salem witch trials?
The fungus produces an alkaloid called ergotamine. Consumption causes a human (or animal) to lapse into ergotism. Sometimes called "St. Anthony's Fire" due to a burning sensation in the limbs, it can be fatal. It causes severe constriction of blood vessels, compromising the entire vascular system. And, this leads to gangrene in the limbs. Other symptoms it causes include hallucinations.
So, imagine, the cows have been eating annual ryegrass in the pasture, contaminated with actively growing ergot. And the women have been baking bread and sampling it--rye bread, of course.
The women are wondering around, talking to things that no one else can see.
The cattle are in the pasture field wondering around with glassy-eyed stares. Their legs are infected and swollen...then they fall down and can't get back up.
Looks to me like someone is talking to spirits and casting spells to kill their neighbor's cows. Hmmm... could it be *drum roll* witches!
But the science says that the women were stoned on the alkaloid, and the cows had developed gangrene--and they were hallucinating, too.
There is quite a lot of support for the theory that ergot was to blame for many of the Salem witch trials. There are dissenters too, and a quick Google search will turn up both. But for my money, I'd bet that researchers who put this idea together are onto something. Seems plausible to me.
What do you think?
Read more about Ergot here and here .
Interesting! Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Rainy. The sharing was my pleasure. :-) Thanks for visiting.
DeleteIt's creepy to think of all these women being branded witches! I'm glad someone decided to look into it. I'm loving your writing Teresa.
ReplyDeleteI agree, effervencia. I can't imagine a more terrifying feeling than to be accused of something I didn't do--and be sentenced to die for it. Humans have done such horrible things to each other...
DeleteThanks for visiting. :-) !
I love that you wrote about fungus! hehe
ReplyDeletelol! Yes, I write something about fungus everyday. I work for a biotech company that produces green alternatives to herbicides and pesticides--and those are fungi--usually molds. My husband once told me that he fondly recalls a time when if I discovered a forgotten bowl in the back of the fridge and it contaminated mold, I said, "Yuck!", right before throwing it out. But now, I look closely and say, "Neat!" :-) Thank you for visiting.
DeleteBiology trumps Theology every time for me. That's not to say I have no faith. Also, if Scientists never took leaps of faith, we would have very little progress. Interesting read, Mom.
ReplyDeleteThank you, dearie! Excellent insight into it all, Ziggoletto :-)
Deletei loved that tale entwining science into the salem witches! thanks for elucidating!
ReplyDeleteThanks for visiting and giving it a read, Tara! Happy A to Z-ing :-)
Deletewow. Wish those folks had known about this before they started pointing fingers. Great A-Z post! loved it!
ReplyDeleteNutschell
www.thewritingnut.com
Thanks, nutschell. Me too. Superstition has been at the root of many ill deeds. :-) Thanks for visiting and giving it a read. :-)
DeleteLOVED this. I did not know about the Ergot Influence. Great post!
ReplyDeleteThank you Kristen. When a botanist friend shared this story with me, nearly 20 years ago, I was shocked and amazed. To think, all these years later...that someone came up with a theory like this, and it does seem plausible. Thanks for visiting. :-)
DeleteAn excellant post! And a very plausible explanation for some of the witch trials. There was such a panic about witches then that anyone who looked or acted different could be accused by their neighbors.
ReplyDeleteI'm visitng for the first time and will definietly come back. I write fantasy/sci-fi/romance also and have just started my new blog at the first of the year.
Am off to visit more in the A to Z Challenge!
Nice to meet you, Karen. :-) I think it was Nietzsche who said "In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations, and epochs it is the rule." A witch hunt is an expression well-understood by most people. The Salem Witch trials were certainly an example of group insanity. :-) Thanks for visiting!
DeleteI saw a documentary about this- the evidence was very compelling. I also had a school friend who ate lots of fuzzy green bread thinking he would get high from it- I don't think it worked for him- wrong mould! The school friend was a much more amusing tale than the hysterical community wreaking havoc- horrible for the livestock too :-(
ReplyDeleteSo true, Lily! Glad that your friend was okay, lol, yuck! Molds make some pretty bizarre volatiles. I almost made my whole A to Z about molds (it is my field of work). But thought no one would ever come back a second time ;-) There is an LSD connection to ergotamine. Some fungi do weird things--some do lethal things :-) Thanks for visiting! :-)
DeleteTotally plausible! I've also heard a story about a small town in rural Southern France in which almost the entire population was wiped out by ergotamine poisoning one year. Could be urban myth, but could also be true.
ReplyDeleteGreat post! I found you through the A-Z Challenge. :-)
Wow, I never before heard the story about the French ergotine poisoning! Thanks for visiting, Ishta. :-)
ReplyDeleteI don't even know how I ended up here, but I thought this post was great. I don't know who you are but certainly you're going to a famous blogger if you aren't already ;) Cheers!
ReplyDeleteMy blog: unknown