HERB - Re: ergot

[khkeeler]

CorwynWdwd at aol.com wrote:
John Day asked
>  and occasionally drove people mad.  I was curious if this was actualy a
> >  period drink and if such poisons might have contributed to the beleife in
> >  Magic and other things which were firmly beleved in at the time but now
> >  proven to have never existed.
Corwyn answered
. There WAS a
> theory that the witch hysteria was caused somewhat by ergot poisoning, ergot
> being a fungus that grows on rye. I tend to believe it's herd mentality...
> just like the McCarthy hearings.

Greetings from Agnes
  there are a wonderful pair of books I picked up and read when I was
supposed to be doing something else "The day of St. Anthony's Fire" JG
Fuller 1968. MacMillan NY. and "Poisons of the past" AK Matussian 1989.
Yale U Press. I knew a lot about ergot because my PhD thesis was on the
only higher plant group to make ergot-like (ergoline) alkaloids (the
morning glories--hence some people's taking morning glory seeds for a
high.  BTW in most cases its a race between vomitting and getting some
kinda pleasant hallucinations).  Ergot is a fungus whose fruiting body
(reproductive structure) takes over the grains of grasses--rye, wheat,
barley, etc. especially rye.  That is, the grains of the grass are
transformed into a slightly larger gray kernel-shaped structure that
will release fungal spores.  These are quite toxic.  they definately
cause upset stomachs and vomitting (diarrhea etc.)  In humans death from
the digestive tract problems is possible but very rare. It also causes
the range of mental effects of LSD (one of the compounds in ergot fungi
IS LSD, but there are many variations on the chemical as well)  --
paranoia, hallucinations, psycotic behavior, catatonia.   
	Matussian goes through all of this and suggests that much of the Middle
Ages was a wonderful time for ergot poisoning.  Rye is infected most in
cool wet years.  She makes a particular case for Russia where the poor
people ate a lot of rye and near starvation was common so they were
willing to eat bad-looking bread.  
    Ergot is visible, you can see the fruiting bodies and remove them. 
Ergot laced flour is an off-color (grayish)--you could pitch it if you
have something else to eat.
	The Fuller book chronicles a town in France that in 1951 had a mass
poisoning that included a day in which some 50 people had
hallucinations, delusions, psychosis...saw beautiful flowers, heard
unearthly choirs, were compelled to write and write and write without
stop for hours, barricaded their rooms against someone
unseen...Fuller argues ergot in the flour of the bread sold by the most
popular bakery in town.   LSD hadn't been described chemically, the
French distribution system was at fault for giving the baker no
options--the official finding was some kind of heavy metal poisoning.   

  From reading those two, and from what we've learned of LSD, I'm
convinced that 
ergot poisoning could indeed explain much of the mysticisim of the
Middle Ages.
In particular, the people of Pont-Saint-Esprit (Rhone Valley) had upset
stomachs 8 days before the night everyone went crazy--some 300 saw
doctors, which means a pretty severe upset stomach.  With the stomach
ache gone, what would you attribute hallucinations to?  Only the fact
the whole town did it made anyone look for a pattern.  And we all now
know LSD has flashbacks--many holy men might be seeing visions because
of flashbacks.  That they attributed it to God and made positive uses of
it, however, is important to note.  Biological explanations of history
should always consider the many possible actions of the afflicted.

  Similar arguements are made for the Salem witch trials. Matussian
wrote one (an article: I can get the ref. if someone wants it) There is
a very recent book on Salem (anyone know the title?) that takes the
purely psychological tack and has a couple of reasons for dismissing the
ergot theory.  I haven't had a chance to look at it myself--heard what I
know from NPR--so this is in no way settled and you can read the
evidence and form your own opinions.

	The details are too many for here--this is already too long--but if
someone with a web page is interested, I could work up a detailed
article.

Agnes

Mistress Agnes deLanvallei, Mag Mor Calontir
Dedicated to promoting the study and safe recreation of the uses of
plants in the Middle Ages.  If I can help in your studies, I'd be
honored.
kkeeler1 at unl.edu
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