HERB - Period poisons

[Kathleen Keeler]

As somebody commented, it might be better to ask what was not toxic than what
is.
(Frankly, that's the point of a guest lecture I do in our introductory
biological sciences course--why are plants so chemically diverse?)
I'd phrase it that since plants can't move, they have to do something to keep
from being eaten by animals that do.  (And also not to be eaten by fungi and
bacteria and viruses that once they arrive can munch forever).  Toxic chemistry,
and chemical diversity, are a big part of plant defenses (so are hairs, spines,
underground storage, wood, and a bunch of subtler things)

Very few plants are chemically inert, but the chemical might be targetted at
viruses and be benign in mammals including humans.

The period herbals I've read warned of the roots of madonna lily (_Lilium
album_), and roots of peony (and all the rest of peony really, _Paeonia
officinalis_).
Thinking beyond that, of course don't eat any of the rhubarb (_Rheum
raponiticum_) except the stems, treat mustard seeds with respect: the oil is
quite strong, and be careful mustard oils generally (the whole family,
Cruciferae or Brassicaceae).  Don't eat tulips or
tomato/potato/eggplant/nightshade leaves, or ...what else do you have in your
garden? All parts of mints, violets, grapes and roses are ok as far as I know,
but lily of the valley is very bad,about half of the iris species are quite
dangerous, crocus can kill you, if it smells like onion its edible (if you can
take the bloodthinning qualities) but don't eat things that look the same and
don't smell like onion. The parsnip/dill/celery group includes all the poisonous
hemlocks, be very careful.

Part of looking at Period poisons is knowing whether they knew things were
toxic.  I don't know when they know that about plants (we'd have to read herbals
carefully) because chemicals we all know to be unsafe, e.g.lead and mercury,
were pretty clearly not seen as toxic.

For the record, Simmonds, the Evolution of Crop Plants describes Albertus Magnus
growing castor bean (Germany mid 13th C) and they were popular in gardens in th
1600's--no problem getting that in Elizabethan England.

Heywood, Flowering plants of the world, says the oleanders are native to moister
areas around the Mediterranean--those would have been accessible, but did they
know they were toxic?

One of the things I found the most disconcerting in middle-Period herbals was
the implication that you could rub
on ground e.g. catnip or drink it in wine to say cure a headache.  They seemed
to think external treatments and internal treatments worked the same.  So
applying that to poisons:  did they distinguish external and internal?  It would
seem
hard to miss, but people have overlooked points that seem even more obvious to
me.

Which brings me to something I've wondered:  did they classify like we do, e.g.
humans as mammals so they'd think if it hurt a mammal one should be careful?  Or
are humans in a totally different class of creatures, where the rules that
applied to e.g. horses, did not apply?   Since they lumped ducks and whales with
fish as edible in Lent (sea creatures), perhaps I'd better rethink all my
premises:  would it be any more meaningful if the castor bean killed a chicken
as a dog in warning Medieval people to beware?  Anyone know a reference?

And, given poor hygiene, how would you know its poison? (I dont' mean to dump on
Medieval people, I'm remembering camping events:  you don't get things really
clean (hands, clothes, utensils) you use water sources you don't know anything
about, you drink things offered you by strangers.  I thought about how a person
whose water comes from a murky well or a creek approached by a muddy path, had
courtyards with unpaved areas and horses,  could get anything really clean
during rainy periods--very difficult).  In the 6 hours before the symptoms
begin, there would be lots of possible causes!

Cheers
Agnes
kkeeler1 at unl.edu

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