By Kim Rendfeld
Years
ago, I saw an amusing thing on an insecticide bottle: “made from plants.” As if
that is supposed to make me feel safer. Long before modern chemistry, humans
derived poisons from plants – to kill larger beings than bugs.
Here
are three plants used for evil purposes that I found in researching my novels
set in eighth century Francia.
Hemlock
The
word hemlock can apply to several
plants and bring on different sets of symptoms. A type that resembles parsley
is believed to be the key ingredient in that famous cocktail Socrates drank to
carry out his death sentence. In small doses, hemlock had medicinal uses such
as inducing sleep. In larger doses, as Plato recounts, the poison slowly paralyzes
its victim until the person stops breathing hours later.
Two
19th century poisonings – one a guy experimenting on himself, another whose
family thought they were using parsley in a sandwich – are consistent with
Plato’s descriptions.
Deadly Nightshade
Often
called the devil’s plant, as few as three of deadly nightshade’s dark purple
berries can kill a child, and adults have been poisoned after consuming rabbits
and birds that ate the berries. Its hallucinogenic properties, including a
feeling of being able to fly, are said to make it a favorite of witches’ rituals.
Other symptoms: sweating, a flush face, and dilated pupils.
That
last symptom may have led women to use this plant in eyedrops to give them a
doe-eyed look, hence the name belladonna.
Aconite
With
leaves mistaken for wild parsley and roots resembling horseradish, aconite has
several names, including queen of poisons, wolf’s bane, and monk’s hood. It’s
called bane for a reason. The folk used it to kill what they considered
undesirable animals such as wolves and rats. And it’s had its share of human
victims. Once it takes effect – about 20 minutes – it produced the classic
symptoms of poisoning, vomiting and diarrhea. Death usually occurred within
hours.
With
these and other poisons ready to slip in food and drink, medieval aristocrats
took precautions such as employing tasters. Why would anyone want such a risky
job? In a time of scarcity, it ensured enough to eat.
All
images via Wikimedia Commons, in the public domain or used under the terms of
GNU Free Documentation License
Sources:
“Hemlock
Poisoning and the Death of Socrates: Did Plato Tell the Truth?”
[https://www3.nd.edu/~plato/bloch.htm] Enid Bloch, Journal of the International Plato Society, 2001
Rodale’s Illustrated Encyclopedia
of Herbs
Poisons
make an appearance in both of Kim Rendfeld’s novels, The Cross and the Dragon (2012, Fireship Press) and The Ashes of Heaven’s Pillar
(forthcoming, Fireship Press). For more about Kim and her fiction, visit her
website, http://kimrendfeld.com, or her blog Outtakes, http://kimrendfeld.wordpress.com.
