A lot of things in life don’t make sense, and it seems I spend half my time trying to explain and rationalize these to my three young girls. They ask a lot of questions. A lot. Why do we park on a driveway? Why is something called a “free gift”, aren’t gifts always free? What’s … Continue reading
Before there was Sherlock Holmes and his trademark deerstalker cap, there was an English physician, Dr. Arthur Conan Doyle. And before that there was just plain old Arthur Conan Doyle, a student at the University of Edinburgh Medical School, and where we will begin. On September 20th, 1879 the British Medical Journal published a letter entitled “Gelseminum as … Continue reading
“The use of foxglove is getting abroad, and it is better the world should derive some instruction, however imperfect, from my experience, than that the lives of men should be hazarded by unguarded exhibition, or that a medicine of so much efficacy should be condemned and rejected as dangerous and unmanageable” This is from the … Continue reading
Plant based medicines have been around nearly as long as humans, but one stands out more than all the others combined. The ancient Sumerians, circa 2000 BC, recorded the use of willow leaves to treat inflammation. The Ebers Papyrus, circa 1500 BC, one of the most important medical documents of ancient Egypt, references the use of … Continue reading
Often times the common names given to plants are due to their physical characteristics. Take the Brugmansia genus, for example, its common name is “Angel’s Trumpet.” By taking a look at these photos you can certainly see why it could be called such. It looks angelic, and certainly has a resemblance to an instrument in the … Continue reading
Kratom is one of my favorite plants and poisons. It ranks right up there with scopolamine and the Solanaceae plants it comes from. I talk about kratom in nearly every death investigation or drug talk I give – about two a year. But unlike scopolamine, it’s not the evilness of kratom that is alluring to me, rather I am … Continue reading
Everyone has heard of tequila, or at least I hope you have. There’s nothing better than a margarita on the rocks while resting in the shade on a hot summer day . . . except two margaritas. Most people are too busy rimming a cocktail glass with salt to think about where tequila comes from, thankfully, that’s … Continue reading
As of today, khat is now banned as a class C drug in the United Kingdom . . . and I’ll spare you the “I prefer dogs” jokes, they’re all pretty lame. But in a sentence, khat is a plant chewed by individuals of Horn of African decent for it’s stimulant properties. So while many … Continue reading
The period of time right after World War II was a dark and shady time for the United States. We had just exited hard fought wars on two fronts with the help of the Soviet Union, our ally. But the United States, and the United Kingdom, never fully trusted the Soviets, and saw them as potential … Continue reading
An internet friend of mine regaled me with a tale of a buddy of his that looked like he got whacked in the face with a 2 x 4. Did he owe money to a bookie? Girlfriend beat him up? No, he got his ass handed to him by a one inch long fluffy little … Continue reading
The summer of 1972 was an unusually rainy season in the Corn Belt – the “I” states: Indiana, Iowa, Illinois – and many of the corn fields were infected by the fungus Fusarium graminearum, which in its anamorph lifecycle goes by the name Gibberella zeae (a much cooler name, if you ask me), and also infects wheat and barley (1). These … Continue reading
I’m an addict. I collect scientific papers and research articles. There’s not enough time to read them all, but I save them anyways, thinking I’ll get to them on a rainy day. The problems is, it doesn’t rain that much here. I’d call myself a hoarder, but I’m usually well organized, and the collection only … Continue reading
Of all of Nature’s Poisons, I find natural hallucinogens the most intriguing. Not because I dabble in these sorts of things, I never have nor will, but because I wonder why they are even there in the first place. Plant based poisons are secondary metabolites, meaning that they are not necessary for the basic biological … Continue reading
You know humans have done something genuinely bad when Mother Nature creates a tree that wants to hurt you. And I’m not talking about hurting your feelings, I’m talking Rocko and Vinny with baseball bats like you owe them money. They won’t kill you, because they need you to pay up and to tell your … Continue reading
I love horseradish sauce. There, I said it. I love the pungent and spicy spread slathered all over my sandwich. My girls enjoy it, too, which is a good thing, because I often share my sandwich with them. Or maybe they’ve learned to like anything if they’re hungry enough. But most people don’t like to think … Continue reading
In 1946 Frederick Prescott found himself on a table, unable to move. He was completely paralyzed. Two minutes prior he was intravenously injected with 30 mg of d-tubocurarine, and now he was in trouble. He could not open his eyes, speak, or even swallow, and no one in the room was aware of his distress. … Continue reading
I grew up in the Puget Sound area of northwest Washington surrounded by rhododendron. Lots of rhododendron. It is the state flower after all. The rhododendron in Washington have large evergreen leaves, bloom in nearly every color, and can grow to be quite large (~8 feet around). I’d bet that nearly every home within a square mile … Continue reading
Cyclops, creatures with a single eye in the middle of their forehead, played an important role in Greek mythologies. They were often cast as dullards and monsters; the henchman of the Gods, and most likely just misunderstood. My favorite cyclops is Polyphemus, from Homer’s Odyssey. In it, the hero Odysseus and his men were returning from … Continue reading
Just about everyone has heard of strychnine. It’s what I would call one of the “Classical Poisons”, in the same company as arsenic, cyanide, aconitine (Wolfsbane), coniine (Hemlock), and a few others. But if I had to choose a word to describe strychnine, I would call it “romantic.” I’m sure you’re scratching your head on … Continue reading
Mexican prickly poppy, Argemone mexicana, is, oddly enough, prickly. It is native to Mexico and parts of the American Southwest, but has also found homes throughout the world, particularly India. I’ll get straight to the point: it’s a weed. I’ve seen them in New Mexico, and it seems to thrive in dry, barren soil in ditches and … Continue reading
Nature's Poisons 