Ergot

Due to its miniscule size and the fact Claviceps purpurea is an unknown to these people, many commoners that consumed the bakery products made from the flour that was recently made became very ill and fell into the hands of Ergot of rye poisoning, a disease given the nickname back then “holy fire" or "St. Anthony’s fire (Schumann 2016). While ergot poisoning is no longer a concern to us due to the cleansing process harvested grain must undergo through to remove any such parasites or anything that could have been on the agriculture, the uses of ergot fungi began to be realized and thus, medicine/drug to precipitate childbirth was the first product created from this parasite. However, this discovery was not beneficial in the later years once…

C. africana, C. viridis, and C. pusilla (2001). Although listing all of these species does show how small the Claviceps genus consists of, the main one, Claviceps purpurea, is one of the few groups of ergot fungi located in tropical regions, but typically where there are regions containing wild rye or grain plants, as well as wildgrass. Although this organism is not commonly known, it does have quite the history, specifically in Europe during the Middle Ages. Back when there was no real…

A Medical Explanation for the Salem Witchcraft Occurrences While some people believed that the symptoms of the afflicted were too easily turned off and on, ergot poising could have caused the Salem witchcraft trials because most symptoms resembled ergot poising and the environment in New England had the perfect conditions for ergot to survive. In his historical piece on the witch trials called the Wonders of the Invisible World, Cotton Mather said “... I report matters not as an advocate, but as…

During 1938 in Switzerland, a man by the name of Dr. Albert Hofmann, discovered Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) in the pharmaceutical-chemical department of Sandoz Laboratories. Hoffman hoped that this drug could be used to stimulate circulation and respiration, though this idea fortunately failed. He soon had forgotten about the new found drug, and didn’t utilize it for the next five years. In 1943, he continued to observe the drug, and by accidentally ingesting LSD he later experienced some…

In 1943, while World War II raged on, in the neutral country of Switzerland, a chemist by the name of Albert Hofmann was working at the Sandos Pharmaceutical Companny’s Bazo Laboratory. At this time Hofmann was looking for a cure for migraine headaches. What he discovered though, would change his life and the world as he knew it. Lysergic acid dielthylamide, commonly known as LSD, is one of the most potent psychedelic drugs known to man. Hofmann synthesized LSD from from ergotamine, a chemical…

believe it was caused by the ingestion of ergot by the local people of Strasbourg, France(Israel, n.p). Others believe it was caused by a mass hysteria that broke out amongst the local towns people(Waller, n.p.). While there are many theories and beliefs about what actually caused the Dancing Plague of 1518, the actual cause was a religious belief mixed with the conditions the people had to endure at the time.…

Ergotism is poisoning caused by consumption of foods contaminated with the fungus ergot, resulting in hallucinations and other symptoms. Behavioral psychologist Linda Carporael and many historians have found links between ergotism and the Salem witch hunt. Ergotism was likely a major cause of the infamous mass hysteria in Salem. First of all, the circumstances/conditions in Salem at the time were ideal for ergotism-fueled hysteria. Rye, a grain very susceptible to ergot, was a staple crop in…

million people in U.S. aged 12 to 25 had used and abused LSD” (www.drugfreeworld.org). LSD was first manufactured in 1938 by a Swedish chemist, Albert Hofmann. After obtaining his PH.D. at age 23, Hofmann began working for Sandoz Pharmaceutical Laboratories, where they studied various plants with medicinal compounds. At the time, Albert was focusing on ergot fungus, which is a fungus that grows on various grains. This fungus, if injected is extremely poisonous and can cause death. It was when…

LSD, lysergic acid diethylamide, is an extremely potent hallucinogen and goes by many other names, such as, acid, blotters, trips, and many other nicknames. It was first created in the year 1938 and has been a well known drug since. The main effects of this drug cause hallucinations and trips. The drug LSD is manufactured from an ergot called lysergic acid. It was discovered in 1938 in a fungus that on rye and other grains. It is produced in crystalline form and then is mixed with excipients…

LSD was first made by Albert Hoffman, a Swiss scientist, in 1938. LSD (short form) actually comes from its early name LSD-25 which is an abbreviation for the German "Lysergsaure-diethylamid" followed by a sequential number. Hoffman was not only the first to make LSD, he was also the firwst to ingest and learn the psychedelic effects of this drug. Hoffman died April 29, 2008, at the age of 102. LSD is a semi-synthetic drug, this means that it occurs both in nature and is part man-made. Lysergic…