Venin de Crapaud
Entry posted by Pertinax
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I have written previously about Hemlock Conium maculatum (and its main poisonous principle the virulent alkaloid coniine, which essentially makes its victim "forget" to breathe), coldness of the flesh moving from the feet toward the chest with a gentle numbness being its significant property. It is said no pain attends this death.
I was taking a gentle stroll to relieve a modest hangover when I happened upon two items , lying by the wayside, that a maleficium would have ceased upon with glee: a toad and some young Water Hemlock.
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Water Hemlock Cicuta virosa is sometimes mistaken for the gentler instrument of oblivion, but its venomous cicutoxin (an aliphatic alcohol mainly in the roots) causes a hideous convulsive death after roughly 20 minutes of agony (respiratory failure being the actual cause). You might think that this would be enough for some people (by which I mean career poisoners) , but I found a most interesting snippet of information the other day . There was a vogue for the force feeding of toads with deadly plants, (we are speaking of the era of that most celebrated poisoner Catherine De Medicii) , arsenic being a favourite, but cicutoxin and coniium likewise. What profit does this have? Well obviously the toad is probably not too happy, but venin de crapaud the distilled essence of the luckless animals body was a powerful multiple envenomed poison.The bufotenin in a toad's flesh being a powerful hallucogen (hence a spate of toad licking in the Americas ("The Psychedelic Toad of the Sonaran Desert" by A Most if you simply must put your tongue on an amphibian).
Before you rush to feed your pet toads with an assortment of narcotics I must just mention that the urine of schizophrenics yields a very high level of bufotenin , so mental stability might be a problem here.
Which just goes to show what handy things are lying around in the countryside.
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