OT rcty - Witches ? of Salem

I seem to recall ergotamine poisoning occurs mainly in rye bread and would
probably apply more to the witch burnings in Europe. I don't know if they ate
rye bread in America, but the German peasants sure did. I had a book that
described the witch burnings, but can't find it. Damn - I hope I didn't sell it
in the garage sale!
Dora

On Mon, 19 Jan 2004 00:31:00 GMT, "emerald"
wrote:



I saw an interesting programme on TV (in the series called "Secrets of the
Dead"). These people postulated that the girls' hallucinations etc were
caused by ergotamine poisoning,. IIRC, they were exposed to the ergot by
eating bread made of mouldy wheat. Apparently there were more incidences of
"witchcraft" in the years in which the weather was foul and the harvest was
poor.

emerald

We know they weren't witches in the sense of the word in those times
and that would seem as good a cause as any. Everybody had wheat in
their diet, so it would account for it, but wouldn't adults have been
affected too ? And men ?

Sheena

On 19 Jan 2004 01:39:53 GMT, ospam (Bungadora)
wrote:

I seem to recall ergotamine poisoning occurs mainly in rye bread and would
probably apply more to the witch burnings in Europe. I don't know if they ate
rye bread in America, but the German peasants sure did. I had a book that
described the witch burnings, but can't find it. Damn - I hope I didn't sell it
in the garage sale!

Rye was also a staple in the Americas during the Salem period.


--
Deb

WIP: How Great Thou Art (Leisure Arts Greatest Hymns II)