Poison used to ease pain
Hemlock (Conium maculatum, Winter fern or Poison parsley) is a biennial member of the Umbelliferae, growing to about two metres in barren ground and on water’s edges. It has a thick, hollow stem, which displays fern-like leaves with umbels of white flowers; the stem is splashed with purple stains. All parts of the plant are extremely poisonous and it has the foetid smell of mice.
The name is derived from the Greek konas, to whirl about, and from the Latin maculatum, spotted. The common name is from the Anglo-Saxon hem (shore) and laec (plant). The earliest reference to the plant occurs in the Bible; Hosea X, 4. and Amos V1, l2. In Plato’s Phaedo, he recalls the death of Socrates, who was sentenced to death for impiety. The philosopher was forced to drink a cup of hemlock, which killed him. According to Plato it was a simple, quick and painless death.
Pliny suggests that Nero murdered his step-brother, Britannicus, by tricking him into drinking hemlock. The Jews often gave hemlock to prisoners who were to be stoned to death, to assuage the pain. There is even a theory that Christ when crucified was administered hemlock to ease his suffering.
The plant contains a number of alkaloids, the principle being coniine and atropine, which are neurotoxins. The effect of the plant is to paralyse the respiratory nerves.
The ancient physicians knew that a full dose was lethal, but they were able to distinguish between the therapeutic and the toxic; this was achieved, by drying and heating. Hemlock was one of the earliest known anaesthetics: Galenus, physician to the emperor, Marcus Aurelius, used hemlock not only as a painkiller but employed the leaves to staunch arterial bleeding.
The plant is analgesic, sedative, emetic, galactofuge and antispasmodic. Medieval physicians used ointments made from the plant to treat epilepsy, mastitis, arthritis, anal fissures and haemorrhoids. It was given internally to combat the effects of strychnine poisoning, tetanus and hydrophobia, all of which are distinguished by muscle spasms and agonising pain. The l8th Century Viennese physician, Baron Storch experimented with extracts of hemlock to treat glandular tumours and at one time it was considered effective against breast cancer. Continual application of ointment and poultices, were used to soften hard tumours; it was also applied to treat scrofular.
Some animals eat this plant without any ill effect, particularly larks and quails, however, their bodies store the toxins and there have been a number of fatalities as a result of eating them.
There are a number of herbs, such as angelica, wild chervil and wild carrot that closely resemble hemlock, but they do not have the purple stains on the stem.
Hemlock is native to Cyprus and can be found on waste ground on the lower slopes of the Troodos mountains.
Next week Balsum
