An early form of euthanasia
Name: Aconite (Aconitum napellus)
Otherwise known as: Monkshood, Wolf Bane
Habitat: A perennial member of the Ranunculaceae family growing up to 1.5m in moist woodland soil and native to Europe, Asia and parts of the USA. The plant has deeply divided leaves on erect stems that terminate in long, dense racemes of deep blue to purple flowers in the shape of Greek helmets. The root is fleshy and spindle-shaped and while pale in early years turns dark brown with age. All parts of the plant are extremely poisonous, the root being the most potent.
What does it do: The generic name for the plant is thought to derive from the Greek akontion, meaning dart, a reference to the practice of their barbarian enemies using the plant as an arrow-tip poison. According to Dioscorides, this method was taken up by Greek shepherds when defending their flocks from wolves, hence the appellation Wolf Bane.
The ancients were familiar with Aconite as a deadly poison; in mythology, it was said to be the invention of Hecate from the foam of Cerberus, and was supposed to be the constituent of the poisoned cup Medea prepared for Theseus. There is an interesting reference relating to the island of Ceos, where it was administered to old men ‘past any usefulness to the state’, an early form of euthanasia but no mention of useless old women.
Aconite contains a number of highly toxic alkaloids such as Aconitine, Benzoconine, Japacotine, Indaconitine and many more: this makes the plant anodyne, diuretic and diaphoretic. It was introduced into England in the first millennium when it was referred to in early chronicles as ‘thung’, a generic term for all poisonous plants. In the middle ages it was a practice by herbalists and physicians to treat cases of poisoning and envenomation using a more powerful poison, such as Aconite, with some quite dramatic results. However, that wise man Gerard, one of the pioneers of herbal medicine, was extremely skeptical: ‘…There hath been little set down concerning the virtues of the Aconite, but much might be saide of the hurts that come thereby’. The effects of Aconite poisoning are a tingling and numbing of the tongue and the extremities, a paralysis of the central nervous system, coupled with a sensation of ants crawling over the skin; all this accompanied by nausea, vomiting and intense gastric pain; which is followed by giddiness, breathlessness, irregular pulse and collapse, unfortunately, while all this is in motion, the mind remains clear. In the early Tudor period the authorities experimented with Aconite as a method of capital punishment; it was remarked that the condemned died quickly but messily; given the above; hardly surprising.
Aconite is used topically by homeopaths and herbalists to treat sciatica, rheumatics, neuralgia and nerve related ailments. In Chinese medicine, extracts from the root are employed in treating shock, heart disease and uterine cancer. Modern research reveals that Aconite displays anti-viral and anti-tumour properties.
For those brave enough, the plant makes a beautiful mid-bed addition, providing you don’t handle it with cut fingers.
Next dangerous plant Hemlock
