Salem

In 1656, in a town called Salem,ordinary people were hunted and accused of witchcraft. A crime punishable by hanging. Many innocent people, who had no way of proving their innocence died at the gallows.
The persecution started when 8 teenage girls were thought to be possessed by the devil. Their symptoms were consistent with demonic possession and undeniable. They included violent convulsions to such an extent that their head was seen to touch their heals. They would scream in horror from visions of animals in their bed and blood pouring from the ceiling. Clearly very disturbing hallucinations indeed. Their skin felt as though thousands of insects were crawling on it and the girls would violently attempt to remove the perceived insects.

To prove that demons were present in the body of these girls, bread was soaked in the urine of one of the girls and fed to a dog. If the dog behaved in a similar way then clearly demons were present. The dog ate the bread and soon began to convulse uncontrollably, running in ever increasing circles until it dropped dead. Clear proof of witchcraft and the presence of the devil. Many days of exorcism followed.

People suspected of witchcraft were rounded up and put on trial as witches. During the court sessions that followed, the girls were seen to convulse and hallucinate. Modern writers suspect that the girls staged this act in an attempt to seek attention. Many years earlier, similar cases were reported in many areas around England.

During the 1960s similar symptoms were noticed from people who experimented with LSD, a powerful hallucinogen. People would complain of hallucinations involving visions of animals and severe convulsions. In fact the symptoms observed in the sixties with LSD users were identical to those documented in Salem. LSD was not known back in the in the sixteenth century so what caused this phenomenon.

Late in 1970 a pharmacologist was experimenting with Ergot fungus for its production of a powerful vasoconstrictor, a substance that constricts blood vessels. This powerful chemical was isolated and during investigations the pharmacologist accidentally spilt some on his hand. Hours later he was hallucinating with powerful images, experiencing convulsions and experiencing pin pricks all over his skin. Ergot is a fungus that grows naturally in rye/wheat crops, as pictured on the right. It grows best in moist , swampy conditions where the rainfall is high and temperatures are warm. Ergot takes a year to mature into a producer of the powerful chemical.  

image from www.botany.hawaii.edu
Look at the facts provided and discuss if ergot could be responsible.