Cerebral Soup - The Archives
3 interesting snippets of trivia for today
One
Deadly nightshade, a toxic plant found throughout much of the Northern Hemisphere, is also known as belladonna ("beautiful woman" in Italian) because women there would use it diluted in eyedrops to dilate their pupils. Dilated pupils is a sign of being aroused and is thought to be more attractive.
Two
Belladonna is cultivated in Europe as it is a source of atropine - which is an antidote to nerve gas used in chemical warfare.
Three
Green False Hellebore - found in the USA - was used by some American Indian tribes in choosing a new leader. Candidates would chew the root - and the last to puke would be the new leader.
Posted by mjd-s on April 24, 2007 3:00 AM