[D-Day]

Yowsa!

[D-Day]

Chill with a Pertimaxus!

[The War on Drugs Widens Ever More Dangerously]

Opioids were a revolution in pain control in the 1990's? Er ...! BCE perhaps?

[Plague and Rye]

All the alkaloids are poisinous, but all have medicinal virtue. As Paracelsus said "the poison is in the dose".

[Plague and Rye]

Indeed yes, and weve touched on the parasitic "fogg" on heather that was integral to its excellence as a basic brewing requisite.

[Plague and Rye]

As ive said in the blog we can only surmise on the basis of probabilities, the poor ate mostly grains, we know that crop failure /shortage was frequent and we know civil war caused terrible famine. The ergot growth affects many grasses and is almost universal. It doesnt seem totally unreasonable to suggest that its infiltration into the food supply of an unhealthy population would leave that same population susceptible to an aggressive disease, perhaps the plagues are a climactic package of weakened population (with diminished fertility and infant mortality "enhanced") then afflicted by a new or mutated baccilus , finished off by snowballing social disruption.

[Plague and Rye]

The Salem trials are discussed by MacInnis in his work ("On Poisons") as definitive ergotism, he is also at pains to point out that the craze for medieval European witch hunts is (he suggests) due to the (apparent) random nature of "plague" morbidity and a population willing to believe that those who knew plant lore might also be poisoners for diabolic purposes.The Chrisitian Church having no answer to epidemic disease other than to suggest it was the "wages of sin" , the flawed reasoning was , those who were protected had diabolic charms ( literally , not that they were especially cute) extrapolated or intimacy with Satan.

[Twas This & Nothing More.]

You hadnt prized the bricks loose yourself had you, in some Cunning Plan to become Archbishop of Bath and Wells? Whilst singing "cunning plans are here again?'

[Hemlock and Tobacco]

I just saw in passing a CSI episode where nicotine (as a liquid) was used to kill a heavy drinker/smoker.

[Hemlock and Tobacco]

Interestingly the "garlic question" has come out at just the time in the UK when it is now suggested that even the most banal of pain killers , asprin, paracetamol and (by far the worst) ibuprofen cause gross cardio damage. The ibuprofen is culpable in damaging the gut wall integrity, it is available over the counter but is included in many other medications. I wish to prophesy that it will be found to be a co-factor in alzheimers disease.

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml...7/npills127.xml

[Hemlock and Tobacco]

Yell it like it is bro!

For what it's worth here are the offending articles: Archives of Internal Medicine - Garlic

 

The NPR story I heard yesterday on this mentioned that they were putting the raw garlic in with 'gourmet sandwiches' and the there was no dietary restriction on the people taking the suppliments.

 

So I ask, was this designed to fail? What if these people were on/maintaining a high cholesterol diet?

 

So no control group , or dietary prohibitions? Great science.

[Hemlock and Tobacco]

I hear that a new study has taken garlic off of the menu for bad cholesterol.

Yeah & I bet that study was funded by the Pharmaceutical industry...

Yell it like it is bro!

[Hemlock and Tobacco]

The range of Hemlock is the whole of Europe and Northern Asia , as ive mentioned previously , the closer to the Nile -the stronger the active principle of the plant.

 

When you say closer to the Nile, do you mean it is also located in the Nile?

 

I will check my range maps , I dont recall seeing it in Karnak , but I dont see why it shouldnt be in Egypt. My remark concerns the general fertile potency of the Egyptian climate, all medicinal plants seem to have greater potency (and are attested so in the Ancient world) as one moves toward Egypt.Fresh herbs from Egypt were the best plants available to the Romans , but as Pliny says many journeymen could not identify the "real thing" versus the dried (and hence less effective) plant or rhizome.

[Hemlock and Tobacco]

The range of Hemlock is the whole of Europe and Northern Asia , as ive mentioned previously , the closer to the Nile -the stronger the active principle of the plant. So yes we can have the same plant in Britain and Greece, and as one requires little of the alkaloid to kill (by accident or design) the relative potency is not too relevant.

[Hemlock and Tobacco]

The umbelliferae are a very large group ( thats an understatement -vast), ive spent a long time annotating and photographing them. Within that group we have angelica, fennel, wild parsley and caraway( which is somewhat poisonous if not used correctly) that are culinary spices ; we also have wild carrot, pignut and giant hogweed that vary from decorative to intrusive and poisinous to livestock. We have Yarrow and elderberry great healing herbs.Then we have hemlock. They look similar- there are tell tale signs to discriminate , the worst of them (Hemlock and Oenanthe) have either purple stems or blotched stems , and smell bad when broken. I am going to publish a small paper on identification of the species, with a photographic guide , early versions will be beta tested on my msn blog.

Cornell have this useful resource for a particular locality:

http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=h...ficial%26sa%3DG

take a good look at the Water Hemlock stem colour.

I will put some shots up on msn soon and pm you -leaf shape, inflorescence shape and smell all help, but if in doubt , dont eat em!

[Poseidonogenes]

[An overview- thank the gods for UNRV!]

I can see you , you are indeed manifest and present in cyber person bloghood.

 

We must all feel a warm glow of nicety, after reading your charming paeon of praise to the site.

[The blur of the 2nd interview]

Prescription follows:

 

Jacuzzi and sauna , light sleep.

 

1.butter glazed baby asparagus

2.soup of lamb's kidneys

3.sauted veal with light nochhi verde

4.profiteroles

5.a selection of cheeses, celery hearts and oat biscuits.

 

Dry Martini, Pertimaxus,

A smokey Claret .

Monbazillac.

 

Retire.

[It has been a funny sort of week.]

Did you use the "navy strength" gin?

[Roman Bread]

what is aioli?

http://www.amb-cotedazur.com/Recipes%20aioli.htm

 

le voila! This is the modern version , but its origin is classical.

[Roman Bread]

Yes you did. :bag:

[Roman Bread]

I can easily answer this question for you tomorrow GO old chap, one of our employees lived in the Netherlands for many years , has a Dutch husband and is a talented cook.

[Roman Bread]

I love a good non-white bread. But I'm too lazy to bake it myself.

Breadmaking machines require only that you add the ingredients (in a specified order) and retire to the Thermae whilst they work.

[Grains in the Ancient World]

Interesting Info! Didn't soldiers (perhaps in the eastern Empire) subsist on a diet that included onions, bread and perhaps cheese? Or was this for the Byzantine Era. I'm sure I've read it somewhere before. Either way, all hail the announcer!

 

The forerunner of modern pizza.

 

I thought that the Roman soldier was fed meat at least once a day?

 

The analysed garbage from around military sites on the Wall (and the Antonine) certainly reveals a prodigious amount of animal bones, from many species-id suspect therefore that whilst the issue of meat rations is an uncertain thing (in terms of ability to supply consistently) , the supplementation of the basic diet with meats via trade or hunting is certain(in Brittania).Dont forget here the Vindolanda attestation as regards seafood.

[Beer]

Profound.