Comments on: Apothecarius Argentum, Volume 2: A Medical Annotation http://www.politedissent.com/archives/2066 a blog of medicine, comics, television, science and other fun stuff Sun, 21 Mar 2010 02:16:32 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Sean Duggan http://www.politedissent.com/archives/2066/comment-page-1#comment-418763 Sean Duggan Wed, 03 Sep 2008 15:46:54 +0000 http://politedissent.com/?p=2066#comment-418763 @Kara - I'll admit to a lack of herbalist knowledge myself, but my understanding was that the willow bark by itself carried a number of by-products which are normally filtered out in the production of aspirin and such products. It's probably easier to overdose the salicylic acid with aspirin since it's purer, but large amounts of willow bark will carry large amounts of the by-products with attendant side effects. Some of which, of course, may be beneficial within some dosage range, so in some ways, it all evens out. @Kara – I’ll admit to a lack of herbalist knowledge myself, but my understanding was that the willow bark by itself carried a number of by-products which are normally filtered out in the production of aspirin and such products. It’s probably easier to overdose the salicylic acid with aspirin since it’s purer, but large amounts of willow bark will carry large amounts of the by-products with attendant side effects. Some of which, of course, may be beneficial within some dosage range, so in some ways, it all evens out.

]]> By: Kara http://www.politedissent.com/archives/2066/comment-page-1#comment-418597 Kara Wed, 03 Sep 2008 01:51:17 +0000 http://politedissent.com/?p=2066#comment-418597 Actually Willow Bark isn't as irritating to the stomach, it's safer than asprin. Willowbark and the herb Meadowsweet is where salicylic acid is derived from. (I'm an herbalist). Actually Willow Bark isn’t as irritating to the stomach, it’s safer than asprin. Willowbark and the herb Meadowsweet is where salicylic acid is derived from. (I’m an herbalist).

]]> By: Sean Duggan http://www.politedissent.com/archives/2066/comment-page-1#comment-418357 Sean Duggan Tue, 02 Sep 2008 04:11:41 +0000 http://politedissent.com/?p=2066#comment-418357 FWIW, way back when in 1st edition D&D, they gave a nod to wolvesbane being very poisonous. IIRC, not only did you have to make a Saving Throw versus poison when you took it to end the lycanthropy, but even if you made the saving throw, you still lost stats. Likely, this was more to prevent the "werewolf powerup" stratagem by players, but it is nice to know that Gygax read up a bit on the effects. FWIW, way back when in 1st edition D&D, they gave a nod to wolvesbane being very poisonous. IIRC, not only did you have to make a Saving Throw versus poison when you took it to end the lycanthropy, but even if you made the saving throw, you still lost stats. Likely, this was more to prevent the “werewolf powerup” stratagem by players, but it is nice to know that Gygax read up a bit on the effects.

]]> By: Sable Hope http://www.politedissent.com/archives/2066/comment-page-1#comment-417751 Sable Hope Sun, 31 Aug 2008 05:08:59 +0000 http://politedissent.com/?p=2066#comment-417751 Dont forget: other telltale signs of lycanthropy include a monobrow, being born with a caul, being born with teeth and having the middle & ring finger being of equal lengths. [But if you have 6+ fingers, moles on your inner thighs or an extra nipple you're a witch] Hey Scott, you know if its true you can get mercury poisoning from wearing cinnabar jewelry? I've always been curious about that, never quite sure if thats an urban legend [or, if with prolonged wear my carved chinese cinnabar beads will make me deathly ill.] :) Dont forget: other telltale signs of lycanthropy include a monobrow, being born with a caul, being born with teeth and having the middle & ring finger being of equal lengths. [But if you have 6+ fingers, moles on your inner thighs or an extra nipple you're a witch]

Hey Scott, you know if its true you can get mercury poisoning from wearing cinnabar jewelry? I’ve always been curious about that, never quite sure if thats an urban legend [or, if with prolonged wear my carved chinese cinnabar beads will make me deathly ill.] :)

]]> By: Anonymous http://www.politedissent.com/archives/2066/comment-page-1#comment-417456 Anonymous Fri, 29 Aug 2008 20:53:12 +0000 http://politedissent.com/?p=2066#comment-417456 There was a thing in playgrounds that you could tell if someone liked butter by holding a buttercup under their chin and seeing if they glowed yellow. It turned out a lot of people liked butter. And Lycanthropy, apparently. There was a thing in playgrounds that you could tell if someone liked butter by holding a buttercup under their chin and seeing if they glowed yellow. It turned out a lot of people liked butter. And Lycanthropy, apparently.

]]> By: Sarah http://www.politedissent.com/archives/2066/comment-page-1#comment-417384 Sarah Fri, 29 Aug 2008 14:36:18 +0000 http://politedissent.com/?p=2066#comment-417384 Don't forget arsenic flypaper! Along with weedkiller, it's the commonest source used by poisoners in mystery novels. Don’t forget arsenic flypaper! Along with weedkiller, it’s the commonest source used by poisoners in mystery novels.

]]> By: Lux23 http://www.politedissent.com/archives/2066/comment-page-1#comment-417325 Lux23 Fri, 29 Aug 2008 04:11:20 +0000 http://politedissent.com/?p=2066#comment-417325 My favorite arsenic tidbit is the fact that it's part of what are still the prevalent treatments for Sleeping Sickness My favorite arsenic tidbit is the fact that it’s part of what are still the prevalent treatments for Sleeping Sickness

]]>