The trials have confounded historians for centuries. Some scientists think a toxic fungus from rotten grain might be responsible.
The terror began in December 1691 in Salem, Massachusetts. Girls in the village began acting strangely. They spoke with slurred speech and had seizure-like fits. Sometimes they were quiet and melancholy. Other times, they were manic. The first to exhibit odd behavior was Abigail Williams, the 8-year-old niece of the reverend. Her family considered her well-behaved and they were frightened when she cried that someone — who they couldn’t see — was pinching and biting her.
, resembles grain when it grows on the crop. Until the 1800s, farmers assumed it was part of the plant and they put it through the mill without realizing it wasBut ergot is also a hallucinogenic; LSD, most notoriously, is derived from it. Once ingested, there are two responses to ergot poisoning, or ergotism: Convulsive ergotism causes fits, hallucinations, mania, or delirium, while gangrenous ergotism leads to necrotic tissue.
Caporael found the accusers’ behavior consistent with ergot poisoning. Convulsive ergotism impacts the nervous system, and the accusers were known to have fits and muscle spasms. They also had hallucinations that seemed very real to them, and felt very terrifying to the people who witnessed them. The hallucinations were later used as “spectral evidence” during the trials; some accusers testified to seeing witches in their hearths at home.
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