Sylvia Rose
Prussic Acid: Secrets of Hydrogen Cyanide
Prussic acid, widely known as hydrogen cyanide (HCN), is a compound with rich history and unique properties, and one of the most...
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Sylvia Rose
Aug 293 min read
Aqua Regia: The Green Lyon of Alchemy
Aqua regia, Latin for “royal water,” is a powerful acidic solution known to dissolve noble metals like gold and platinum. It's used in...
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Sylvia Rose
Aug 156 min read
Poison Pigments of Painters: Renaissance
During the Western Renaissance, new exciting artists' pigments appear in brilliant colors, vibrant scarlet red, deep rich blue,...
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Sylvia Rose
Aug 85 min read
Albertus Magnus: Alchemy, Arsenic, Astrology
Albertus Magnus ( c. 1200 - 1280) is a German Dominican friar, philosopher, scientist, and bishop, considered one of the greatest...
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Sylvia Rose
Jun 254 min read
Mad Hatter's Disease: Mercury Madness
Mad Hatter Disease is also called erethism, erethismus mercurialis or mad hatter syndrome. Caused by progressive mercury poisoning it's a...
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Sylvia Rose
Jun 114 min read
Serket - Scorpion Goddess of Egypt
Serket is the ancient Egyptian goddess of healing relating to venomous stings of scorpions and bites of snakes. She often wears a...
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Sylvia Rose
Jun 35 min read
Wolfsbane (Aconitum) Ancient Poisons
Wolfsbane, monk's hood (Aconitum) delivers a lethal dose of poison. In the ancient world, poison plays a vital part, from death by elixir...
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Sylvia Rose
Jun 24 min read
Chun Yuyan & Death of Empress Xu
Chun Yuyan (Chunyu Yan) is a Chinese court official in the 1st century BCE, during the Han Dynasty. As obstetrician and gynecologist to...
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Sylvia Rose
May 316 min read
Vermilion - Scarlet Pigment of Death
Vermilion (vermillion) is a brilliant red, orange-red or scarlet pigment obtained by grinding cinnabar (HgS), a sulfur and mercury ore. A...
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Sylvia Rose
May 306 min read
Cinnabar (Mercury Sulfide) Red Death
Cinnabar or mercury sulfide (HgS) is a rock composed of mercury (Hg) and sulfur (S). Historically it's used to make vermillion or scarlet...
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Sylvia Rose
May 276 min read
Chinese Alchemical Elixir Poisoning
Chinese alchemical elixir poisoning in ancient China is generally a death of the rich. Poisoning occurs over time or swiftly, caused by...
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Sylvia Rose
May 45 min read
Opium Poppy (Papaver somnifum)
Opium poppy (Papaver somnifum) is the common source of opium and derivatives such as morphine or heroin. All poppies produce the narcotic...
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Sylvia Rose
May 14 min read
Is Cherry Laurel Poisonous?
Cherry laurel (Prunus laurocerasus) is an Old World evergreen species of the cherry family. Often mistaken for edible bay laurel, Prunus...
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Sylvia Rose
Apr 284 min read
Rhododendron & the Toxic Ambrosia
Rhododendron is a plant genus of the heather family. With bright showy flowers, this glamorous perennial is known for its medicinal...
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Sylvia Rose
Apr 272 min read
Veratrum album - Tragic Toxins
Veratrum album (white hellebore, false hellebore) is a poisonous plant in the family Melanthiaceae. Used in ancient natural medicine for...
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Sylvia Rose
Apr 274 min read
Black Hellebore: Toxins, Health & Lore
Black hellebore (Helleborus niger) or Christmas Rose is a plant of the Helleborus sub-family, used in folk medicine and lethal poisons....
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Sylvia Rose
Apr 144 min read
Tanning Hides - Ancient Techniques
Tanning hides is practiced in the ancient world since c. 7000 BCE, in the Indus Valley site of Mehgarh. By 2500 BCE, Sumerians of...
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Sylvia Rose
Apr 66 min read
Mad Honey - What's the Buzz?
Mad honey comes from a group of plant-produced neurotoxins named after Leucothoe grayana, a plant native to Japan. Grayanotoxins can...
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Sylvia Rose
Apr 45 min read
Mugwort (Wormwood) Herbal Lore
Mugworts are used in folk medicine of India, China, Europe, America and other regions. A member of the Artemisia genus, mugwort is also...
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Sylvia Rose
Mar 96 min read
Jimson Weed, Witches & Zombies
Jimson (Datura stramonium) is among the herbs and plants of magic and healing. It's known as a flying ointment for witches, a folk...
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