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Shakespeare could have been writing about a particularly nasty organotin compound I made in one of my graduate-level lab courses. I never could get the waxy gray stuff out of the flask, and it smelled like the bottom of a dumpster. It’s not too much of a stretch to think of Shakespeare’s witches as early chemists, especially around this time of year. Herbal remedies and alternative medical practices are enjoying a resurgence these days, and cyberspace is replete with references to potions, poultices, and poisons. I skipped over the Wiccan Web sites and recipes for Halloween punch and went right to the science pages. Light up your jack-o’-lantern. Here we go. From the plant kingdomHerbal teas. Some witches’ brews are “charms of powerful trouble”; others are used for healing and general well-being. For example, “Witches Brew is your one-stop, online connection for herbal teas and spices” (1). Its recommended reading list includes a varied selection of books on herbal and conventional teas, coffees, and home remedies. Witches Brew claims that many of its mixtures are especially formulated for it by an “iridologist”, which is defined by Webster’s as someone who studies the iris of the eye for indications of health or disease. What does eye-gazing have to do with herbal medicine? Find out from Gary Ozarko, DNMN, ND, MD(MA) (Diploma of Natural Medicine and Nutrition, Doctor of Naturopathy, and Doctor of Alternative Medicine). Both the Witches Brew and the Ozarko sites contain warnings and disclaimers to alert you to the dangers of trying herbal remedies without the aid of a professional herbalist. In contrast, the herbs and spices at Lena Santos’s Web site are billed as “completely harmless and tested on families and friends”. Looksmart.com (2) gives an overview of herbal remedies under the headings Personal, Health, Natural Therapies, and Herbs, and it has a link to the Discoveryhealth.com site (3), which promised information on herbs but had moved on to “allergies” by the time I checked it. A Discoveryhealth site search using the keyword “herb” turned up 369 hits under the Diseases and Conditions category. Poultices and vampire repellents. Robert Todd Carroll gives a critical overview of aromatherapy, complete with literature references, in the Skeptic’s Dictionary (4). He doesn’t give much credence to the claims of practicing aromatherapists, stating that these claims are based on anecdotal evidence and muddled cause–effect conjectures rather than rigorous testing. He does, however, endorse the therapeutic effects of cooking with herbs and using menthol-, camphor-, and eucalyptus-based rubs to ease the symptoms of chest colds. If you’re trying to keep the vampires away, the Gourmet Garlic Gardens site has a page devoted to a layperson’s guide to the chemistry of garlic (5). Robert C. Anderson, the author of this primer, purposely steers clear of chemical structures and jargon, preferring to educate his readers without overwhelming them. That’s not to say he shies away from solid content. Here’s a sample: “Allicin is a volatile and short-lived (a few hours) compound, which if left alone, will break down into other compounds, such as diallyl disulphide. In a matter of hours, it will further degrade into an oily witches’ brew of bisulphides, trisulphides such as methyl allyl trisulphide, methanethiol, polysulphides, and many others.” Eating lots of asparagus might keep vampires (and your friends) away (6). Hannah Holmes tells you more than you probably wanted to know about the malodorous metabolites produced by the skinny green stalks (ironically, asparagus is listed as an aphrodisiac on other Web sites). The culprits include methanethiol, (S)-methyl thioesters, and other sulfur-containing compounds. Poisons. Say you’re not into healing and you would rather wreak a little havoc. Hugh Olsen and Ronald S. Tjeerdema at the University of California, Santa Cruz, have posted their lecture notes entitled “Murder and the use of plants” for their Principles of Pharmacology and Toxicology course (7). They list John Mann’s Murder, Magic, and Medicine (8) as supplemental reading. Their course covers the molecular mechanism of drug and toxin action and the nonmedical uses and effects of drugs. The lecture notes cover animal, vegetable, and mineral poisons used for hunting, trial by ordeal, executions, warfare, and yes, cosmetic purposes. Did you know that women in the Renaissance period squeezed juice from belladonna (Italian for “beautiful woman”) berries into their eyes to dilate their pupils and impart a “doe-eyed beauty” look? Love potions. If love potions are more your style, you’ll want to see what the medical community has to say about aphrodisiacs. Deb Levine covers foods, herbs, and miscellaneous substances, from rhinoceros horns to rose petals, in her article on the WebMD site (9). She doesn’t hold out much hope for anything short of Viagra and recommends saying “I love you” as an effective alternative. David Jacobson continues the theme at WebMD (10). He reports that, “far from dampening the market for ‘natural’ aphrodisiacs, Viagra may have triggered a new boom.” Jacobson gets the scientific and medical communities’ take on ginseng, yohimbine, ginkgo biloba, and l-arginine. His recommendation? See your doctor or therapist, or put things right between you and your partner. From the animal kingdomSmelly microbes. John Battista (Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge) studies pink microbes that smell like rotten cabbage. His lab was described as a “bubbling cauldron” in the National Science Foundation’s Frontiers Newsletter (11). Battista’s theory is that Deinococcus radiodurans’s unusual tolerance for ionizing radiation evolved as a way of helping it survive long periods of dehydration. “Cellular damage caused by dehydration and radiation is very similar,” he explains. Deep-sea smells. Sometimes a little B.O. is a good thing. Did you know that bottom-dwelling (benthopelagic) marine fish have high levels of trimethylamine oxide (TMAO) in their body tissues to maintain their hydration levels (12)? Without TMAO, osmosis would drive water from the lower-salinity environment of the fish’s body to the more saline ocean water. TMAO and its breakdown product trimethylamine make marine animals smell fishy. Extreme Science Adventure’s Gallery of Deep Ocean Creatures contains interesting scientific facts about the denizens of the deep and photos of creatures that would be right at home in a witch’s cauldron. Who comes up with all this stuff? Check out Extreme Science’s gallery of Way Cool Scientists to find out (13). While you’re at it, click over to its list of online science reference material (14). Bile of pufferfish. William Haugan Light explores the wonderful world of tetrodotoxin in his article “Eye of newt, skin of toad, bile of pufferfish” (15). You can find his article in California Wild (touted as “Natural sciences for thinking animals”), which is published by the California Academy of Sciences. Light tells horror stories of gastronomical adventures gone awry, Haitian zombies, and Australian swimmers suffering from octopus bites. The Spring 2000 issue invites you to an exhibit called “Venoms: striking beauties”, which opened on March 25 at the California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco (16). Black arts in the mineral world Family-friendly siteBy now, you’re probably ready for some lighter fare. The Sci-Tech Library Newsletter on the Edinburgh Engineering Virtual Library site has just what you need. “Halloween is for Science” (20), by Stephanie Bianchi of the U.S. National Science Foundation Library, is a lighthearted tour of science sites on the Internet, with a Halloween theme. Ms. Bianchi talks about bats, owls, wolves, witches’ gardens, pumpkins, the moon, masks, and other seasonal topics. She provides links to sites telling you how to have a safe, environmentally friendly holiday, and some links are just for kids.
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Nancy K. McGuire is associate editor of Chemical Innovation. |
