Health IS Cool

I have a cool thing to tell you about health, and it's something that Matt didn't know, so that means that it's not common knowledge (then again, maybe not, he didn't know that you are suposed to tip hair dressers) but anyways, here it is.

Ergot is a fungus that grows on rye, wheat and other cereal grains, but only in wet, humid conditions. Eating ergot-contaminated food can lead to a convulsive disorder characterized by violent muscle spasms, vomiting, delusions, hallucinations, crawling sensations on the skin, and a host of other symptoms. Now for the hooker, these symptoms were all displayed by the girls involved in the Salem Witch Trials. There is a lady that theorized that all the girls accused of being witches simply had ergotism. The conditions in Salem were perfect that year for the girls to have gotten sick, and in a super religious community, the symptoms of ergotism might seem like a "bewitchment". Isn't that interesting? I know it's just a theory, but I think that it is a pretty good one. It might be just morbid curiosity, but I really like to read about the witch trials and it was always one of my favorite parts in American History. Some things in history are just so crazy!