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fandomhigh2015-01-29 04:04 am
glacial_queen) wrote in fandomhigh2015-01-29 04:04 am
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History of Poisons, Thursday Per 2
"Kiss kiss!" Their usual teacher was waiting for them outside the Danger Shop today, looking quite cheerful and noticeably less pregnant than the last time they'd seen her. "Today we're visiting the Alnwick Poison Gardens, located in Alnwick, Northumberland, England. Normally, I'd bring you all directly there, but it's winter, so everything we'd want to see is dead. The same goes for my personal poison gardens--" yes, that was a plural "--only they're dead and buried under six feet of snow. So it's the Danger Shop for us today. On the plus side, I got to set the temperature, which means that we get an hour to pretend that it's not bloody freezing outside."
Stepping through the doors to the Danger Shop would usher the students into beautifully designed and sculpted grounds. Off in the distance was a castle, likely familiar to any fans of the Barry Plodder movie franchise. Several hundred feet to their left was a giant treehouse, built into a stand of sweet-smelling lime trees. And directly in front of them stood a walled garden, a pair of forbidding gates barring their entrance. Even without the handy "The Poison Garden" sign above them, it would be easy to guess this was where they were going, with the skull-and-crossbones motif and the warning on either door: These Plants Can Kill. For all that the Alnwick Gardens tried to suggest a old, pastoral feel, state-of-the-art surveillance equipment watched over the poison garden; where people were free to wander about and examine the plants elsewhere, entrance here was strictly monitored and guarded. Inside the walls, many of the plants were kept behind bars, out of reach of onlookers, and yet more warning signs abounded. The Poison Gardens were beautiful, a profusion of color, and that much more dangerous for it.
"Because this is only a simulation, we do not need to worry about guards or guides for our trip," Karla said. "But were this real, we would never be alone. There are over a hundred different kinds of poisonous and toxic plants in this garden, including several species of narcotics which require special dispensation from the British government to grow. Every plant in this garden can kill you, most in horrible and excruciating ways, and the staff don't want to worry about someone being stupid enough to pick a flower as a souvenir and end up dead." She held up a basket full of gardening gloves and sheers. "Here, you can feel free to cut samples to get a better look, but I'm insisting on using gloves anyway. This being a simulation doesn't excuse carelessness. You'll notice how the sign says not to smell the plants? They're not kidding. Every year, a decent percentage of tourists end up passing out because they've inhaled too many toxic fumes while exploring the garden. Should you find yourself growing lightheaded or developing a headache, step back from whatever plant you're examining, come back to the gate or head to the vine tunnel at the exit, and breathe cleaner air." Safety protocols would prevent anyone from passing out (or suffering from worse side effects if they touched or ingested any of the plants), but that didn't mean that the experience would be pleasant.
"Take this class to explore the gardens and the poisons in it. Feel free to take notes if you'd like. You'll need them for next class, when we get a little more...hands on."
Stepping through the doors to the Danger Shop would usher the students into beautifully designed and sculpted grounds. Off in the distance was a castle, likely familiar to any fans of the Barry Plodder movie franchise. Several hundred feet to their left was a giant treehouse, built into a stand of sweet-smelling lime trees. And directly in front of them stood a walled garden, a pair of forbidding gates barring their entrance. Even without the handy "The Poison Garden" sign above them, it would be easy to guess this was where they were going, with the skull-and-crossbones motif and the warning on either door: These Plants Can Kill. For all that the Alnwick Gardens tried to suggest a old, pastoral feel, state-of-the-art surveillance equipment watched over the poison garden; where people were free to wander about and examine the plants elsewhere, entrance here was strictly monitored and guarded. Inside the walls, many of the plants were kept behind bars, out of reach of onlookers, and yet more warning signs abounded. The Poison Gardens were beautiful, a profusion of color, and that much more dangerous for it.
"Because this is only a simulation, we do not need to worry about guards or guides for our trip," Karla said. "But were this real, we would never be alone. There are over a hundred different kinds of poisonous and toxic plants in this garden, including several species of narcotics which require special dispensation from the British government to grow. Every plant in this garden can kill you, most in horrible and excruciating ways, and the staff don't want to worry about someone being stupid enough to pick a flower as a souvenir and end up dead." She held up a basket full of gardening gloves and sheers. "Here, you can feel free to cut samples to get a better look, but I'm insisting on using gloves anyway. This being a simulation doesn't excuse carelessness. You'll notice how the sign says not to smell the plants? They're not kidding. Every year, a decent percentage of tourists end up passing out because they've inhaled too many toxic fumes while exploring the garden. Should you find yourself growing lightheaded or developing a headache, step back from whatever plant you're examining, come back to the gate or head to the vine tunnel at the exit, and breathe cleaner air." Safety protocols would prevent anyone from passing out (or suffering from worse side effects if they touched or ingested any of the plants), but that didn't mean that the experience would be pleasant.
"Take this class to explore the gardens and the poisons in it. Feel free to take notes if you'd like. You'll need them for next class, when we get a little more...hands on."
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Listen to the Lecture
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She also looked like questions about it would be most unwelcome. But at least she was trying to pay attention, unlike her first class of the week.
Medicinal
Castor Oil Plant
Ricin, one of the most toxic substances that occur naturally, is a simple protein found in the seeds of the castor oil plant and, in lesser quantities, throughout the rest of the plant. A single seed contains enough ricin to kill a child; four to ten seeds are all that is needed to kill an adult. The seeds need to be well-chewed to allow the release of the ricin, however; the hard seed coat prevents rapid absorption of the ricin if swallowed whole, though there may be some irritation. Allergenic compounds found on the plant surface can cause permanent nerve damage, making the harvest of castor beans a human health risk.
Death can take anywhere from several hours up to twelve days, with the first symptoms appearing anywhere from two hours to two days.
Effects and Symptoms: Burning in mouth, nausea, vomiting, cramps, drowsiness, cyanosis, stupor, circulatory collapse, blood in urine, convulsions, coma, death, hemolysis (breaking up) of red blood cells, hemorrhaging, blood found in vomit and stools.
On the medical side, castor oil comes from those same seeds that have been boiled to break down the ricin protein. Castor oil has many industrial uses, and has been used as a laxative since Ancient Egypt. A daily spoonful of the oil was given to children as a prevention against constipation with no ill effects, save its unpleasant taste.
Foxglove
Foxglove contains the poisons digitalin, digitoxin, and digitonin. All parts of the plant are fatal, with severe poisoning coming from ingestion of the leaves which do not lose their toxicity after being dried or cooked.
Reaction time is roughly twenty to thirty minutes.
Effects and Symptoms: Headache, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, blurred vision (halos), delirium, slow or irregular pulse, aberrant color vision, drooling, abnormal heart rate, cardiac arrhythmias, weakness, collapse, dilated pupils, tremors, seizures, death from ventricular fibrillation.
Medically speaking, digitalis is used to treat patients with heart disease, especially congestive heart failure. When used properly, it can elevate blood pressure, slow and regulate the pulse, and increase activity in muscle tissue. It can also serve as an antidote in aconite poisonings.
Belladonna
Known most often as deadly nightshade, it is one of the most toxis plants found in the Eastern Hemisphere. The entire plant is poisonous, especially the roots, leaves, and berries. Consumption of a single leaf or two to five berries are lethal to an adult. Rabbits can eat belladonna with no ill effects and pass the poison to creatures that eat them, even after cooking.
Reaction time is anywhere from several hours to several days.
Effects and Symptoms: Dilated pupils, sensitivity to light, blurred vision, tachycardia, loss of balance, staggering, headache, rash, hot flushing, severely dry mouth and throat, slurred speech, urinary retention, constipation, confusion, hallucinations, delirium, convulsions, aggressive behavior, rapid pulse, rapid respiration, death. Heartbeats can be audible from several feet away.
Belladonna has several medical and cosmetic uses. Belladonna is a pain reliever, muscle relaxer, and anti-inflammatory. A powder made from the leaves and roots can soothe asthma, colic, and hyperacidity. A tincture made from the plant used to be dropped into women's eyes to dilate the pupils as a beauty treatment, though it impairs the vision. Belladonna and its cousin jimson weed are also sometimes used recreationally to induce intense hallucinations, but it is easy to fatally overdose and the hallucinations are often unpleasant.
Angel's Trumpet
All parts of the Angel's Trumpet plant are poisonous, especially the seeds and leaves. In Victorian times, women would sprinkle the pollen in their tea for LSD-inspired effects, though too much can lead to a complete loss of awareness that one is hallucinating, disconnection from reality, and amnesia of the episode.
Effects and Symptoms: paralysis of smooth muscles, confusion, tachycardia, dry mouth, diarrhea, migraine headaches, visual and auditory hallucinations, sweating, convulsions, foaming of the mouth, rapid onset cycloplegia, and death.
As a medicine, Angel's Trumpet can be used as an aphrodisiac (though it is very difficult to get the dosage correct without leading to death). More often, it is used externally to treat aches and pains, dermatitis, arthritis, rheumatism, headaches, and infections. Internally, a heavily-diluted treatment can induce vomiting, to expel worms and parasites, and be used as a sedative.
Narcotics
Poppy
Once, poppies would have been in the medical side of the garden, as opium has long been used as a pain reliever. Opium is the main ingredient in both morphine and heroin (which had been synthesized as a non-addictive replacement for morphine). Regardless of intention, opium, morphine, and heroine are incredibly addictive sedatives. Opium is gathered by harvesting the latex-like fluid from ripe poppy heads, even poppy seeds contain enough to give off false-positives in drug tests.
As morphine, reaction time is twenty to forty minutes when ingested; five to ten minutes for injection. Opium can also be smoked for a feeling of pleasant languor and mild hallucinations. Death happens within minutes of a heroin overdose, while an opium overdose has a fatal reaction within two to four hours.
Effects and Symptoms:
Opium--Depresses the central nervous system leading to nausea, vomiting, constipation, pinpoint pupils, slow and shallow respiration, weak pulse, very lor or very high blood pressure, itchiness, dry mouth, dehydration, cardiovascular irregularities, loss of sense of time, euphoria, elevated pain threshold, general unresponsiveness, deep coma, respiratory failure, death.
Morphine--Sleepiness, sense of physical ease, quickening of the pulse, floating sensation, giddiness, unbalanced gait, dizziness, heaviness of the head, nausea, slowing heartbeat, contracted pupils, loss of muscle power, respiratory difficulty, unconsciousness, coma, and death.
Heroin--Pinpoint pupils, euphoria, slow and shallow respiration, disturbed vision, restlessness, abdominal cramps, cramps in extremities, cyanosis, weak pulse, very low blood pressure, coma, death from respiratory paralysis. Heroin leaves no distinctive signs in an autopsy, though is recognizable in blood analysis.
Addiction rates are high for all three forms.
Laudanum is made from 10% opium mixed with alcohol that can also have medical uses.
Coca Bush
Cocaine is a colorless white crystal or powder, an alkaloid of the coca plant. Chewing the leaves of the plant are enough to give a person a natural (though slight) high; the street drug undergoes a special treatment, which involves solvents and a chemical process. When mixed with baking soda to become a paste and then allowed to dry, cocaine becomes crack. Smoking cocaine through a liquid or mixed with ether is called freebasing and is highly explosive
Cocaine is extremely addictive in all of its forms and was once the largest producer of illicit income in the USA.
Cocaine can be absorbed immediately from any site. Death usually occurs a few minutes to a half an hour after a fatal dose, but may be delayed between one and three hours.
Effects and Symptoms: Hyperactivity, dilated pupils, hallucinations, fast heartbeat, abdominal pain, vomiting, numbness, muscle spasms, irregular respiration, paranoia, convulsions, coma, heart failure, death. Chronic use can lead to mental deterioration, confusion, hallucinations, psychotic or paranoid behavior, weight loss, severe character change, perforation of the nasal septum, sniffles, and reddened noses (in the case of snorting).
Marijuana
Far less toxic than most of the other plants in this garden, roughly one pound of marijuana would need to be ingested by a 150 pound person in one sitting to be fatal. While marijuana is seen as a 'gateway drug' by some, many countries (and several states in the USA) are decriminalizing it entirely. Marijuana can be eaten (often baked into something, like brownies), or smoked. The concentrated resin from the marijuana plant is called hashish and that can also be smoked.
Reaction begins shortly after smoke is inhaled and lasts roughly from one to four hours. Ingested, the effects start within about two hours, but last longer.
Effects and Symptoms: Marijuana acts as a sedative, but can also lead to mild hallucinations, even without being laced or treated with other drugs. Dilated pupils, reddened eyes, blurred vision, euphoria, delirium, increased pulse rate, lethargy, memory loss, uncontrolled laughter, drowsiness, weakness, stiffness, hunger, difficulty remaining awake. Marijuana may be habit-forming, but rarely leads to death.
Murder
Black Hellebore
The entire plant is poisonous, containing a variety of very potent toxins. Handling the plant for even a short time can lead to large, painful blisters, sometimes even occuring through layers of cloth.
Symptoms begin within a half-hour, but death may take several hours.
Effects and Symptoms: Blisters, severe diarrhea, vomiting, tinnitus, vertigo, stupor, thirst, a feeling of suffocation, swelling of the tongue and throat, slowing of the pulse, death from cardiac arrest.
Strychnine
One of the three most classic poisons (cyanide and arsenic being the other two), strychnine is one of the most dramatic killers, leading to its popularity in literature and film, though less so for real life homicides. Documented for the first time in 1818, strychnine is a colorless, crystalline powder with a bitter taste. It can be ingested, absorbed through the skin or eyes, or inhaled as dust. The entire Nux vomica tree contains strychnine, but the highest concentration can be found in the seeds. Eating the fruit (which is slightly bitter) or the flowers (which smell like curry) can also lead to poisoning.
Reaction time is ten to twenty minutes, slightly longer if given on a full stomach.
Effects and Symptoms: Strychnine attacks the central nervous system, causing the muscles to contract at the same time. Death often comes from asphyxiation or exhaustion from the convulsions. Symptoms begin with a stiffening of the face and neck, followed by arm and leg spasms. Duration and severity of the spasms increase until the victim is arched on the floor almost constantly. Rigor mortis sets in immediately, leaving the body convulsed, eyes wide open, and extreme facial grimace.
Hemlock
Best known for being the poison imbibed by Socrates, all parts of the plant are toxic, especially the fruits when the plant is in flower. In spring, the roots may be relatively harmless, but become deadly afterward, especially in the first year of growth. Gastric lavage works ONLY if done immediately after ingestion. Interestingly enough, hemlock can be used as an antidote for strychnine poisoning.
The first symptoms begin a half an hour after ingestion, but several hours pass before death occurs. The mind remains clear until death.
Effects and Symptoms: Gradual weakening of muscles, pulse becomes rapid but weak, muscle pain as they deteriorate and die, numbness, loss of sight, death from paralysis of heart and/or lungs.
Water hemlock causes convulsions.
Talk to the TA
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Talk to the Teacher
...She can be found basking in it and snickering at some drying bundles of mandrake root.
OOC