ST

Probably, man’s relation with parasitic mushrooms dates back to ancient times, when he met with wild species of plants and began to use them for different purposes, as food, medicine and drugs; to employ without danger some plants meant to have a certain knowledge of the infesting mushrooms living on them, discovering in this way their medicinal, psychotropic or toxic properties.

Frequently, such mushrooms gave rise to intoxications. In the past, the most famous and impressive collective ones, mostly in medieval times, were caused by ergot (Claviceps purpurea) and were known as ignis sacer (“holy fire”), ignis infernalis (“hell fire”), “mal des ardents” (“burnings’ disease”), “St. Anthony’s fire” and finally “ergotism”.

Generally, ergot intoxications were interpreted in the context of the medieval world. Cases of ecstatic condition, possession, collective hysteria and emotional variability were confused in the visionary, magical and superstitious aspects of the Middle Age, being passed over or magically interpreted, mostly among rural people and during particular events, such as wars, famines and diseases, causing social problems and contrasts.

Persons suffering from St. Anthony’s fire were under the protection of St. Anthony and they were cured in the hospitals of the monastic Order of St. Anthony, widespread all over Europe. The gradual disappearance of this scourge may be attributed to the cultivation of rye and other cereals under more favorable conditions, to the improvements in the social status of the people and to the scientific investigations.

Taking some essential data on ergotism as background, the aim of this article is to put the attention on the healing methods available in the past for such a disease.

Ergot is a peculiar form of the fungus Claviceps purpurea, being the sclerotium, or the compact mycelium that develops in the ovaries of certain kinds of grasses. It infests about 400 species of Graminaceae, both wild and cultivated, principally species of Agropyron, Alopecurus, Ammophila, Anthoxanthum, Arrhenatherum, Avena, Brachypodium, Bromus, Dactylis, Deschampsia, Elymus, Festuca, Glyceria, Holcus, Hordenum, Lolium, Molinia, Nardus, Phalaris, Phleum, Phragmites, Poa, Secale and Triticum. It is known with different popular names, derived from its form, origin or qualities: 62 in German, 25 in French, 22 in Dutch, 14 in Italian and 7 in English. The most known are the following: blé avorté, chambucle, clou de seigle, faux seigle, mere de seigle, seigle corrompu, seigle ivre (France), Bockshorn, Mutterkorn and Tollkorn (Germany), spurred rye (England), cornezuelo de centeno (Spain) and segale cornuta (Italy).

From the chemical point of view, the isolated alkaloids fall in two classes, the major and the minor alkaloids, the former being lysergic acid derivatives, the latter clavinic alkaloids (clavines). The major ones can be divided in polypeptide alkaloids (ergopeptines) and amide alkaloids (ergolines). Polypeptide alkaloids represent about 80 % of the total alkaloid content, are water insoluble and can be differentiated in two groups, that’s to say the group of ergotoxin and of ergotamine. Thus, we have the following compounds: ergotamine, ergosine, ergocristine, ergocryptine and ergocornine. Amide alkaloids represent the remaining 20% and are water-soluble. Here, we found ergonovine.

Ergotism can be defined as a whole of pathological manifestations induced by the repeated and more or less prolonged use of products for alimentation infested by ergot.

The first effects generally begin after some weeks or months, following the consumption of contaminated food, principally bread. There are two forms, convulsive or spasmodic (convulsio cerealis, “cereal convulsion”) and gangrenous (necrosis cerealis, “cereal necrosis”), with a common beginning phase. In this phase, there is tingling, itch, light and agreeable inebriation, dizziness, sensory troubles (particularly for sight and hearing), cephalalgy and hebetudes. There are also tremors, spasms, painful contractures, digestive and circulatory troubles.

In the convulsive form, the tingling, mostly in the extremities, is extended to all the body, while muscular painful and permanent contractures attack the flexor muscles of hands and feet. Then, the contractures turn in convulsions with epileptiform spasms. The muscular pains are atrocious, the limbs seem to burn from the interior and there is also a sensation of glacial cold. The troubles of the superficial sensitivity end in anaesthesia. The victims suffer from amnesia, hallucinations, delirium with or without stupor, dementia, mania and transient or lasting madness. Inconstantly, it is possible to observe analgesia, total anaesthesia, cutaneous eruptions, transient or definitive blindness, cataract, deafness, anosmia, paraplegia and paralysis. This situation may end up in coma or death for asphyxia.

In the gangrenous form, painful phenomena linked to troubles of vascolarization and innervation make their appearance. Limbs suffer from tingling, itch, pain, cramps, contractures, hyperesthesia with burning sensation, then glacial cold and anaesthesia. The gangrene is generally dry, but in some cases also wet and infected, and hits above all the body extremities, such as ears, nose, hands, feet and sexual organs, ending with the spontaneous and not painful detachment of the part. Cataract and ulceration of the mucous membrane and of the digestive tract may appear, while the skin is dry and insensible.

We can add other effects, such as insomnia, childbirth and abortion.

In general, the evolution of the disease is slow and lasts approximately between 2 and 8 weeks, sometimes 12, with some intervals in the manifestation of the symptoms.

Ergot epidemics were very common all over Europe between the end of X century and during all the XIII century, then gradually diminishing in number until the first years of XX century. Different cases were registered in Belgium, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Ireland, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Rumania and Russia.

In 1096, after having observed that an epidemic followed the consumption of damaged crops, S. de Gremblour recognized the toxic effect of ergot infested rye when mixed with food, while, in 1596, the suggestion that ergot was the cause of some epidemics was proposed, when a disease accompanied by spasms and convulsions broke out in Hesse and in the surroundings. Thus, in 1597, the Medical Faculty of Marburg, after a close examination of all likely causes, published a treatise describing symptoms, causes and methods of cure for ergotism.

It has been noticed that epidemics broke under conditions which were favorable to the growth of ergot, that is after a damp season and particularly when a hot and dry summer followed a very rainy spring, especially when the grain grew in marshy areas and in the shade. Contributions were other concomitant intoxications, bad health conditions, starvation and misery.

Ergotism hit every person, at every age (but above all children and young adults) and in every social class. Ergotism was mostly widespread among people of lower social classes living in poor and rural areas, where bread and other similar products represented the most important part of the daily provisions. Bread prepared with contaminated flour was known as “damned bread”. The flour had different prices depending on the fact that it was not contaminated (“white flour”) or contaminated (“dark flour”), and the poor obviously bought the cheapest product, that’s to say the contaminated one. Thus, the use of white and dark bread was a further differentiation between social classes. Given these facts, and considering that in the past the poor were the greater part, it is not surprising that ergot epidemics weren’t limited to a restricted number of persons, but were collective.

Among the Saints in relation to ergotism, because of their healing power, in particular for the efficacy of their relics in relieving the sufferers, the most important is certainly St. Anthony, from whom the name of the disease is called. It has been reported that St. Anthony ate bread contaminated with ergot during his ascetic life and that his general health conditions were direct consequences of ergotism, as the visionary states (mostly linked to devilish temptations), for which we have to take in account also the isolation in the desert, silence, insomnia, scarcity of food and water.

It seems that his identification with the disease began in 1050, when many persons died in some provinces of France from an epidemic called “holy fire”. There were public prayers and processions and those who implored the intercession of St. Anthony, especially before his relics, were healed by miracle; the relics were held in the church of La Motte of St. Didier (St. Antoine de Viennois). Others report that the disease was called St. Anthony’s fire for the first time in 1090, in Dauphiny.

In 1095, a rich man, Gaston, arrived at the Abbey of Mont-Majour, where ergotism was cured, praying for his sick son. St. Anthony is said to have appeared to him in a dream, telling that God would grant his prayer, but required him and the son to devote themselves to the service of the patients. St. Anthony ordered him and his companions to wear on their shoulder a blue cross, shaped as the letter T, like the head of his staff. Thus, the hospitals of St. Anthony were founded. Gaston, his son and others, built a hospital near the church for receiving sick pilgrims. Pope Urban II recognized the community in 1095. The Order of St. Anthony gained importance, being present all over Europe, especially through France, Germany and Scandinavia, providing food and medical aid for the victims of ergotism in their hospitals.

The healing methods were based on the belief in the thaumaturgic properties of the Saint’s relics and on medical treatments, that’s to say surgery (amputation of the limbs) and the use of different products, both natural (phototherapy) and chemical. Letting apart a drastic and definitive method, such as the amputation, we’ll consider the other ones, particularly putting in evidence the medicinal properties of the plants employed.

A wine produced in a vineyard near the Aumône House (the first hospital of the Order) was poured on the bones of St. Anthony every year, during the day of Ascension. By administering this “holy wine”, both internally and externally, the victims of ergotism were cured.

Perhaps, the simplest way to relieve the pain was to pour water on the affected burning limbs. After having followed this method, some medieval chroniclers reported that it produced vapors, sometimes so dense to make almost impossible to see. This fact seems to be an exaggeration, reported only to give the idea of the intense burning sensation.

In a manuscript (XIII century), we read:

“Of the plantain, his moisture is good, too, for fire in the ears and for ‘bad fire’. Wormwood. If the leaves be cooked with oil, it is good against ‘bad fire’ and against what is burnt. Cypress mixed with barley flour and vinegar is good against ‘bad fire’ “.

In Medicina antiqua (XIII century), the dried root of mandrake is prescribed against St. Anthony’s fire. Maybe that the giant mandrake fruit painted by H. Bosch in The temptations of St. Anthony (ca 1495) is in relation to such a use. H. Brunswyck (XVI century) recommends to the victims of ergotism to imbue their own clothes with mandrake juice, in order to drive away the sensation of having limbs. Mandrake was also used as a talisman in curing ergotism. In a work of art dated to ca 1445, we notice a person turned towards St. Anthony, holding in a hand what seems to be a mandrake modelled as a little human being (homunculus), as it was common in different historical periods, to which different magical powers were attributed.

On the altarpiece of a church in Issenheim, painted in 1515 by M. Grünewald, we find the representations of the temptations of St. Anthony. Probably, the painter followed the instructions given by the friars in Issenheim, where the victims of ergotism were cured. Under the figure of Paul from Thebes, we can find the representation of 14 plants, identified by M. Hassler as: greater plantain, lanceolate plantain, vervain, squawvine, aquatic brownswort, white laurel, couch-grass, veronica, gentian, the plant called “contrary to poisons”, white clover, white apricot, spelt and poppy. Such constituents entered in the composition of the so called “St. Anthony’s ointment”, maybe with the addition of fat from pigs. We remember that the pig is the animal normally accompanying the figure of St. Anthony in iconography, because its flesh was a healthy food for the victims of ergotism and its fat was part of ointments.

C. Pedersen, in En nöttelig Loegeborg (1534), reports:

“If someone gets or suffers from the wild or ‘bad fire,’ which is called by many people St. Antony’s fire, let him take some sorrel and crush it into small pieces, for the juice appeases the warmth, and cures. He must drink the juice; and also the water boiled with this sorrel appeases very well the warmth and eternal fire.

Take the leaves and bark of the young plum tree. Crush it in small pieces and make a plaster for the seat of the disease.

Take the bark from the middle of the young oak, and some acorns or green acorns. Let them boil in vinegar, or water, and make with it a plaster for the same fire. This extinguishes it, and cures.

Take some loriandre, crush it in small pieces, and make wit it a plaster for the sore place, for it is very good.

Take the root of the white lily. Roast and crush it with essence of rose, and make a plaster. On the fire and warmth let this plaster stay a long time, for it cures and is very useful. You can take also the root of the grass called ‘devil-bit’. Crush it in small pieces, and place it on the same fire. It extinguishes well. You can crush the leaves of the poppy with vinegar, and then place it on the part. It cures and extinguishes very well”.

“If the limb of a person is inflamed with evil fire, which many persons call St. Antony’s fire, let him plunge a towel into water of ripwort or plantain, for it extinguishes very well”.

According to Dodart (1676), some remedies for ergotism were the so called orvietano, the infusion of lupines, the “burning spirits” and the volatile alkaline substances. As fluid or solid, the orvietano was considered a panacea against all poisons, both in a preventive and curative way. It was invented in Italy by a certain Mr. Luppi or Mr. Ferrante in the XVI century and it was prepared according to different recipes comprising many ingredients, vegetal, animal and mineral ones. The ideal compositions was as follows: angelica (roots), anthora, long snakeroot, round snakeroot, dragonwort, sweet flag, carline, white dittany, gentian, masterwort, scorzonera, tormentil, valerian, holy thistle, (leaves), dittany from Crete, rue, wood germander, bay (berries), juniper (berries), cinnamon, cloves, flesh of viper, mithridatum and theriaca (antidotes for poisons widely used in ancient times, based on opium), white wine and clear honey.

C. Allard, in Le crayon des grandeurs de Saint-Antoine (1653), proposes some preparations with acacia gum (juice), melanteria, Jupiter’s beard (juice), morel (leaves), knotweed (juice) in beverage, cinquefoil (applied decoction), coltsfoot (leaves smeared with honey; preventive), vervain, wild camomile (leaves), pellitory (leaves), mandrake (root smeared with vinegar), yarrow (applied leaves with vinegar), ricinus (applied leaves with vinegar), herb of the fleas and Venus’ navel (juice).

Teissier, Jussieu, Paulet and Saillant, in Recherches sur le feu Saint-Antoine (1776), report the use of external remedies, as aqua vitae with camphor, elder (essence of flowers), an ointment made with 3 pounds of turpentine in essence of rose, 1/2 pound of yellow wax and 2 ounce of red sandal, an escharotic made with alum, vitriol and salt and internal remedies, as theriaca, vesicatories and bleedings.

C. Eloy recommends opium, bleedings, emetics, purgatives and tonics.

About 1783, Saillant reports for the convulsive form:

“Antispasmodics joined to the diaphoretics appear to be the only remedies useful against this disease. Narcotics have seemed only to aggravate the affection, but bleeding and purgatives have been I employed with some advantage in the beginning of the disease, according to the circumstances and temperament of the patient”,

and for the dry gangrenous form:

“The medical treatment consists in evacuating the primæ viae, in giving internally laxative apozems, diuretics and antiseptics, while recourse is had externally to those topical applications which are proper for resisting gangrene, for favouring the separation of the disease part without amputation, and for aiding suppuration”.

Finally, during the epidemics in 1813-1820, Courhaut proposed to neutralize the “ergotic acid” with a solution made of cinchona and ammonia, or lye made of ash from grape.

Identifications and properties of the above cited components:

- Acacia sp. (acacia): antiinfectious, astringent

- Achillea millefolium (yarrow): tonic, antispasmodic, sedative of uterus and ovary, emmenagogue, cholagogic, haemostatic, diuretic, vermifuge

- Aconitum anthora (anthora): analgesic, sedative, decongestionant, vasoconstrictor, increases the secretions (saliva, sweat, bronchi, bile, intestines and kidneys)

- Acorus calamus (sweet flag): appetizer, digestive, cholagogic, stimulant, carminative, sudorific, diuretic, emmenagogue, febrifuge, facilitates the secretion of endocrine glands

- Angelica archangelica (angelica): appetizer, digestive, tonic, stimulant, antispasmodic, carminative, bechic, sudorific, emmenagogue, diuretic, expectorant, antidote for poisons, prevents contagious diseases

- Aristolochia longa (long snakeroot): emmenagogue, tonic, astringent, antirheumatic, diuretic, sudorific, cicatrizer

- Aristolochia rotunda (round snakeroot): see Aristolochia longa

- Artemisia absinthium (wormwood): appetizer, digestive, tonic, emmenagogue, vermifuge, diuretic, febrifuge

- Carlina acaulis (carline): diuretic, sudorific, detersive, cicatrizer

- Cinchona sp. (cinchona): tonic, digestive, febrifuge, antiinfectious, antiparasitic, cicatrizer

- Cinnamomum sp. (cinnamon): antidiabetic, antispastic, antihypertensive, febrifuge, for cold and intestinal troubles

- Cnicus benedictus (holy thistle): tonic, aperitive, digestive, sudorific, depurative, febrifuge, diuretic, sedative, stimulant, disinfectant

- Cupressus sempervivens (cypress): astringent, vasoconstrictor, antihaemorrhagic, for convulsive cough

- Cynodon dactylon (couch-grass): diuretic, refreshing, emollient

- Dictamus sp. (dittany from Crete): probably as Dictamus albus

- Dictamus albus (white dittany): stomachic, vermifuge, tonic, antianaemic

- Eugenia caryophyllata (cloves): disinfectant, anaesthetic, stimulant, for head ache and the heart

- Gentiana lutea (gentian): tonic, aperitive, stomachic, cholagogic, choleretic, depurative, antirheumatic, leucocytogenic, antimalarial, febrifuge, vermifuge

- Juniperus communis (juniper): sudorific, cephalic, diuretic, emmenagogue, for dysentery, stimulates renal functions

- Laurus nobilis (bay): antiseptic, stimulant, stomachic, carminative, antispasmodic, expectorant, diuretic, emmenagogue

- Lilium candidum (white lily): diuretic, emmenagogue, expectorant, emollient, resolutive, astringent, detersive, for sores and burns

- Lupinus sp. (lupine): appetizer, antidiabetic, diuretic, emmenagogue, febrifuge, vermifuge

- Mandragora autumnalis or Mandragora officinarum (mandrake): antispasmodic, analgesic, narcotic, sedative

- Matricaria discoidea (wild camomile): tonic, anthelmintic, antispasmodic, emmenagogue, febrifuge, sedative, stimulant, stomachic, vulnerary

- Nerium oleander (?) (loriandre): cardiotonic, diuretic, antiparasitic

- Papaver somniferum (poppy): sedative, antispasmodic, hypnotic, eupnoeic, bechic, moderates intestinal, biliary and renal secretions

- Parietaria officinalis (pellitory): diuretic, depurative, emollient, resolutive

- Peucedanum ostruthium (masterwort): appetizer, tonic, expectorant, stomachic, sudorific, for intestinal troubles

- Plantago sp. (plantain): see Plantago lanceolata

- Plantago lanceolata (lanceolate plantain, ripwort): antibacterial, astringent, emollient, expectorant, antiophthalmic, cicatrizer, cleanses blood and lungs, facilitates blood coagulation

- Plantago major (greater plantain): see Plantago lanceolata

- Polygonum aviculare (knotweed): tonic, astringent, haemostatic, antidiabetic, depurative, diuretic, lessens intestinal secretion

- Polygonum bistorta (dragonwort): astringent, tonic, vulnerary

- Portulaca oleracea, Scabiosa succisa or Succisa pratensis (devil-bit): emollient, diuretic, refreshing, antiscorbutic (Portulaca oleracea), for eczemas, itch, impetigines, pityriasis and ulcers (Scabiosa succisa), depurative, stimulant (Succisa pratensis)

- Potentilla erecta (tormentil): tonic, astringent, stimulant, haemostatic, febrifuge, cicatrizer

- Potentilla reptans (cinquefoil): tonic, astringent, stimulant, haemostatic, febrifuge, cicatrizer

- Prunus armeniaca (?) (white apricot): laxative, antipyretic, emetic, anthelmintic, for liver disorders

- Prunus domestica or Prunus spinosa (plum tree): laxative, nourishing, emollient, for constipation

- Pterocarpus santalinus (red sandal): astringent, refreshing, for bronchitis, gonorrhoea, gleet and cystitis

- Quercus robur (oak): tonic, astringent, antidiarrhoic, haemostatic, febrifuge, antiseptic

- Ranunculus bulbosus (squawvine): for neuralgia, epileptiform crises and herpes eruptions

- Rhododendron maximum (white laurel): for cough, cutaneous affections and diphtheria

- Rhus radicans (herb of the fleas): tonic, for liver disorders, skin eruptions and paralysis

- Ricinus communis (ricinus): purgative

- Rosa canina (rose): astringent, diuretic, antiscorbutic

- Rumex acetosa (sorrel): appetizer, diuretic, antiscorbutic, stimulates urine and liver

- Ruta graveolens (rue): emmenagogue, sudorific, antiepileptic, antispasmodic, vermifuge, antiparasitic, purgative

- Sambucus nigra (elder): purgative, sudorific, antirheumatic, antineuralgic, diuretic, antigout, antiepileptic, depurative, galactogogue

- Scorzonera hispanica (scorzonera): diuretic, antirheumatic, antihypertensive

- Scrofularia aquatica (aquatic brownswort): antidiabetic, stimulant, diuretic

- Sempervivum tectorum (Jupiter’s beard): astringent, diuretic, antiseptic, for burnings, insect bites, aphthas, ulcers, cephalalgy, delirium, angina and deafness

- Solanum nigrum (morel): antispasmodic, analgesic, narcotic, sedative, emollient

- Teucrium scordium (wood germander): tonic, diaphoretic, anthelmintic, antiseptic, antidote for poisons, for ulcers

- Trifolium repens (white clover): tonic, antirheumatic, depurative, ophthalmic, detersive

- Triticum spelta (spelt): no specific medicinal properties

- Tussilago farfara (coltsfoot): expectorant, sudorific, depurative, tonic

- Umbilicus pendulinus (Venus’ navel): diuretic, refreshing, vulnerary

- Valeriana officinalis (valerian): sedative, antispasmodic, vermifuge

- Verbena officinalis (vervain): sedative, anitspasmodic, antineuralgic, antiermic, digestive, expectorant, galactogogue, rubefacient, vulnerary, facilitates childbirth

- Veronica officinalis (veronica): appetizer, tonic, stomachic, diuretic, expectorant, vulnerary

- Vincetoxicum hirundinaria (“contrary to poisons”): diaphoretic, emetic

- Opium: lattice derived from the incision of the poppy capsules (see Papaver somniferum)

- Turpentine: resin derived from the incision of the trunk of some conifers in the genus Pinus (antineuralgic, antirheumatic, antiseptic, astringent, balsamic, sedative, carminative, stimulant, haemostatic, revulsive, rubefacient, vasoconstrictor, vermifuge, vulnerary)

- Camphor: product derived from the distillation of roots, trunk and branches of Cinnamomum camphora (analgesic, stimulant, analeptic, antispasmodic, expectorant, carminative, antiseptic, resolvent, antiitching, anaesthetic)

- Ash from grapes: ash from Vitis vinifera (ashes are generally alkaline)

- Vitriol: salt derived from sulphuric acid (sulphates)

- Alum: double sulphate salt

- Aqua vitae: alcoholic distillate

- Burning spirits: alcoholic distillates

- Melanteria: black pigment derived from the mineral melanterite (known in the past as “green vitriol”, chemically iron sulphate) and with a sweetish astringent taste.

The healing methods for ergotism followed specific prescriptions derived from the medical science, but they also relied on not pharmacological criteria.

Taking in consideration the phytotherapeutic preparations, the ingredients employed had to be disposable and relatively common, relatively easy to find and prepare, without complex manipulations, and relatively safe and effective.

The ingredients can be classified according to some definite functions. Firstly, there are the ones having a specific action, that’s to say containing one or more active principles with a defined pharmacological action. Some components could also stimulate blood circulation, in order to facilitate skin absorption. As for the effects of each plant species, see the list above reported. Then, we have the ingredients for equilibrate, synergically intensify or depotentiate the action of some components, or also purify the body after a not desired (toxic) effect. Among the toxic plants in the above reported list, we remember anthora, oleander, squawvine and the herb of the fleas. At the end, there are the ingredients without a specific pharmacological action, such as agents giving consistency to the preparation, increasing the absorption of the active principles and favouring its application (oil and animal fats, wax, honey and maybe flour).

Generally speaking the desired and side effects depend on the kind of preparation (ingredients), way of employment (internal or external), dose and psychophysiological conditions of the patient. In order to better extract the active principles, the ingredients could be put in wine or vinegar, while preparations containing components with some side effects were in general applied externally.

One of the characteristic symptoms of ergotism was the burning sensation, so it was necessary to cool the affected parts. This was achieved either by pouring water on them, in order to obtain a immediate relief, or by employing remedies made with refreshing plants. Such use could be interpreted in the context of the so called “doctrine of signatures”, according to which God would have put in all created things (plant, animals and minerals) a sign as an occult message for man. Thus, some plants would help man in curing diseases, following attributes of form, colour, physiology and habitat of the plant itself. In the specific case, plants growing in wet and fresh habitats would possess refreshing properties, as for example the greater plantain.

In some remedies, we find medicinal plants with psychoactive effects (mandrake, poppy and morel). Perhaps, the searched for action was the medicinal one (analgesic and sedative) and the psychoactive one was a side effect to be controlled by means of the interaction between the different ingredients. Maybe also that the psychoactive effects were intentionally induced, in order to generate a state of “detachment” from the real world, driving away the victim’s attention on the health condition.

Among the plants linked to magical beliefs, mandrake plays an important role, because of its reputation as a plant with great power and as a panacea, or “curing all”. We remember also the use of mithridatum, theriaca and the plant “contrary to poison”. Perhaps, among the magical remedies in relation to the “doctrine of signatures”, we can consider the melanteria. Being black in colour, it could show some “natural sympathy” to the “blackness” of the limbs being burned by the St. Anthony’s fire.

As for the chemical preparations, the distillates as aqua vitae and the burning spirits can be placed in the class of the refreshing remedies, because alcohol, when applied on the body parts, produce a certain lowering of temperature, while the use of alkaline substances (ammonia or a natural lye prepared from plant ashes) was in those period a “chemically correct” way to neutralize an acid substance (“ergotic acid”), retained responsible for the intoxication. As for the use of alum, vitriol and salt as escharotic, perhaps this refers to the property of causing necrosis of the organic tissues with the aim to reduce pain.

In conclusion, we have seen how the remedies for ergotism ranged from the thaumaturgic, the phytotherapeutical, the magical and the chemical ones, comprising holy wines, plant, animal and mineral ingredients and chemical preparations. Nature and human technical capacities were exploited, but in any case, for a great period of time, the most sure healing method was represented by faith, that’s to say the direct intervention of St. Anthony.

References

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- Cattabiani A., 1996, Florario, Mondadori, Milano

- Delague R., 1980, L’étonnante intoxication ergotée. Ses formes historiques (Mal des ardents, feu Saint-Antoine) et leurs équivalents anciens et actuels, These, Universitè Claude-Bernard, Lyon

- Dixon L.S., 1984, “Bosch’s St. Anthony Triptych: an Apothecary’s Apotheosis”, Art Journal, 44: 119-131

- Font Quer P., 1961, Plantas medicinales, Editorial Labor, Barcelona

- Giacomoni L., 1999-2000, “Le Mal des Ardents”, Bulletin de l’A.E.M.B.A., 33-34

- Samorini G., 1992, “Neurotossicologia delle graminacee e dei loro patogeni vegetali. Un’introduzione”, Ann. Mus. Civ. Rovereto, 7 (1991): 253-264

- Toro G., 2005, Sotto tutte le brume sopra tutti i rovi. Stregoneria e farmacologia degli unguenti, Nautilus, Torino

- Valnet J., 2005, Fitoterapia. Guarire con le piante, Giunti Editore, Firenze-Milano

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