Cabinet of Curiosity: Salem Witch Trials

The Salem Witch Trials: Witchcraft or Toxicology?

The Puritan colony of Salem, Massachusetts was an insular and highly theocratic society. The Puritans believed that the devil who was incarnate and who’s goal was to temp them away from their path of righteousness. They believe the devil was constantly tests people with temptations, which were only resisted by adhering strictly to a set of laws which governed behavior and order within the society. Witchcraft was a commonly recognized phenomenon of the time period stemming from the acquisition of witches throughout Europe, such as the Spanish Inquisition which began with the establishment of the Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition in 1478, which was not officially disbanded until July 15 1834 and resulted in up to 150,000 people tried and an estimated two to five thousand executed.

The Magical Explanation

The “symptoms” or manifestations of bewitchment were well established and had numerous stages characterized. The first stage was characterized by intense spirituality, leading to onsets of fainting’s and disordered speech. The following stage included visual delusions and hallucinatory meetings with spectral witches, or the devil presenting himself in the form of an animal. The bewitched often exhibited sensations of pricking, burning or pinching on the skin, animal imitation, odd contortions, simulated flying or diving paralysis, physical assaults and verbal insults among others. Starting in 1961, numerous girls were determined to be under the control of a witch. There is a critical distinction between those effected by bewitchment and those causing it. After fasting and prayer did not rectify the burning poking and pinching of the skin, odd gestures, convulsive gestures and disordered speech of the victims, 3 women were taking into custody accused of witchcraft. The clergy determined that proof in the form of spectral evidence, where the victim would see the ghost of the accused bewitcher poking and harming them, and critical touch, where spasms of the victim would stop if they were in contact with the bewitcher. To the Puritans, these events were directly caused by the action of the devil giving witches the magical power to effect the bewitched through a supernatural mechanism. The Salem Trials concluded in September 1962 with the execution of 20 accused women and 150 imprisoned.

The Scientific Explanation

While the exact causes of the strange phenomenon surrounding the Salem Trials may never be known, due to the limitations of remaining evidence, one theory that explains the bizarre experiences of these bewitched people is ergotism or ergotamine poisoning. One of the causes of ergotism is the fungus Claviceps purpurea. This fungus grows on many cereals including rye. Its growth is promoted by favorable growing conditions such as cold preceding winter and cloudy, wet spring, with fog and high humidity. Newly farmed, low-lying marshland containing ergot infested wild grasses is more susceptible to ergot as well as winter rye being a better host than spring rye. The harvest of 1691, year preceding the incidents, was a cold winter followed by a warm humid summer, which creates the favorable condition for ergot contamination. Additionally, the crop failure of the year caused the Puritans to eat the freshly harvested rye, which is would contain more ergot than stored grain. three of the afflicted girls lived on a farm, where the ergot would be most common, the remaining lived along the rye supply routes into town. Ergot produced ergot alkaline which include lysergic acid derivatives such as lysergic acid amide, which is very similar chemically to LSD. Ergot alkaloids act as a alpha-adrenergic receptor agonist, which causes vasospasm, as well as stimulates receptors in the medulla oblongata causing the symptoms observed in the Salem trials including vomiting, as well as its 5-HT serotonin and dopaminergic activity accounting for the hallucinations and delusions. Symptoms of gangrenous ergotamine poisoning also include paresthesia and the burning and pain of extremities, while symptoms of convulsive ergotism include painful muscle contractions, visual and auditory hallucinations, mania and delirium. All of these symptoms as well as the circumstantial evidence point to the conclusion that ergotamine poising played a role in causing the phenomenon of bewitching seen in the Salem Witch Trials. While some evidence such the length of the trials seemingly excluding ergotism, that could be explained by hysteria among devoutly religious people who believed the devil was causing havoc in their community.