This reply to Dan didn't seem to make it through the system so am resending it. Quotes from notes on my computer, not all bearing their source, sorry, and some links may not work after forwarding. Key words would google for whole article, no doubt.
Wormwood had been used medicinally since the Middle Ages, to exterminate tapeworms in the abdomen while leaving the human host uninjured and even rejuvenated by the experience. At the end of the 18th century -- the age of revolution and skeptical humanism -- the herb developed a recreational vogue. People discovered they could get high off it. The problem was the means of delivery, as it was unacceptably bitter in taste. An undocumented distiller -- perhaps in a pastoral convent or monastery -- found the answer by inventing absinthe, which delivered both the herb and alcohol in a stunningly tart beverage, with a flavor resembling licorice. The most well-known maker of absinthe was distiller Henri-Louis Pernod. Absinthe would eventually enjoy its greatest popularity in fin-de-siècle Paris, with Vincent Van Gogh, Paul Verlaine and Oscar Wilde among its most ardent imbibers. Given the French character of the Crescent City, it achieved quite a bit of popularity in New Orleans as well, where it was widely consumed by people from artists to musicians to Storyville madams. Visitors to New Orleans can still check out the absinthe spigot at the Old Absinthe House bar on Bourbon Street; the marble surface under the absinthe tap is pitted and scarred, apparently from the effects of the dripping liquid! After its banning, imitations, using anise and other legal herbs in place of wormwood, appeared. The most well-known is Pernod, which is very much like absinthe but without the wormwood. But the similarity is only in color and taste; Pernod is without the mind-numbing characteristics of absinthe. The practice of adding aromatic bitters to cocktails also derives from a nostalgia for contraband wormwood. In New Orleans, the preferred absinthe substitute is Herbsaint, a locally-made anise liquor which is used in cocktails as well as in cooking. It has been asserted that the trouble the governments thought to see in absinthe wasn't due to the thujone at all, but simply to the alcohol. I dispute that assertion, incidentally. If it was just the alcohol, why have they still been making 120 proof Polish vodka all these years? And it has now been revealed that consuming pure essential oil of wormwood, containing high amounts of thujone, can cause renal failure. The New England Journal of Medicine, in reporting a case of renal failure in a man who drank wormwood oil, notes that French research in the 1860s in which small doses of wormwood oil were administered to dogs and rabbits led to "convulsions, involuntary evacuations, abnormal respiration and foaming at the mouth." Gee, sounds pleasant, don't it? Patients hospitalized in Paris for absinthe intoxication were noted to suffer "epileptiform activity (seizures), chest effusion, reddish urine and kidney congestion", and while patients did experience alterations in consciousness, auditory and visual hallucinations, they also suffered terrible seizures and kidney problems. This seems more reason for its being banned. This Information was taken from this site. Absinthe is a distilled spirit containing many herbs, not entirely unlike spirits like Chartreuse. Wormwood has traditionally been one of the many herbs used in the maceration and distillation of absinthe. Essential oil of wormwood is NOT absinthe, and is poisonous. In fact, many concentrated essential oils are poisonous; you'll do almost as much damage drinking essential oil of coriander, for instance. Essential oils are not meant to be consumed internally. The original article on the site, rewritten by me and based on an original article by Vicki Richman, talks about how absinthe was banned supposedly because of the deleterious and toxic effects of the ingredient thujone, the aromatic hydrocarbon found in oil of wormwood and which exists in small amounts in the liqueur. It seems that absinthe got a bad rap, mostly due to the fact that the poisons that existed in some versions of it were due to unscrupulous manufacturers who used toxic chemicals for color, and to the fact that if you drink 20-25 glasses a day of any spirit containing 70% alcohol, you're going to go nuts anyway. Still, people seemed to seize on this whole wormwood thing, even though it's been determined that most of the so-called "effects" of the spirit were due to the balance of the many herbs contained within, plus the staggering amount of alcohol. Dopey people have no idea that pure essential oil of wormwood has nothing to do with the spirit known now and in history as "absinthe". They think you can get high off of pure wormwood, as if the terms "horribly bitter and unpalatable" and "neurotoxin" weren't enough of a warning. You wouldn't think someone would go and buy the pure form of the ingredient and drink it, trying to get high ... would you? A brief breakdown of the basic herbs found in Absinthe: Wormwood, Common (Artemisia Absinthium) Wormwood, Roman (Artemisia Pontica) Hyssop (Hyssopus officinalis) Anise (Pimpinella anisum) Anise, Star (Illicuim verum) Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis) Angelica (Angelica Archangelica) Coriander (Coriandrum sativum) Other Texts: Nicolas Culpeper: The English physician: or an astrologo-physical discourse of the vulgar herbs of this nation. 1652 Separating Myth From Reality: Thujone www.gumbopages.com That wormwood is toxic, it is well documented, but the degree as to how toxic it really is has been hotly debated. That it, also, has been used beneficially as a medicine is also documented. How much to use and under what circumstances is beyond the scope of my ability to advise well. So, please consult other sources. But as a general synopsis, I offer the following: Although the manufacture of absinthe has been banned in many places of the world because of the toxicity historically attributed to its ingredient wormwood, the herb wormwood itself has not been banned. Wormwood, prior to the hysteria that started over absinthe in the 19th century, generally was not regarded as so dangerous and toxic, and the herb is still used in modern herbal concoctions. Used correctly and in moderation, herbal teas made from wormwood are often mentioned in herbal medicinal guides, mainly as a stomach tonic and sometimes as a concoction to be applied externally to bruises and sprains. The toxicity of wormwood is attributed to a compound it contains called Thujone. Thujone can be toxic to the brain and liver. The leaves of the wormwood plant also contain a substance called santonin, which is said to cause vertigo and delusion in overdoses. Thus, this is possibly why the excessive and chronic use of absinthe was sometimes reported to cause a wide variety of symptoms and maladies, including convulsions, hallucinations, tremors, and sometimes paralysis, although I'd hazard to say that the high alcohol proof in a typical glass of absinthe and the fact that chronic drinkers of absinthe tended to imbibe several glasses of absinthe daily probably had a little something to do with such maladies as well. The reasons behind the demonization of absinthe were in a large part political in nature, so it's best to question all data gathered and reported during the heyday of the hysteria. This doesn't negate some of the findings necessarily, but neither should they be taken as objective. Thujone depresses the central medullary part of the brain -- the part involving pain and anxiety. Therefore, some herbalists have recommended wormwood tea to reduce anxiety. However, wormwood is also a cardiac stimulant, so using it for such a purpose may not work in all situations. In The Herb Book by John Lust, he lists the properties and uses of wormwood to be: ". . . . a stomach medicine, being useful for gastric pain, and a lack of appetite, as well as related problems of heartburn and flatulence. It is also said to be helpful for liver insufficiency by stimulating liver and gallbladder secretions. Wormwood oil is a cardiac stimulant and therefore acts, when taken in proper doses, to improve blood circulation. Wormwood tea has been recommended to help relieve pain during labor. The powdered flowering tops have been used to expel intestinal worms. A fomentation of wormwood tea can be applied externally to irritations, sprains, or bruises. The oil acts as a local anesthetic when applied to relieve pains of rheumatism, neuralgia, and arthritis. CAUTION: Pure wormwood oil is a strong poison, and excessive use of the plant can also cause poisoning. With proper dosage, there is little or no danger." His book gives information on preparation and dosages of this herb for medicinal uses. sassafras - contains potent liver-damaging compounds wormwood - neurotoxin mandrake - just plain too poisonous! It's useful for experienced herbalists who have the lab skills to assay the strength blood root - if it's Sanguinaria canadensis., it's poisonous in large doses and must never be used during pregnancy. Plenty more on Google R ----- Original Message ----- From: "Dan Nave" <dn...@mn.nilfisk-advance.com> To: <silver-list@eskimo.com> Sent: Saturday, May 15, 2004 1:37 AM Subject: Re: CS>Clarke, Wormwood, and Malaria > I don't know how accurate this is, but I have had several people tell me > that it was the high alcohol content of the absinth and the excessive > alcohol consumption of the absinth drinkers that caused the damage... > > Dan > > > Re: CS>Clarke, Wormwood, and Malaria > > From: Rowena Evans wrote: > Date: Fri, 14 May 2004 08:36:28 > > Absinthe was made from wormwood, Artemisia absinthium, and was accused > of > causing neurological damage. > -- The Silver List is a moderated forum for discussing Colloidal Silver. 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