Description

A selection of apothecary jars. Four glass cylindrical drug jars with a parchment cover, labelled “Vitriol Alb.” (zinc sulphate), “OCUL CANCR” (Crab’s eyes – stones found in stomach of cray-fish as animal is about to change in its shell),”Sang Draco.V.” (Dragon’s blood), and “VITRIOL. COERUL.” (copper sulphate). Probably Spanish, 17th or 18th century. Wellcome Collection

Other Notes – Crab’s eyes, Vitriol, Dragon’s blood

Crab’s eyes – gastrolith or toxic bean weed? Below are some notes about the toxic weed. I will do a separate page of notes for gastroliths which I thought was done already…one thing is certain, we are dealing with stone cold crazy…from very long lines of stone cold crazy.

Abrus precatorius, commonly known as jequirity bean or rosary pea, is a herbaceous flowering plant in the bean family Fabaceae. It is a slender, perennial climber with long, pinnate-leafleted leaves that twines around trees, shrubs, and hedges. The plant is best known for its seeds, which are used as beads and in percussion instruments, and which are toxic because of the presence of abrin. Ingestion of a single seed, well chewed, can be fatal to both adults and children. The plant is native to Asia and Australia. It has a tendency to become weedy and invasive where it has been introduced.

Abrus precatorius is commonly known as jequirity, Crab’s eye, or rosary pea, paternoster pea, love pea, precatory pea or bean, prayer bead, John Crow Bead, coral bead, red-bead vine, country licorice, Indian licorice, wild licorice, Jamaica wild licorice, olinda (In Sri Lanka/Sinhala), gundumani/kundumani (in India/Tamil), Akar Saga, coondrimany, gidee gidee, Jumbie bead, ratti / rettee / retty, goonjaa / gunja / goonja / gunjaa, or weather plant.

• “Abrus precatorius L.” Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved April 17, 2018.
• “Abrus precatorius L.” InChem. Retrieved 2016-04-29.
• Wagstaff, D. Jesse (2008). International Poisonous Plants Checklist: An Evidence-Based Reference. CRC Press. p. 1. ISBN 978-1420062526. Retrieved October 7, 2012.
• Paul Hockings; Christiane Pilot-Raichoor (1992). A Badaga-English dictionary. Mouton de Gruyer. p. 246. ISBN 9783110126778.
• Bisby, Frank (1994). Phytochemical Dictionary of the Leguminosae, Volume 1. CRC Press. p. 1. ISBN 978-0412397707. Retrieved October 7, 2012.
• SDF (5 June 2015). “ඔලිඳ බීජ මාරාන්තික විය හැකියි” [Olinda seeds might be deadly]. News.lk. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
• Karthikeyan, Aishwarya; Amalnath, S. Deepak (April 2017). “Abrus precatorius Poisoning: A Retrospective Study of 112 Patients”. Indian Journal of Critical Care Medicine. 21 (4): 224–225. doi:10.4103/ijccm.IJCCM_320_16. ISSN 0972-5229. PMC 5416790. PMID 28515607.
• Mendes (1986), p. 79.

Uses

Jewelry – Unit of measure – As a weapon – Traditional medicine

The seeds of Abrus precatorius are much valued in native jewelry for their bright coloration. Most beans are black and red, reminiscent of a ladybug, though other colors exist. Jewelry-making with jequirity seeds is rumoured to be somewhat hazardous. There are persistent reports that the workers who pierce the seeds in order to thread them can suffer poisoning or even death from a pinprick, but there seems to be little evidence. An online search found 265 scientific papers referring to Abrus precatorius, but not one of them dealt with occupational poisoning. In March 2012 a recall was issued for bracelets made using Jequirity Beans sold by the Eden Project and other outlets in the UK.

• “Abrus precatorius, jequirity, rosary pea – The POISON GARDEN Website”. www.thepoisongarden.co.uk.
•  “Eden Project Recall Of Bracelets Made From Jequirity Bean”.

The seeds of Abrus precatorius are very consistent in weight, even under different moisture conditions due to the water-impermeable seed-coat. Formerly Indians used these seeds to weigh gold using a measure called a Ratti, where 8 Ratti = 1 Masha; 12 Masha = 1 Tola (11.6 Grams).

• Sharma, Rajender Kumar; Bajwa, Ali (4 February 2021). “Physical seed dormancy in Abrus precatorious (Ratti): a scientific validation of indigenous technique”. Experimental Results. 2. doi:10.1017/exp.2020.64. ISSN 2516-712X.
• Wheeler, Mortimer (1959). Early India and Pakistan (Revised ed.). London: Thames and Hudson.

According to the 1898 King’s American Dispensatory,

Abrus seeds are the agents by which the Chamàr or “Native Skinner” caste of India carry on the felonious poisoning of cattle for the purpose of securing their hides. This is done by means of small spikes, called sui (needles) or sutari (awls), which are prepared by soaking the awl in a thin paste of the water-soaked, pounded seeds, and then drying the weapon in the sun, after which it is oiled and sharpened upon stone, affixed in a handle, and then used to puncture the skin of the animal.

An 1881 work by the District Superintendent of Police for British-occupied Bengal details the preparation and use of the sutari for the killing of cattle and in at least six murder cases.

• “Abrus.—Abrus”. Henrietta’s Herbal (scanned version). 1898.
•  Major H. M. Ramsay (1881). Detective footprints: with bearings for a future course. Army and Navy Co-operative Society, Limited. pp. 42–65.
• William Dymock; C.J.H. Warden; David Hooper (1890). Pharmacographia Indica: a history of the principal drugs of vegetable origin met with in India. Kegan Paul, Trench, Truebner & Co. (London). pp. 444–445.. The relevant portion is cited to Dr. Warden’s (Surgeon-Major, Bengal Army, Professor of Chemistry in the Calcutta Medical College) prior publication in Indian Medical Gazette vol. 138.

Abrus precatorius, called “Gulaganji” in Kannada, kundu mani in Tamil, Guruvinda ginja in Telugu and ‘Kunni kuru’ in Malayalam, has been used in Siddha medicine for centuries. The white variety is used to prepare oil that is claimed to be an aphrodisiac. The 1889 book ‘The Useful Native Plants of Australia’ records that “The roots of this plant are used in India as a substitute for liquorice, though they are somewhat bitter. In Java the roots are considered demulcent. The leaves, when mixed with honey, are applied to swellings, and in Jamaica are used as a substitute for tea. Under the name of “Jequirity” the seeds have recently been employed in cases of ophthalmia, a use to which they have long been put in India and Brazil.” The plant is also used in Ayurveda and is said to promote hair growth. 

• Raamachandran, J. “Herbs of Siddha medicines: The First 3D Book on Herbs”, page 2.
• Verma, D.; Tiwari, S. S.; Srivastava, S.; Rawat, A. (2011). “Pharmacognostical evaluation and phytochemical standardization of Abrus precatorius L. seeds”. Natural Product Sciences. 17 (1): 51–57.
• “Abrus precatorius L._IPCS INCHEM”.
• J. H. Maiden (1889). The useful native plants of Australia: Including Tasmania. Turner and Henderson, Sydney.
• Williamson, Elizabeth M. (2002). Major Herbs of Ayurveda. ISBN 9780443072031.

Laboratory study of extracts

A variety of pharmacological effects have been observed in rodents, but have not been demonstrated clinically in humans, including:

An ethanolic extract of Abrus precatorius was found to have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and analgesic potential in rodents.^{[citation needed]}

A methanolic extract of A. precatorius seeds causes reversible alterations in the estrous cycle pattern and completely blocked ovulation in Sprague-Dawley rats.

• Okoko, I. I.; Osinubi, A. A.; Olabiyi, O. O.; Kusemiju, T. O.; Noronha, C. C.; nlawon, A. O. (2010). “Antiovulatory and anti-implantation potential of the methanolic extract of seeds of Abrus precatorius in the rat”. Endocrine Practice. 16 (4): 554–560. doi:10.4158/ep09011.or. PMID 20150030.

Studies on aqueous, methanolic and chloroform extracts of Abrus precatorius showed greater inhibitory activity against a number of disease-causing bacteria such as Bacillus subtilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella typhimurium, and Escherichia coli.

• Kekuda TR, Vinayaka KS, Soumya KV, Ashwini SK, Kiran R. Antibacterial and antifungal activity of methanolic extract of Abrus pulchellus Wall and Abrus precatorius Linn: A comparative study Archived August 31, 2012, at the Wayback Machine. Int J Toxicol Pharmacol Res. 2010;2:26–9.
• Roy, S.; Acharya, R.; Mandal, N. C.; Barman, S.; Ghosh, R.; Roy, R. (2012). “A comparative antibacterial evaluation of raw and processed Guñjā (Abrus precatorius Linn.) seeds”. Ancient Science of Life. 32 (1): 20–23. doi:10.4103/0257-7941.113794. PMC 3733201. PMID 23929989.

In Rajasthan, India, Chirmi song is associated with this plant. There is also evidence that this plant has significant economic value to the traditional Zulu people, due to the fact that it is a form of income for Zulu people that make and sell crafts that were made from the seeds of this plant.

• “Abrus precatorius subsp. africanus”. www.plantzafrica.com. Retrieved 2016-05-18.

During the Tang dynasty, Wang Wei wrote a poem titled “One-hearted” (Xiāng Sī / 相思), which most likely refers to Abrus precatorius as a “red bean” (hóng dòu / 红豆).^{[citation needed]}

I found this:

When those red berries come in springtime,
Flushing on your southland branches,
Take home an armful, for my sake,
As a symbol of our love.

Wang Wei One-Hearted

In Mathura, India, the god Vishnu and Krishna is associated with the seeds of the plant. Lord Krishna is sometimes depicted wearing the seeds on a mala (rosary).^{[citation needed]}

Abrin is an extremely toxic toxalbumin found in the seeds of the rosary pea (or jequirity pea), Abrus precatorius. It has a median lethal dose of 0.7 micrograms per kilogram of body mass when given to mice intravenously (approximately 31.4 times more toxic than ricin, being 22 micrograms per kilogram). The median toxic dose for humans ranges from 10 to 1000 micrograms per kilogram when ingested and is 3.3 micrograms per kilogram when inhaled.

•  Gill DM (1982). “Bacterial toxins: a table of lethal amounts”. Microbiological Reviews. 46 (1): 86–94. doi:10.1128/MMBR.46.1.86-94.1982. PMC 373212. PMID 6806598.
• Rudolf C Johnson; et al. (March 2009). “Quantification of L-Abrine in Human and Rat Urine: A Biomarker for the Toxin Abrin”. Journal of Analytical Toxicology. 33 (2): 77–84. doi:10.1093/jat/33.2.77. PMID 19239732.

Abrin is a ribosome inhibiting protein like ricin (but much worse? what?), a toxin which can be found in the seeds of the castor oil plant, and pulchellin, a toxin which can be found in the seeds of Abrus pulchellus. Abrin is classed as a “select agent” under U.S. law.

• Dickers KJ, Bradberry SM, Rice P, Griffiths GD, Vale JA (2003). “Abrin poisoning”. Toxicological Reviews. 22 (3): 137–42. doi:10.2165/00139709-200322030-00002. PMID 15181663. S2CID 20411255.
• Sadraeian M, Guimaraes GF, Araujo AP, Worthylake DK, LeCour LJ, Pincus SH (2017). “Selective cytotoxicity of a novel immunotoxin based on pulchellin A chain for cells expressing HIV envelope”. Scientific Reports. 7 (1): 7579. Bibcode:2017NatSR…7.7579S. doi:10.1038/s41598-017-08037-3. PMC 5548917. PMID 28790381.

Under United States law, Biological select agents or toxins (BSATs) — or simply select agents for short — are bio-agents which (since 1997) have been declared by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) or by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to have the “potential to pose a severe threat to public health and safety”. The agents are divided into (1) HHS select agents and toxins affecting humans; (2) USDA select agents and toxins affecting agriculture; and (3) overlap select agents and toxins affecting both.

•  Additional Requirements for Facilities Transferring or Receiving Select Agents, Title 42 CFR Part 72 and Appendix A; 15 April 1997 (DHHS).

Vitriol

Vitriol is the general chemical name encompassing a class of chemical compound comprising sulfates of certain metals – originally, iron or copper. Those mineral substances were distinguished by their color, such as green vitriol for hydrated iron(II) sulfate and blue vitriol for hydrated copper(II) sulfate.

• “Vitriol” entry in the online Encyclopaedia Britannica. Accessed on 2020-08-28.

These materials were originally found as crystals formed by evaporation of groundwater that percolated through sulfide minerals and collected in pools on the floor of old mines. The word vitriol comes from the Latin word vitriolus, meaning “small glass”, as those crystals resembled pieces of colored glass.

Oil of vitriol was an old name for concentrated sulfuric acid, which was historically obtained through the dry distillation (pyrolysis) of vitriols. The name, shortened to vitriol, continued to be used for this viscous liquid long after the minerals came to be called “sulfates”. The term vitriolic in the sense of “harshly condemnatory” is derived from the corrosive nature of this substance.

Vitriol	Chemical	Comment	Formula
Black vitriol		a mixture[A]	[Cu,Mg,Fe,Mn,Co,Ni]SO4·7H2O[B]
Blue vitriol/Vitriol of Cyprus/Roman vitriol	copper(II) sulfate	pentahydrate	CuSO4·5H2O
Green vitriol/Copperas	iron(II) sulfate	heptahydrate	FeSO4·7H2O
Oil of vitriol/Spirit of vitriol	sulfuric acid	acid	H2SO4
Red vitriol	cobalt(II) sulfate	heptahydrate	CoSO4·7H2O
Sweet oil of vitriol	diethyl ether	not a sulfate, but can be synthesized from sulfuric acid and ethanol	CH3-CH2-O-CH2-CH3
Vitriol of argile/Vitriol of clay	aluminium sulfate	alum	Al2(SO4)3
Vitriol of Mars	iron(III) sulfate	Ferric sulfate	Fe2(SO4)3
White vitriol	zinc sulfate	heptahydrate	ZnSO4·7H2O

A Many websites state “black vitriol is a mixture of iron sulfate and iron sulfite”, but none gives a reference of any sort. The book, Chemistry, Inorganic & Organic, with Experiments, by Bloxam is a published, reliable reference for the composition of black vitriol, and it states on page 513, “The formula of black vitriol may be written [CuMgFeMnCoNi]SO4·7H2O, the six isomorphous metals being interchangeable without altering the general character of the salt.”

B “Any combination of these elements may be found in black vitriol.”

•  Roman vitriol on Chembk CAS Database
• “Synthesis of Ethers”.
• Bloxam, Charles Loudon; Bloxam, Arthur G.; Lewis, S. Judd (1913). “Copper, Cu = 63.57”. Chemistry, Inorganic & Organic, with Experiments (Tenth ed.). Philadelphia: P. Blakiston’s Son & Co. p. 513. The formula of black vitriol may be written [CuMgFeMnCoNi]SO₄·7H₂O, the six isomorphous metals being interchangeable without altering the general character of the salt.

History

The study of vitriol began in ancient times. Sumerians had a list of types of vitriol that they classified according to the substances’ color. Some of the earliest discussions on the origin and properties of vitriol is in the works of the Greek physician Dioscorides (first century AD) and the Roman naturalist Pliny the Elder (23–79 AD). Galen also discussed its medical use. Metallurgical uses for vitriolic substances were recorded in the Hellenistic alchemical works of Zosimos of Panopolis, in the treatise Phisica et Mystica, and the Leyden papyrus X.

• Karpenko, Vladimír; Norris, John A. (2002). “Vitriol in the History of Chemistry”. Chemické listy. 96 (12): 997–1005.

Medieval Islamic chemists like Jābir ibn Ḥayyān (died c. 806–816 AD, known in Latin as Geber), Abū Bakr al-Rāzī (865–925 AD, known in Latin as Rhazes), Ibn Sina (980–1037 AD, known in Latin as Avicenna), and Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm al-Watwat (1234–1318 AD) included vitriol in their mineral classification lists.

• Karpenko, Vladimír; Norris, John A. (2002). “Vitriol in the History of Chemistry”. Chemické listy. 96 (12): pp. 999–1000.

Sulfuric acid was called “oil of vitriol” by medieval European alchemists because it was prepared by roasting “green vitriol” (iron(II) sulfate) in an iron retort. The first vague allusions to it appear in the works of Vincent of Beauvais, in the Compositum de Compositis ascribed to Saint Albertus Magnus, and in pseudo-Geber‘s Summa perfectionis (all thirteenth century AD).

• Karpenko, Vladimír; Norris, John A. (2002). “Vitriol in the History of Chemistry”. Chemické listy. 96 (12): pp. 1002–1004.

Dragon’s blood

Dragon’s blood is a bright red resin which is obtained from different species of a number of distinct plant genera: Calamus spp. (previously Daemonorops) also including Calamus rotang, Croton, Dracaena and Pterocarpus. The red resin has been in continuous use since ancient times as varnish, medicine, incense, and dye.

A great degree of confusion existed for the ancients in regard to the source and identity of dragon’s blood. Some medieval encyclopedias claimed its source as the literal blood of elephants and dragons who had perished in mortal combat. The resin of Dracaena species, “true” dragon‘s blood, and the very poisonous mineral cinnabar (mercury sulfide) were often confused by the ancient Romans. In ancient China, little or no distinction was made among the types of dragon’s blood from the different species. Both Dracaena and Calamus resins are still often marketed today as dragon’s blood, with little or no distinction being made between the plant sources; however, the resin obtained from Calamus has become the most commonly sold type in modern times, often in the form of large balls of resin.

• De Hamel, Christopher. Scribes and Illuminators.Medieval Craftsmen series. Toronto: U Toronto P,1992. Print. 62.
• St. Clair, Kassia (2016). The Secret Lives of Colour. London: John Murray. p. 155. ISBN 9781473630819. OCLC 936144129.
• “Safety data for mercuric sulphide”. ox.ac.uk.