Who or What Killed Socrates?

byBigDaddyFred

2.5K followers

Updated 9 years ago

Below you will see one of the most beautiful and yet the most deadly of wild plants.

Water hemlock is considered one of North America's most toxic plants, being highly poisonous to humans. Three members of the genus contain a toxin named cicutoxin which causes central nervous system stimulatory effects including seizures following ingestion. Medical treatment of poisoning may include the use of activated charcoal to decrease gastrointestinal absorption of the toxic principle along with supportive care including anticonvulsant drugs such as a benzodiazepine. High doses of anticonvulsant medicine are often required to halt seizure activity and further medical care including intubation and mechanical ventilation may be required.

This is the plant that produced the poison that Socrates was forced to drink.

But isn't it just beautiful. I took this snap on my daily brook walk, but did not see the beautiful halo until looking at the photo. It looks like the sun placed a halo on this special plant.

Toxic but beautiful...... Hmmm. Reminds me of someone I know. Maybe you too.

All that glitters is not gold, I guess. How can you tell what is and isn't?

Fire! And a crucible.

When I first got into the habit of walking the brook, I used to pick a few leaves and eat them. Then I started to think that there may be poisonous veggies out there. So I became a student....... Well, I am glad I didn't pop a few leaves of this in my mouth.

Think of the internet as the brook. Realize that all is not safe to pluck and eat.... It's a jungle out there, but Wealthy Affiliates will help weed out the rough stuff!

Just sayin
BigDaddyFred