Chapter 19: Elf Tails

[underlucius]

This chapter was a collaboration by gehayi and underlucius

In which we are in danger of being bored to death were it not for a brilliant commentary by Luna, JKR can't tell the difference between various parts of the castle, and Dobby doesn't impress me with his helpfulness.

Comments

[tiferet]

It's difficult to poison yourself with rue. If you take enough of it to poison yourself (or to cause an abortion, which is what most people who take a lot of it are attempting to do--they say 'don't use during pregnancy' for a reason--like pennyroyal and tansy, rue figures prominently in most herbal cocktails designed to terminate unwanted pregnancies) you will throw it all back up and be fine, unless you are very unlucky. (Of course, you could be very unlucky, and so I must caution you not to try this at home.)

The only reason I can think of to keep giving someone rue is to make sure they get all of a poison thrown up. Its entire medicinal value, far as I can tell, is as a purgative.

[tamerterra]

That's good to know! ^_^

[gehayi]

I've heard of the herbal cocktails to end pregnancy that you mention. The one I'm most familiar with is mostly tansy, some pennyroyal, and a very little bit of rue, bewed in tea.

However, this is what Poisonous Plants says:

Symptoms: Ingestion causes stomach pain, vomiting, exhaustion, confusion, and convulsions; may be fatal.

Toxicity: HIGHLY TOXIC, MAY BE FATAL IF EATEN! SKIN IRRITATION MINOR, OR LASTING ONLY FOR A FEW MINUTES.

So it looks to me as if even in that cocktail, you're taking a risk by consuming it, let alone in "Essence of Rue."

[tiferet]

Well, I'm certainly not advising anyone to take rue for any reason, because anything that can be done with rue can be done much more safely by The Wonders of Modern Medicine (tm)--but rue, in small amounts, was used for centuries as an herbal remedy, and I'm assuming that like most drugs, it's highly toxic if misused.

That said, I did, when I was young and stupid and playing with herbals, drink rue tea, and the vomiting was so utterly immediate and amazing that it's hard for me to imagine how you could kill yourself by ingesting it. Syrup of ipecac would have been less effective.

[bee_in_a_garden]

Deadly plants do have their historical usages. Belladonna, or nightshade, is "one of the most toxic plants found in the Western hemisphere," yet ladies used to use the toxin to dialate their pupils. The particular checmical involved is still used by practitioners of Modern Medicine to dilate eyes, etc.