Dec 4, 2021 01:53 AM
(This post was last modified: Dec 4, 2021 02:43 AM by C C.)
"Spanish Fly" is a curious name for an extract of blister beetles since the beetles are not flies, nor are they Spanish.
https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/health...phrodisiac
EXCERPTS: The extract contains cantharidin, a substance that supposedly increases sexual desire. Not only does it not do that, it may eliminate all desire permanently. When ingested, cantharidin can kill. But when used in small doses topically, it can be an effective treatment for warts.
[...] If a predator bites into a blister beetle egg, it learns to never do it again. Cantharidin causes terribly painful blisters. But that is not all it does.
In humans, it can cause a burning sensation of the urinary tract that in men can provoke an erection. This effect is responsible for cantharidin’s undeserved historical reputation as an aphrodisiac that dates back all the way to ancient Roman times. Augustus Caesar’s wife Livia supposedly slipped ground beetles into food to entice men into indiscretions for which they could be blackmailed.
There are also accounts of Louis XIV’s lust for women being aided by cantharidin, but the most famous proponent of “Spanish Fly” as a sexual stimulant was the notorious Marquis de Sade who is said to have given prostitutes cantharidin-laced pastilles to “set them on fire.” It set them on fire alright, with burning abdominal pain. The Marquis and his valet were accused of poisoning the women and quickly fled to Italy. They were sentenced to death in absentia.
Cantharidin also resulted in a death sentence for an American fisherman, but in a different fashion. In 1954, for some bizarre reason, the man came to believe that blister beetle extract would attract fish [...] the fisherman pricked his thumb, and as most would do, proceeded to suck on it. There was enough residual cantharidin on the thumb to kill him. It doesn’t take much. The fatal dose of cantharidin is in the range of 10-65 milligrams... (MORE - missing details) ...... RELATED (video): Toxicology - Cantharides Poisoning
There's Only One Aphrodisiac According To Science
https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/OGQo-iLMx0M
https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/health...phrodisiac
EXCERPTS: The extract contains cantharidin, a substance that supposedly increases sexual desire. Not only does it not do that, it may eliminate all desire permanently. When ingested, cantharidin can kill. But when used in small doses topically, it can be an effective treatment for warts.
[...] If a predator bites into a blister beetle egg, it learns to never do it again. Cantharidin causes terribly painful blisters. But that is not all it does.
In humans, it can cause a burning sensation of the urinary tract that in men can provoke an erection. This effect is responsible for cantharidin’s undeserved historical reputation as an aphrodisiac that dates back all the way to ancient Roman times. Augustus Caesar’s wife Livia supposedly slipped ground beetles into food to entice men into indiscretions for which they could be blackmailed.
There are also accounts of Louis XIV’s lust for women being aided by cantharidin, but the most famous proponent of “Spanish Fly” as a sexual stimulant was the notorious Marquis de Sade who is said to have given prostitutes cantharidin-laced pastilles to “set them on fire.” It set them on fire alright, with burning abdominal pain. The Marquis and his valet were accused of poisoning the women and quickly fled to Italy. They were sentenced to death in absentia.
Cantharidin also resulted in a death sentence for an American fisherman, but in a different fashion. In 1954, for some bizarre reason, the man came to believe that blister beetle extract would attract fish [...] the fisherman pricked his thumb, and as most would do, proceeded to suck on it. There was enough residual cantharidin on the thumb to kill him. It doesn’t take much. The fatal dose of cantharidin is in the range of 10-65 milligrams... (MORE - missing details) ...... RELATED (video): Toxicology - Cantharides Poisoning
There's Only One Aphrodisiac According To Science