Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Snow White: 1661

A sleeping Apple.

An Apple to make one sleep, is made of all these; Opium, Mandrake, juyce of Hemlock, Henbanefeed, Wine lees, to which must be added Musk, that by the scent it may provoke him that smells unto it. Make a Ball as big as a man may grasp in his hand, by often smelling to this it will cause him to shut his eyes and fall asleep: but it is but in vain to try to do this at certain hours; for men's temperaments vary: but he that shall go about it, may try it by such means, and all in vain. To hinder the danger of these things there is help enough: if you anoint their Temples, Nose, and Testicles with distilled Vinegar, or other things dissolved in Vinegar, that may drive away sleep and awaken the parties.
--From Eighteen books of the secrets of art and nature--

This is what Disney got wrong:

1. The apple isn't dunked in poison; it's made of poison.

2. The apple isn't supposed to be bitten, but smelled.

3. The antidote isn't "Love's First Kiss", but vinegar sprinkled on the crotch.

8 comments:

Trooper York said...

Richard Belzer wanted one of those apples from the Apple store and we he didn't get it he started choking the Puerto Rican girl who was stocking the shelves.

Trooper York said...

And he wasn't even questioned by the cops even though they have it on tape.

Trooper York said...

Talk about your fairy tales.

chickelit said...

Jason, it's not obvious to me what volatile compound from that concoction would be present at room temperature. Are there any secondary sources that speak to that?

chickelit said...

Perhaps it's the coniine alkaloids in hemlock. The other stuff is just a chemical mask.

Jason (the commenter) said...

Jason, it's not obvious to me what volatile compound from that concoction would be present at room temperature.

The medicinal qualities of the substances would be dissolved in the musk and imparted to the breather.

The vinegar would absorb the substances from the breather, thus acting as an antidote. Or counter-substances could be dissolved in the vinegar and imparted to people it was poured on.

chickelit said...

The medicinal qualities of the substances would be dissolved in the musk and imparted to the breather.

Easier said than done. Aerosols use a propellent to volatilize just about anything. But if you're relying on something just wafting up entrained in the musk, well, the possibilities are far fewer. Essentially, the poison must be volatile itself.

Just sayin'

Jason (the commenter) said...

The musk carries the sleep-inducing properties of the ingredients in the apple into the people who breathe it, causing sleep. In the same manner, swamp air carries the putrefication of rotting material into the humans who breath it, causing disease.