Scientists are still enveloped in mystery about how the ancient corpses in the Islands of Sardinia on average in the condition of smiling facesAs reported National Geographic, now after 2800 years have passed, they managed to reveal that there is plant material that is able to make people smile deathbed.
This herb can allegedly make the corpses look like a smiling face. Previously, the author of the 8th century BC Homer never mentions the term word "Smile Sardonik" is derived from the root word "Sardinia" in a number of articles referring to the ritual murder on the island ended with smiling faces.
According to recent studies, older people in the past that allegedly have no longer survive, and those who engage in criminal cases "fed a herbaceous sardonik and then killed in this way is dropped from a high hill or beaten to death."
For centuries, these herbs identity remains a mystery. However, a study led by Giovanni Appendino and colleagues successfully reveals the content of herbs that can make people who would die was smiling at a plant called hemlock water-dropwort.
White flowering plants such as this stems growing along ponds and rivers in many parts of Italy. About a decade ago, a herd of sheep Sardinia conduct suicide by consuming water-hemlock plants dropwort so that his body was found in the condition of a smile.
This death makes Mauro Ballero, botanist at the University of Cagliari in Sardinia to investigate further any dropwort plants on the island. His research was continued by Ballero and colleagues who examined the structure of the toxin melekul dropwort water-hemlock plants and determine their impact on the human body.
Appendino, an expert in organic chemistry at the Universita degli Study del Piemonte Orientale in Italy explained, "a very high toxin content and the cause of the symptoms are exactly the same as those described in ancient records and relics of the bodies sardonik smile." Dikatakanya, water-hemlock plants dropwort neurotoxin known to contain plant and we think that's what people used before. "
In addition to water-hemlock plants dropwort, there are also other plants are hairy buttercup (the Sardinian buttercup). However, these plants do not grow in damp places as mentioned in some ancient texts, and also does not contain a strong toxin, clearly Appendino. He added that Sardinia is the only place in the whole Mediterranean is overgrown plants dropwort water-hemlock type.
According to a relative of the victims who died, water-hemlock plants dropwort very dangerous due to the smell and taste very sweet. "In general, the poisonous plant hemlock water-bitter but has a sweet dropwort. And this is the second case of toxic plants that can stimulate our senses. According Appendino, this plant is very useful for cosmetics because she can relax muscles and eliminate wrinkles in face. Their findings are described in the Journal of Natural Products.
