The New World Times

     In 1692, seven girls became extremely ill and claimed that they were being bewitched, but convulsive ergotism could be to blame instead.

    Witchcraft may not be the reason for the hallucinations, vomiting, muscle spasms, choking, crawling sensation on the skin and fevers of the seven girls. Evidence shows that the  girls may have gotten ergot poisoning instead of being bewitched.

    During 1692, in Salem village, Massachusetts, the daughter of reverend Samuel Parris, Betty Parris, and later, her cousin Abigail Williams, became ferociously ill. The symptoms included hallucinations, choking, vomiting, crawling sensation on the skin, fever, violent fits and muscle spasms. Betty and Abigail were taken to the village doctors but no one could diagnose the severe illness. They claimed that the were being bewitched and described three women to be witches. Their names were Tituba, Samuel Parris’ slave, Sarah Good and Sarah Osborn. Five more girls by the names of Ann Putnam, Elizabeth Hubbard, Susannah Sheldon, Mary Warren, Mercy Lewis became sick later that year.

    Rye was the staple grain of Salem village. 1691 in western Salem village, where most of the accusers lived happened to be damp, warm and Mr. Putnam’s farm was in a swampy region in western salem so some of the seven girls  may have gotten their rye from Mr. Putnam. The summer of 1692 was dry, explaining the sudden stop of “bewitchments.”

    The symptoms of the seven girls seem to match the symptoms of convulsive ergotism. Convulsive ergotism is an illness that is received from the ingestion of rye infected with ergot, or more specifically claviceps purpurea, a type of ergot. The symptoms include nausea, vomiting, muscle pain and weakness, numbness, itching, and quick or slow heartbeat. Ergot poisoning can lead to death of body tissue due to lack of blood flow, vision problems, confusion, spasms, unconsciousness, and even death. Ergot grows on rye and less commonly, wheat and other grasses in warm and damp conditions. In the perspective of the seven girls the hallucinations could be of the witches flying around and attacking them which is the pinching and itchy feelings and the violent fits could be muscle spasms.

    The evidence shows that witchcraft may have not been the reason for the hallucinations, vomiting, muscle spasms, choking, crawling sensation on the skin and fevers of Betty Parris, Abigail Williams, Ann Putnam, Elizabeth Hubbard, Susannah Sheldon, Mary Warren, Mercy Lewis and possibly others who were affected by the mysterious illness. All the punishments and deaths of the supposed “witches” were not necessary if the seven girls had convulsive ergotism instead of being “bewitched.” The nineteen people who were hanged at Gallows Hill could have lived on. The man that was over eighty years old who had his ribs crushed by rocks because he said he was not a wizard would have survived a few more years. And finally, the hundreds of people who were taken from their families and thrown into jail for months before they even had a trial. They had to stay in jail until the conspiracy of witchcraft died down. Those innocent people could have stayed with their family for those few months. All of these problems happened because an illness may have been mistaken for bewitchment. Dozens of lives gone, because of one simple assumption. It is disappointing, that tens, hundreds or even thousands of innocent people could die, and their families left to grieve because of one assumption.