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Medical explanations of bewitchment, especially as exhibited during the Salem witch trials but in other witch-hunts as well, have emerged because it is not widely believed today that symptoms of those claiming affliction were actually caused by bewitchment. The reported symptoms have been explored by a variety of researchers for possible biological and psychological origins. Modern academic historians of witch-hunts generally consider medical explanations to explain the phenomenon. Besides, it's believed that the accusers in Salem were motivated by social factors – jealousy, spite, or a need for attention – and that the extreme behaviors exhibited were "counterfeit," as contemporary critics of the trials had suspected. ==Ergot poisoning== A widely known theory about the cause of the reported afflictions attributes the cause to the ingestion of bread that had been made from rye grain that had been infected by a fungus, ''Claviceps purpurea'', commonly known as ergot. This fungus contains chemicals similar to those used in the synthetic psychedelic drug LSD. Convulsive ergotism causes a variety of symptoms, including nervous dysfunction.〔 Woolf, Alan. (2000). Witchcraft or Mycotoxin? The Salem Witch Trials. ''Clinical Toxicology'', 38 (4): 457-60, (July 2000). 〕〔Video (PBS Secrets of the Dead: "The Witches Curse" ). Features an on-screen appearance by Linnda Caporeal.〕〔Sologuk, Sally. (2005). Diseases Can Bewitch Durum Millers. ''Milling Journal'', Second Quarter 2005, pp. 44-45. (available here )〕 The theory was first widely publicized in 1976, when graduate student Linnda R. Caporael published an article〔Caporael, Linnda R. (1976). Ergotism: The Satan Loosed in Salem? ''Science'', 192 (2 April 1976). (''see web page'' )〕 in ''Science'', making the claim that the hallucinations of the afflicted girls could possibly have been the result of ingesting rye bread that had been made with moldy grain. ''Ergot of Rye'' is a plant disease caused by the fungus ''Claviceps purpurea'', which Caporael claims is consistent with many of the physical symptoms of those alleged to be afflicted by witchcraft. Within seven months, however, an article disagreeing with this theory was published in the same journal by Spanos and Gottlieb〔 Spanos, Nicholas P. & Jack Gottlieb. (1976). Ergotism and the Salem Village witch trials. ''Science'' 24; 194 (4272): 1390-1394 (December 1976).〕〔 Spanos, Nicholas P. (1983). Ergotism and the Salem witch panic: a critical analysis and an alternative conceptualization. ''Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences'', 19 (4): 358-369, (Oct 1983).〕 They performed a wider assessment of the historical records, examining all the symptoms reported by those claiming affliction, among other things, that #Ergot poisoning has additional symptoms that were not reported by those claiming affliction. #If the poison was in the food supply, symptoms would have occurred on a house-by-house basis not in only certain individuals. #Biological symptoms do not start and stop based on external cues, as described by witnesses, nor do biological symptoms start and stop simultaneously across a group of people, also as described by witnesses. In 1989, Mary Matossian reopened the issue, supporting Caporeal, including putting an image of ergot-infected rye on the cover of her book, ''Poisons of the Past''. Matossian disagreed with Spanos and Gottlieb, based on evidence from Boyer and Nissenbaum in ''Salem Possessed'' that indicated a geographical constraint to the reports of affliction within Salem Village.〔Matossian, Mary Kilbourne. (1989). Chapter 9, "Ergot and the Salem Witchcraft Affair" In ''Poisons of the Past: Molds, Epidemics, and History'', pp. 113-122 (ISBN 978-0300051216). New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. 〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Medical explanations of bewitchment」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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