PTNS-301 Lessons

The Antidote to Common Poisons is a relatively simple, albeit important, potion that all witches and wizards should be able to brew effectively. The potion is used to fight simple, mundane poisons without any complicated or magical qualities. It can also be used topically to counteract the venom in certain non-magical creature bites, such as that of a spider or snake. It should be noted that this potion does not work effectively against magical creature bites, such as Doxies. In case of bites from Doxies or other magical creatures, it is best to consult with a licensed healer, who will be able to administer the correct antidote and take proper care of the injury.

The antidote we will be brewing in today’s lab was invented in the 13th century by an English potioneer named Gerhard Bumblesnitcher. Bumblesnitcher was a bit of an odd wizard who lived near Leeds. He kept several snakes as pets, including a few with a mild to moderate level of venom. As such, a cure for mundane poisons and venom was rather imperative to his livelihood. Although it is an old recipe, the simplicity and effectiveness of the potion makes it a favorite as a home remedy even today. There are variations of this recipe, of course, in which there are slight changes of the secondary ingredients, but almost all versions of the Antidote to Common Poisons include the three primary ingredients: bezoar, unicorn horn and mistletoe berries.

The mistletoe berries that are used in potions are collected the sixth day following each New Moon. Those collected in the months of winter tend to show slightly stronger properties than those collected in summer, although the difference is subtle in most potions. The precise nature of the plant’s relationship to the moon is unknown. However, it has been found that while those collected within one or two days in either direction are also effective in potions, though diminished, those collected at other times of the year yield an ineffective and occasionally toxic potion. 

Mistletoe berries that are purchased from apothecaries in the United Kingdom and much of the magical world are harvested by trusted suppliers. However, mistakes are still occasionally made, and not all apothecaries necessarily purchase from the most honest suppliers. While it is difficult to ascertain the time of picking when simply looking at mistletoe berries, should you ever find yourself using them in a potion that does not turn out as expected, safely discard the potion and start anew with different berries. 

There is currently research being done on the nature of mistletoe berries at the ideal time of the Moon’s cycle in comparison to other times of the month. Given the rather reluctant nature of the magical community to engage in scientific and theoretical investigation, it may be some time before there is any conclusive evidence discovered. However, if researchers can determine why mistletoe possesses the quality that makes it useful in potions when harvested at this time, it may be possible to artificially replicate the circumstances in order to remove temporal limitations to harvesting and trade.

In earlier incarnations of the Antidote to Common Poisons, instead of mistletoe, infusion of hemlock was used. Conium maculatum, or poison hemlock, is a highly poisonous plant with small, clustered white flowers. It grows native in Europe and the Mediterranean, and is infamous in Muggle history as a method of execution in ancient Greece. In 399 BCE, the Athenian philosopher Socrates was found guilty of impiety and sentenced to death. He was executed by drinking an infusion of hemlock. On its own, infusion of hemlock is an incredibly lethal concoction to magical and non-magical beings. It also tends to be relatively volatile and unpredictable when used in brewing, which led to the experimentation and substitution of mistletoe berries in antidotes. Some may still use hemlock in their brewing, but it’s a rather outdated and unsafe ingredient.

Antidote to Common Poisons

Estimated Brewing Time:
Pewter Cauldron: 45 minutes and 40 seconds
Brass Cauldron: 41 minutes and 40 seconds
Copper Cauldron: 38 minutes and 4 seconds

Ingredients:
1 L of water
1 bezoar¹
45 mL essence of dittany²
30 g of ginger²
15 g of unicorn horn¹
2 mistletoe berries¹
2 sprigs of lavender³
15 mL of Flobberworm mucus³

The small numerical superscripts indicate primary, secondary and tertiary ingredients for reference.

Instructions:

Part One: 

1. Bring 500 mL of water to 363 Kelvin (90°C/194°F).
2. Add the bezoar to your mortar, and crush it to a fine, even consistency.
3. Add 30 g of the crushed bezoar to the cauldron. Reserve the rest in your mortar.
4. Add 45 mL of essence of dittany and 30 g of ginger to your cauldron.
5. Bring the heat up to 383 Kelvin (110°C/230°F) for 15 seconds, and then reduce heat again to 363 Kelvin (90°C/194°F).
6. Add 30 g of the crushed bezoar to the cauldron.
7. Stir once counterclockwise.
8. Leave the potion to brew in your pewter cauldron for 25 minutes. (This would be 22 minutes and 30 seconds in a brass cauldron and 20 minutes and 15 seconds in a copper cauldron.)

The potion will appear a medium-grey at this point with gold flecks. It will likely smell a bit like musty bread or mothballs.

 Part Two:

1. Add remaining 500 mL of water to the cauldron.
2. Add 15 g of unicorn hair.
3. Stir twice clockwise.
4. Add two mistletoe berries.
5. Bring the heat up to 383 Kelvin (110°C/230°F) for 25 seconds, and then reduce heat again to 363 Kelvin (90°C/194°F).
6. Add two sprigs of lavender. 
7. Stir once counterclockwise.
8. Leave the potion to brew in your pewter cauldron for 15 minutes. (This would be 13 minutes and 30 seconds in a brass cauldron and 12 minutes and 9 seconds in a copper cauldron.)
9. Remove the cauldron from the heat entirely and leave it to cool for 5 minutes.
10. Add 15 mL of Flobberworm mucus to the potion and stir it with a wooden spoon until it reaches an even consistency before siphoning it into your phial.

At the end of brewing, the potion will be a dark teal in color and should have a sharp mustard smell and taste. It may emit gold sparks as it cools: this is natural.

To Store: The Antidote to Common Poisons should be stored in a slightly warm environment. The amount of light does not affect its efficacy. The potion can be stored up to eight months before it must be safely disposed and rebrewed or purchased. 

To Use: About 90 mL or three ounces should be used when the potion is ingested. Any less and the potion may be ineffective. Taking too much of this antidote is not necessarily dangerous, although consuming too much can cause some minor side effects owing to the inclusion of mistletoe berries. When using the potion topically, it should be applied to the bite or site of injury. Just enough should be used to cover the impacted area. Following application of the antidote and confirmation that it has alleviated the issue, the area should be cleaned and tended as any typical wound.

Effects: The potion should begin to alleviate symptoms of mild to moderate mundane poisoning within approximately five minutes of being ingested or applied to the site of a bite. Swelling should also begin to go down at this point, and redness or inflammation should disappear. Ingesting a greater amount of this potion than advised should not have serious side effects, but may lead to nausea, dizziness, and low-grade fever. Allergic reactions to this potion are rare, but in some cases, may cause light red rashes with itchy bumps when applied topically as well as mild trouble breathing and increased heart rate when ingested. These side effects should not be severe, but a healer should still be consulted if they appear after ingesting or using the potion.

Caution: The Antidote to Common Poisons is safe for children, elderly, those with mild immune system dysfunctions, and chronic disease. It is also thought to be safe for pregnant women in moderation, but most healers advise using only in rather sparing cases, as the mistletoe berries - even brewed in the potion - are not thought to be entirely safe to consume while pregnant. If symptoms of poisoning do not abate within five minutes, it is recommended that a healer or medical professional be consulted.

Just Like Poison
A poison is typically defined as any substance that causes a disturbance or reaction in living organisms, particularly on the chemical and cellular level. Magical biologists and zoologists often distinguish “poisons” from venoms and toxins, classifying poisons as something that is absorbed in some fashion, whether through the skin or the stomach once swallowed. However, most magical poison antidotes will also work to treat toxins as well as venoms, which many consider to be types of poisons.

The Swiss-German wizard and scientist Paracelsus, who was a well-known alchemist and the discoverer of Parseltongue, is also called the “Father of Toxicology.” Toxicology is defined as the study of ill effects of chemicals and poisons on organisms. It is said that Paracelsus was the first to name the element zinc, calling it zink after the old German zinke for “pointed”. This is owing to the sharp appearance of zinc crystals after smelting. It is said that Paracelsus may have also been the first to create laudanum, an opiate that was frequently prescribed until the 20th century to treat pain, act as a sleep aid, and relieve anxiety. In regards to poison, Paracelsus once said:

Alle Dinge sind Gift und nichts ist ohne Gift, allein die Dosis macht es, dass ein Ding kein Gift ist. 

This translates to “All things are poisonous, and nothing is without poison. Only the dosage makes something not poisonous.” Many interpret this as a declaration that all things are dangerous in too high a dosage, which is a true statement. Consider, for example, our discussion of chocolate in earlier lessons. While dark chocolate can actually be healthy in small doses, it yields negative effects if consumed in too great a quantity and with too much frequency. However, this can be read inversely as well: even naturally poisonous objects can be relatively innocuous in small doses. 

However, even in small doses, if given over a long period of time, poison can lead to gradual degeneration of organs and eventually death. An example of this is chronic arsenic poisoning. Arsenic (chemical symbol As) is an element with 33 protons and 33 electrons, and it is stable with 42 neutrons. The element is typically found alongside various metals and sulfur in mineral deposits, and in large doses is toxic to many organisms. If these deposits leak into groundwater, it can contaminate drinking water and cause adverse effects in populations. When consumed in small increments over a long period of time, it can increase the risk of cancer and present as symptoms of chronic illness. This is why arsenic poisoning was at one time the preferred method of covert assassination: even once the subject passed away, it would appear they had contracted another disease, as there were not yet methods of ascertaining the amount of arsenic in the system.

A popular example of both chronic and high dose arsenic poisoning can be found in the story of the infamous Borgia family. In the 15th century, Rodrigo Lanzol y de Borja of Valencia, Spain ascended to the position of pope and took the name Alexander VI. Hungry for power, he and his family used his 13-year-old daughter to help gain even more political and social influence, marrying her off to no fewer than three important families. Each time, the family employed covert means of distributing arsenic to her husband in order to advance the family’s interests as well as eliminate opponents. Once their opponents succumbed, the Borgia family seized their assets and their land, making them one of the wealthiest families at the time. It is believed that Pope Alexander VI himself may have imbibed wine he intended for enemy Cardinals, causing his own death at the age of 72. 

Another prominent figure that may have been exposed to the long-term effects of arsenic poisoning is Napoleon Bonaparte. Many of the symptoms of chronic disease he exhibited around his death are similar to that of some sort of long term arsenic poisoning. However, there has been no conclusive evidence to support this hypothesis. Disturbingly, arsenic was also used in Muggle women’s cosmetics in the nineteenth century, often mixed with vinegar in “complexion wafers” that were eaten in order to improve the complexion and lighten their skin.

The substance that counteracts poisons is most often called an antidote after the Greek word antididonai, which translates to connote “given against.” Antidotes can be natural, Muggle-made or wizard-made in nature, and come in a variety of forms - herbal, chemical and otherwise. While antidotes and poisons almost always have a rather complex relationship, sometimes the antidote can seem quite simple. For example, the recommended “antidote” to carbon monoxide poisoning is delivering pure, 100% oxygen. Depending on the level of severity, healers may use magic to create what is known as a hyperbaric chamber, or chamber that delivers 100% oxygen to the impacted patient. 

It is important to note that while an antidote to a poison may be administered, this does not necessarily mean that it reverses any long term side effects that may have occurred during the poisoning. Continuing with the example of carbon monoxide poisoning, if the exposure to carbon monoxide and lack of oxygen to the brain has occurred over an extended period of time, this may cause permanent brain damage of some sort. Even once oxygen returns to the brain, it may not be possible to repair the cells that have been damaged or lost. The patient may subsequently experience brain damage throughout their lives. The same holds true for many ingested potions: while the deadly effects of the poison may be negated, any more permanent or serious damage inflicted on the stomach or other organs may not disappear. When this is the case, other potions may be needed to stabilize or repair the body. This is one reason why it is recommended that, even after using an Antidote to Common Poisons or other simple antidotes, the patient still consults a licensed healer in order to ensure there were no secondary effects or consequences that have been overlooked.

Interestingly, antivenom, which is one ingredient of the Antidote to Common Poisons, is actually most often made in the Muggle world using the venom of the animal which the antivenom counteracts, albeit indirectly. The venom is milked or extracted from the snake or other venomous creature and diluted to great degree. The diluted venom is then injected into another living creature at an amount that will not harm it, but will cause it to produce antibodies to counteract the venom. Those antibodies created by the animal will then be used in creating the antivenom and sold commercially to treat those who have been afflicted, often treating even those who have received a rather concentrated dose of venom from a bite or a sting. There are some venoms for which no antivenom exists, unfortunately, but there are numerous antivenoms that target and specifically combat the venom present in various spiders, scorpions, snakes and even jellyfish.

There is also a process undertaken by those of both Muggle and magical background known as mithridatism. This is the intentional self-administration of poisons in small amounts gradually over time. In opposition to chronic arsenic poisoning as mentioned above, with certain poisons, gradually administering them over a long period will build immunity to the poison. It is named after the Greek king Mithridates VI of Pontus, who supposedly made himself immune to assassination attempts through consuming non-lethal amounts of certain poisons after fleeing his home in the wake of an attempted assassination.

The infamous Russian wizard Grigori Rasputin, adviser to to the Romanov imperial family in Russia, practiced mithridatism in order to escape assassination attempts. Muggle historians have never confirmed this, but magical accounts discuss the lengths to which he went to try to build immunity to both mundane and magical poisons. This was not always effective, however, and there are documented cases of Rasputin calling in magical healers when his doses proved dangerous and led to his near-death numerous times. Although magical people tend to have more effective antidotes to combat poisoning than Muggles, it is not unusual for those who have greater likelihood of being poisoned to gradually work to make themselves immune. In the event that they are unable to obtain an antidote in time, this increases their chances of survival and decreases the chance of permanent damage.