Oh yes. Not untypical of the times and earlier - people used
all their senses when investigating something new! Less of a problem for entomologists ... sometimes fatal for botanists. In earlier times you can read peoples' descriptions of the effects of tasting a new plant - mouths going numb and being unable to speak, severe vomiting, unconsciousness, &c &c.
Well, you live and learn .... or, if you don't live, someone else learns!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Guy F
Thanks for that information Paul, they don't sound too scary then (for us humans anyway!). Am I really reading it right that Darwin tasted the secretion? If so then that's dedication 
Guy |