A fourth-century B.C. Phoenician mask found in Tunisia displays a grin not unlike those seen on victims of an ancient Phoenician "sardonic grin" potion administered on the island of Sardinia. Scientists in May 2009 said they had finally uncovered the source of the potion's lethal, smile-inducing effects: the hemlock water-dropwort plant.For thousands of years the scientists are still shrouded in mystery about how the ancient corpses in the Islands of Sardinia on average in a state of smiling faces.
As National Geographic reported on Thursday (4 / 6) now after 2800 years have passed, they managed to reveal that there is plant material that can make people smile dying. This plant is expected to make the corpses look like a smiling face.Previously, the author of the 8th century BC Homer never mentions the term word "Smile Sardonik" taken 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, elderly people in the past that allegedly have no longer survive, and those involved in criminal cases "fed with herbs sardonik and then murdered by being dropped from a high hill or beaten to death."
For centuries herbs identity remains a mystery. However, a study led by Giovanni Appendino and colleagues managed to uncover the content of herbs that can make the people who will die that smile on a plant called water-hemlock dropwort.
White flowering plants such as the stems are growing along ponds and rivers in many parts of Italy. About a decade ago, a Sardinian shepherd sheep committed suicide by consuming water-hemlock plants dropwort so that his body was found in the condition of a smile.
This death makes Mauro Ballero, botanists at the University of Cagliari in Sardinia to investigate further any dropwort plant on the island. His research was continued by Ballero and colleagues who examined the structure of the toxin molecule dropwort water-hemlock plants and determine their impact on the human body.
Appendino, an expert in organic chemistry at the Universita degli del Piemonte Orientale Studies 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, plant water-hemlock dropwort neurotoxin known to contain plant and we think that's what people used before. "
In addition to water-hemlock plants dropwort, there is also another plant that is hairy buttercup (aka 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 with water-hemlock plant species dropwort.
According to a relative of the dead victims, hemlock water-dropwort plants are very dangerous because of 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 the muscles and eliminate wrinkles in the face. Their findings are presented in the Journal of Natural Products.
source: http://tidakmenarik.wordpress.com/2009/06/05/ilmuwan-ungkap-misteri-mayat-mayat-tersenyum/
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