"Make Der Face Open, Fido" and A Seed's Sinister Secret

This delightful photo contains both charming children and a plant capable of poisoning the town's water supply!

While I am exaggerating a little, that lovely foliage plant to the right is the castor oil plant which contains ricin in all its parts.

The beans are especially laden with the poison. While one could die from eating 4 to 8 of them whole, and one could extract concentrated ricin, neither is likely due to the nasty effects of just a little of the poison, and the complication of the distillation process.  The Wikipedia page is very interesting overview of the plant.




Much more likely in the time of this photo would be a dosing of these little children with castor oil as a laxative!

Want to read the whole story? :-)

Also, "castor oil is an effective motor lubricant and has been used in internal combustion engines, including those of World War I airplanes, some racing cars and some model airplanes. It does not mix with petroleum products. It has been largely replaced by synthetic oils that are more stable and less toxic".





















This page is good if you are a gearhead!