Convulsions, diarrhea, vomiting, skin discoloration, hallucinations, burning and cold sensations, coma, and death are all symptoms of convulsive drug poisoning ergot (Coll). Ergot poisoning is believed to be the cause of the bewitched behavior of the girls affected during the Salem witch trials; However, convulsive ergotism only occurs in areas lacking vitamin A, ergot symptoms were not present in girls, and girls were most likely faking any symptoms they had. Gangrenous ergotism is the type of ergot poisoning that is contracted. when there is a lot of vitamin A in the environment. Salem was a farming town, meaning there was always a well-balanced diet; thus making convulsive ergotism very difficult to contract. The convulsions that the “affected” girls had would not have occurred in the event of gangernous ergot poisoning because they are not part of the symptoms. Since gangrene was completely absent, it is very likely that ergot played a role in Salem. Additionally, the first bewitched girls came from very wealthy families who could have easily afforded the vitamin-rich foods that would have prevented their seizures, had they contracted ergot poisoning. Ergot is rare, but when it appears in humans, it tends to appear much more frequently in young children. “…fifty-six percent of those affected by the Finnish epidemic were under ten years old; sixty percent of Scrine's cases were under the age of fifteen..." (Spanos and Gottlieb) There were only three girls under the age of fifteen out of the eleven girls at the trials. Finally, it was more common that when one member contracts convulsive ergotism, it is generally the entire household that contracts it. However, during the trials, no entire house was declared completely "...... middle of paper ......l evidence proves that ergot poisoning did not play a role role in the Salem witch trials. Instead, it was a group of teenage girls pretending to be sick to get people in trouble. Works Cited Glazer, G., KA Myers and ER Davies. “Ergot poisoning.” Postgraduate Medical Journal 42.491 (1966): 562-568. Google Scholar. Internet. February 26, 2014. INTERESTS, DECLARATION OF. "The history of ergot (Claviceps purpurea) I: from antiquity to 1900." JR Coll Physicians Edinb 39 (2009): 179-84. Google Scholar. Internet. February 26, 2014. "RootsWeb: SALEM-WITCH-L [SALEM-WITCH-L] Spanos & Gottlieb on ergotism in Salem." RootsWeb: SALEM-WITCH-L [SALEM-WITCH-L] Spanos & Gottlieb on ergotism in Salem. Np, and Web. February 27, 2014. Spanos, Nicholas P. and Jack Gottlieb. “Ergotism and the Salem Village Witch Trials.” (1976) Google Scholar. Internet. February 26 2014.