How was the ordeal bean of Calabar used to try witches?

By Chelsie Vandaveer

October 30, 2001

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It was called the ordeal bean of Calabar (Physostigma venenosum Balfour) [fi zo stig' ma ven' en o sum], a plant of such toxicity that missionaries' descriptions of its use horrified listeners. With such virulence, the ordeal bean came to the attention of doctors, but it was just another
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poisonous plant to add to their lists.

The Efik of Nigeria believed this bean possessed the power to reveal and destroy witches. The accused witch was made to undergo a trial by ordeal, drinking water to which had been added eight mashed ordeal beans. The poison acted rapidly; the accused's mouth would shake and the mucosal membranes discharge. If the accused could raise his right arm and regurgitate (very unlikely), then the person was considered innocent of witchcraft. If not, the witch died a horrible death from paralytic asphyxia.

In 1862, Thomas Fraser noticed the bean caused the contraction of the pupils unlike belladonna and related plants that dilated the pupils. The ordeal bean became the focus of chemical and medical research concerning disorders of the eyes. By 1864, an indole alkaloid called physostigmine, was identified and under medical scrutiny.

The ordeal bean is an obscure plant. Most people have never heard of it; the few that have cringe at its toxicity. But the medical and chemical research on the ordeal bean has impacted thousands of lives. Physostigmine is used to treat certain types of glaucoma; derivatives neostigmine and pyridostigmine are used for myasthenia gravis. The methyl carbamate family of insecticides came from ordeal bean research.

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Physostigmine is a reversible inhibitor of cholinesterase, useful against toxic levels of atropine and atropine against toxic levels of physostigmine. It is an interesting coincidence that the tropane alkaloids used by "witches" in Europe and the indole alkaloid of the ordeal bean which was supposed to destroy witches are somewhat antidotal of each other. (See Herbal Folklore, October 29, 2001)

The trial by ordeal for witchcraft was outlawed in Africa in the late 1800s. But legends linger and sometimes people do things even if they don't know why. Ordeal beans are now used as protective charms. They are often kept with money to guard against theft by witches.

The web site Botanical.com, "A Modern Herbal" has early 1900's information and a botanical illustration of the ordeal bean of Calabar. To view the illustration of the ordeal bean of Calabar, click on the link:

http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/c/calbea05.html

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