The History of The Plant That Drives People To Suicide

North Queensland road surveyor A.C. Macmillan was among the primary to document the consequences of a stinging tree, coverage to his boss in 1866 that his sumpter “was injured, got mad, and died at intervals 2 hours”. Similar tales pullulate with native traditional knowledge of horses jumping in agony off cliffs and biological science staff drinking themselves silly to boring the stubborn pain.

Writing to docking facility in 1994, Australian serviceman Cyril Bromley delineated  falling into a stinging tree throughout mili­tary coaching on the upland in war II. Strapped to a single bed for 3 weeks and administered all manner of unsuccessful treatments, he was sent “as mad as a cut snake” by the pain. Cyril conjointly told of a politician shooting himself once employing a stinging-tree leaf for “toilet purposes”.

He’s had too several stings to count however Ernie Rider can always remember the day in 1963 that he was ill-treated within the face, arms and chest by a stinging tree. “I commit it to memory feeling like there have been large hands attempting to squash my chest,” he said. “For 2 or 3 days the pain was virtually unbearable; I couldn’t work or sleep, then it had been pretty dangerous pain for an additional two weeks more or less. The stinging persisted for 2 years and recurred on every occasion I had a chilly shower.”

Now a senior conservation officer with the Queensland Parks and life Service, Ernie aforementioned he’s not old something just like the pain throughout forty four years add the bush. “There’s nothing to rival it; it’s ten times worse than the rest – scrub ticks, scrub itch and itchy-jack sting enclosed. Stinging trees ar a true and gift danger.”