la Fée Verte

[currently listening to: amon tobin - nightfire]

now I understand why botanists have so much frickin' fun, lol. Today's lab involved examining various medicinal plants - from those that stimulate, those that depress, those that claim to cure various ailments in ancient medicines, teas, coffees and plants that mind-alter. Of course, being that the entire lab was interactive, our prof of course provided a whole concoction of different liquors. Only in biology 343 is there an excuse to drink rum and 70% absinthe derived from the real wormwood. Coca-cola used to contain cocaine in its ingredients and no doubt, the class was fun.

Here's an example look-see into the world of the Betel nut which is used in Asian cultures (ie. religious offerings in India or as a cultural activity in southeast Asia). It's usually chewed and causes INTENSE salivation and over time, stains the teeth and lips red. Apparently colours are enhanced a little and causes euphoria because of the presence of psychoactive alkaloids. But wtf, I've never heard of betel nut girls in Taiwan! They just sell chewable prepared leaves and nuts to customers in scantily clad clothes (in some parts, they pole dance during religious ceremonies). However betel nuts are a known carcinogen and are highly addictive so we weren't allowed to try it out - the whole preparation was ready though.



Of course, there IS some scientific learning... In the last hour our of lab, we just chose a bunch of plants to perform extractions for antibiotic assays that we're doing next class. My partner and I decided to extract from opium latex and immature seeds, real wormwood, cortisone leaves and a few others. And before departing, another round of rum!