I though these kind of posts were reserved for friday as 'friday abstracts'.

On 07-Jul-08 13:02, Invisible wrote:
> OK, so today I learned the following:
> 
> 1. Teasle is in no way related to thistles.
> 
> 2. Burdoc is a member of the thistle family, and is related to artichoke.
> 
> 3. Dandelion & Burdoc is actually flavoured with either Sassafras or 
> Wintergreen.
> 
> 4. Sassafras contains a compound known as Safrole.
> 
> 5. Safrole is what makes castor oil brown. It's a natural pesticide, and 
> it's also a human carcinogen. (!)
> 
> 6. Wintergreen oil contains methyl salicylate. It's a rubefacient. (It 
> makes your skin red by flushing it with blood.)
> 
> 7. Another rubefacient is Capsaicin.
> 
> 8. Capsaicin is what makes peppers hot. It's - guess what - a mammalian 
> herbevore deterrant. (The fruits are for comsumption by birds, on whom 
> the chemical is just a mild analgesic.)
> 
> 9. Capsaicin is the active ingrediant in pepper spray.
> 
> 10. I probably spend too much time on Wikipedia.
>

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