Nutmeg will mess you up

Friday, 22nd May 2009

Nutmeg, a spice derived from the tree of the same name, indigenous to the Spice Islands of Indonesia; commonly used to add a sweet, nutty flavour to savoury dishes such as cheese sauces, to flavour the festive favourite, Eggnog, and to facilitate visitations by small purple elves on tiny unicorns.

"…about 1-2 teaspoons of spice can really mess you up:
euphoria, visual hallications, psychosis, and feelings of impending doom and unreality…
…makes sense as both compounds [mystricin and elemicin - found in Nutmeg and Mace] structurally resemble mescaline.
Narasimhan B, Dhake AS. Antibacterial principles from Myristica fragrans seeds. J Med Food. 2006 Fall;9(3):395-9.

Apparently, although nutmeg abuse hasn't reached the stage where concerned parents take to the streets with placards, it does warrant an article in the journal Clinical Toxicology. This is taken from the abstract:

Unpleasant and frightening side effects associated with the abuse of nutmeg occasionally generate emergency department referrals. We report a young patient's first-time experience with nutmeg and review the mechanisms of its toxicity.
Sangalli, BC; Chiang, W. Toxicology of Nutmeg Abuse. Clin Tox 2000; 38(6):671-8.

But, it's not all fun and games with imaginary friends - sources say nutmeg is potentially fatal when taken intravenously; which makes me intrigued to know who wasn't getting enough of a high from other methods and decided to crack out the tin foil and lighter.

Also, am I alone in seeing a disturbing resemblance between the mace / nutmeg combination in the picture above and the V For Vendetta insignia?

Finally, a note on the artwork:
I Have Learnt is intended as drawing practice and experimentation and this is more the style that I originally had in mind (only done much better, obviously), I just didn't have the tools for the job. Now? Well, I still don't have the tools, but I did stumble upon some Staedtler Lumocolor CD-DVD pens, which are nicer than the biro I was using.