There was an epidemic in the middle ages called St. Anthony's poisoning, this was attributed to ergotism, caused by eating contaminated rye. It caused an entire town in France to go insane and some lost there limbs because of the constriction of blood flow to the extremities.

http://www.medicinenet.com/script/ma...ticlekey=14891
Jimmicrackedcorn Reviewed by Jimmicrackedcorn on . Salem witch hunts!! They may have been caused by LSD!! Ergot which is a fungus that grows on rye which was their main source of food back in the day has Lasergic acid. So people where actually high and there were mass hallucinations!! People thought that they were cursed by witches. Crazy Later on though the hallucinations went more with the Age of Enlightenment (I think correct me if I'm wrong) and they didn't think it was witchcraft just spirits or something holy happening. I thought that was cool and Rating: 5