[MPWG] NEWS: Column about Silphium

[Olivia Kwong]

http://www.citypages.com/databank/27/1349/article14796.asp

The Straight Dope

by Cecil Adams
October 12, 2006

According to the History Channel's The History of Sex, the ancient Romans 
ate a specific plant for birth control purposes. It was described as being 
enormously effective, to the extent that it was extinct by the fall of the 
empire. I'm sure a quick Web search would tell me the story of a worthless 
little herb, but I'd like to hear you weigh in on this long-lost miracle 
drug. .Brett, Memphis

We need to clarify the logic here, Brett. The fact that the Romans ate a 
certain plant into extinction doesn't tell us much. Today tigers and 
rhinoceroses are hunted to the brink of oblivion because the tiger's penis 
and rhino's horn are thought to restore flagging virility. The fact that a 
lot of mopes desperately want to believe something doesn't mean it works.

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