The hypothesis that a certain fungus, known as ergot, might be somehow connected to the events occurring around Salem Village in 1691/2 has been controversial. The article “Ergotism: Satan Loose in Salem, ” by Linnda R. Caporael was introduced in April of 1976 with a compelling story of a chemical induced hysteria resulting in the Salem witch trials. However, very shortly afterwards her work was heavily criticized by psychologists Nicholas P. Spanos and Jack Gottlieb in their December 1976 article, “Ergotism and the Salem Witch Trials. ” The topic from then on remained muted until 1989 when Mary K. Matossian revisited the subject in he
