this post was submitted on 29 Mar 2026
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Science Memes

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[–] CentipedeFarrier@piefed.social 2 points 5 hours ago* (last edited 5 hours ago) (1 children)

I have absolutely no idea how to find reference to this at this point because every search I do results in absolute bullshit that’s not related (like apparently the most liquid currency is the diarrhea coin… a problem that didn’t exist a few years ago..), but I recall reading about a practice from like the medieval era or something where special coins were made that contained heavy metals, and when consumed, would induce diarrhea. They would be retrieved, washed, and reused, and even passed down in families.

Today we know how bad of an idea something like that is, but then, like with radiation, it was all ghosts in the blood causing problems. Shitting blood was normalized.

[–] Aqarius@lemmy.world 8 points 5 hours ago* (last edited 5 hours ago) (1 children)

Not a coin, and not medieval. The search term is "antimony pill".

[–] CentipedeFarrier@piefed.social 3 points 5 hours ago

Thank you! I was having such a struggle with it! That’s exactly what I was thinking of!