Hey tough question … when Henry Thomas aka, young Norman Bates poisons his mother with strychnine he takes the bottle from a kitchen cabinet and there is a medical label attached to the bottle, just what medical treatment would strychnine cure…it looked like a cough machine bottle and label?? Was or is their a medical use for strychnine
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ron
I have not seen this movie, so I'm not sure when it takes place, but it was used for heart and respitory problems. Also I believe that it was used as a stimulant.
I think it may have been used as medicine as late as the 1960's.
It is not used in modern medicine anymore, as an effective dose is also often leathal.
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Let's face it Mac, that basic black is coming back...
A tiny dose of strychnine can be fatal to humans. I don't think it can be used as medicine! We don't want to kill a patient!
shareI didn't say it is used, but it was used.
But then again, mercury was also used as medicine.
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Let's face it Mac, that basic black is coming back...
What kind of illness exactly was strychnine used to cure?
shareFrom what I've read it was used for heart and respitory failures, as well as to boos performance (athletes).
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Let's face it Mac, that basic black is coming back...
Strychnine is NOT a medcine the actual definition is...
Strychnine is a very toxic, colorless crystalline alkaloid used as a pesticide, particularly for killing small vertebrates such as rodents. Strychnine causes muscular convulsions and eventually asphyxia or sheer exhaustion. The most common source is from the seeds of the Strychnos nux-vomica tree. Strychnine is one of the most bitter substances in the world. Its taste is detectable in concentrations as low as 1 ppm.
If it's so bitter, how did Norman's mother and boyfriend not notice the taste in their tea? At least they didn't look like they noticed it!
shareI also noticed the label that made the bottle look like a prescription bottle. Maybe back in those days, one had to have some sort of "prescription" to buy it because it was a poison.
shareBut why Norman and his mother had strychnine in their kitchen cupboard I have no idea!
shareWell, it's just like the poster above stated, it was used as a pesticide for rats and I think ants.
Why they put it in their kitchen cabinet? I don't know, maybe they had to use it a lot and wanted it in a handy place, but it sure is a dumb place to put it. I wouldn't put a poison anywhere near my foodstuff. But maybe that's what country folk in those days did. Just kept it handy to knock off a few rats every now and then.
Well, the label on the bottle says clearly "JOHN BATES". We could presume that John Bates, Norman's father, had some heart problems or something and the medicine was given to him by a doctor. The bottle was obviously forgotten in the cupboard for years after his father died. That's why Norman has that surprised expression on his face when he sees the bottle.
Interesting enough, Anthony Perkins's real-life father Osgood died of heart attack . Also, he died in 1937. Norman's father died in the late 30s or early 40s.
I would've thought it was for killing rats and such, and that you wouldn't keep it up there by the vanilla extract!
shareI'm watching the new Blu-ray now, and noticed the label when he got it out. It was prescribed to his dad and said: "Use as directed. Nervous System Stimulant. Dosage 1.5 mg"
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