Newton's Plague Cure Used Toad-Vomit

After plague forced the University of Cambridge to close in 1665, English physicist Isaac Newton returned in 1667 and recorded a proposed cure using toad vomit. The recipe called for hanging a toad by its legs in a chimney for three days until it vomited earth and insects onto yellow wax and died. Newton's notes directed users to combine the powdered toad, its excretions, and serum into lozenges worn against the infected area to draw out the poison.

Previous Fact Next Fact