Woman Vomits up Live Lizard (1902)

Chad Lewis, Hidden Headlines of Wisconsin (Eau Claire, WI: Unexplained Research Publishing Company, 2007), pp. 92-3.

Woman Vomits Up Live Lizard

LA CROSSE - What is believed to be a lizard was vomited up yesterday by Mrs. Mary Marshall, age 96, who makes her home with Mr. and Mrs. Lee Sieger at the Hotel Gross, 201 Vine Street. Mrs. Marshall is remembered by many old residents here as “Apple Mary” as she was once a common sight at the Cameron House depot selling apples.

Mrs. Marshall has been bothered for some time by a severe pain in her stomach and yesterday she complained more than ever, so her daughter prepared a drink for her, made mostly of Jamaica ginger and gin. This beverage must have loosened the lizard, which was evidently attached to the lining of Mary’s stomach, and yesterday afternoon she vomited up the object.

She claims it was alive when it came out of her mouth but that she accidentally smothered it when she gathered it up in a handkerchief. The lizard, if it is such, is light brown in appearance and is somewhat translucent. It is the opinion of Mrs. Sieger that her mother accidentally swallowed the lizard in some water when it was very small, and that it had grown in her stomach to its present length of six inches. The animal has been placed in alcohol and will be preserved. – La Crosse Republican Leader, July 7, 1902

Turtles in Stomachs

Jeremy Clay, The Burglar Caught By a Skeleton and Other Singular Tales from the Victorian Press (London: Icon Books, 2013), p. 221.

A Foolish Election Wager

Anderson (Indiana), Monday: An unfortunate election enthusiast here will probably die in consequence of a foolish bet. He wagered that if Mr Cleveland carried the State he would swallow a live turtle, and has honestly done so, the specimen being small but lively. Now it refuses to digest, or even to die, and it is causing the man frightful agony besides. The doctors are trying to dislodge or kill it, but without success. – The Western Mail, Cardiff, November 15, 1892

Chad Lewis, Hidden Headlines of Wisconsin (Eau Claire, WI: Unexplained Research Publishing Company, 2007), p. 89.

Turtle in Stomach

Eau Claire Man Complained of Pains With Good Cause

EAU CLAIRE – A snapping turtle three inches long from the tip of the tail to the tip of the nose, was vomited by a man who came to Dr. J. H. Noble complaining of pains. He supposed the patient swallowed the turtle when it was very small. – Milwaukee Journal, June 5, 1901

Houseplant (Zanzibar Gem) Causes Cancer

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/citynews/greater-kl/article/no-proof-house-plant-causes-cancer-says-expert/no-proof-house-plant-causes-cancer-says-expert

The Malaysian Insider

21 December 2015

No proof houseplant causes cancer, says expert

By NURADILLA NOORAZAM

A plant expert has dismissed recent social media claims that a popular house plant causes cancer as lacking scientific proof.

Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture at Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) Prof Ghizan Saleh said that no scientific research had been carried out to establish a connection between the plant and cancer. […]

A social media posting went viral recently, in which it was claimed that a doctor was making a house-call on a cancer patient, whose family had also been diagnosed with cancer. According to the post, the doctor noticed the Zanzibar Gem house plant growing around the patient’s home, so he took some samples for testing. The post claimed he found the plant to be acutely carcinogenic.

In a similar post, the plant was also blamed for the deaths due to leukaemia of two botanists from University Sains Malaysia (USM). […]