![]() This article is part of Willderness Way VOLUME 4, ISSUE 3. You may view more articles here or order this issue or a subscription here
1) Which one is
safe? 2) Again, which one is safe? 3 & 4) Compare
the two.
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A true survival situation occurs when least expected and surroundings are unfamiliar. Days are spent dreaming of a juicy steak to fill the appetite. People can forget about the plentiful vegetation around them. The problem is the ability to identify what is safe or poisonous. By conducting the universal plant testing procedure, a survivor can fill that void within their stomach. All too often, people ask “how poisonous is that plant?” To ensure everyone understands some basic principles, plants contain certain toxins, of which, in extreme quantities can cause side effects (or referred to as poisoning). These side effects can range from mild nausea and diarrhea to affecting blood pressure, heart rate, and coma or death. Plants can change their properties during a growing season which generally relates to increased toxin levels. Every person has a different toxin resistance level. Because of these uncertainties, no one can correctly predict how poisonous a plant is. The first step of the plant testing procedure is to select a
plant that grows abundantly in the area. It makes no sense to test a
plant that is difficult to locate. After making this determination,
separate the root, stem, and flower. Testing for contact or absorption poisoning is next. Take a portion of the plant and rub vigorously on a sensitive portion of the skin and wait 15 minutes. The best place of skin to test is the inner forearm. Should any signs of rash irritation, or swelling appear, stop the test. Prior to proceeding any further, food must have not been eaten for at least eight hours. This ensures the digestive tract is empty. You will be inducing small quantities of plant into your body. Should there be any poisonous toxins in the plant, food in the digestive tract may absorb some of the toxins. As plant intake is increased in the process, the food could release the absorbed toxins. With the introduction of more plant, the body could easily be overloaded with toxins. This overload of toxins may be too much for the body to dispose; resulting in death.
Prior to actual ingestion of the plant, have plenty of cold charcoal from your fire and disinfected water available. I can not overemphasize this important fact. If at any time the symptoms of nausea, vomiting, cramping, or dizziness occur, IMMEDIATELY induce vomiting and consume the charcoal. The charcoal will aid in the absorption of toxins. As the body is attempting to rid itself of the harmful toxins, the kidneys may shutdown. Drinking large quantities of water will help flush the kidneys, thus hopefully preventing renal failure. Waiting to see if the symptoms improve, may result in the failure to physically accomplish simple tasks. A delay may be too late which could result in death. Up to this point, we have been relatively safe. Now we move on
to uncharted waters. Place a teaspoon of prepared plant on the tongue and
begin chewing for fifteen minutes. Do not swallow it. What you are
checking for is absorption poisoning. If any symptoms appear, (i.e. nausea
or dizziness), discard the plant immediately and irrigate your mouth with
disinfected water. Swallow the plant after the fifteen minutes of chewing
has passed without any symptoms. When the eight hour period has passed, the plant is finally considered safe for human consumption. The last step is to sketch and document the plant in a notebook for future reference. Plants can change their properties during a growing season. This means that at certain parts of the year, the plant part is eatable, while poisonous at other times. By sketching and documenting, you can easily identify if it has changed its properties by shape, color, or flowering. If it has, you must conduct another test to ensure its safety. Although the universal plant testing procedure is time consuming,
playing Russian Roulette with vegetation in a survival situation is not
acceptable. Knowledge of plants is always the first step in safety. With
approximately 260,000 known species, it will be difficult to correctly
identify the exact plant in an unknown environment. The universal plant
testing procedure may be what saves your life. |