Other uses for poisons.

 

While for obvious reasons poisons were first used to kill or at least incapacitate others, they also began to be used in medicine. One of the oldest examples is that of opium as a pain reliever for more than 1,000 years.

(opium war)

The evolution of poisons always occupies the area of protection against predators... Or almost always. The platypus, the only mammal that produces poison, does not do so to protect itself from others, but to harm its peers when mating season arrives and wants to guarantee its chances of having babies. This quality is unique to males.

Poisons are widely used in industry and agriculture as chemical reagents, solvents, or complexing reagents, for example, carbon monoxide, methanol, and sodium cyanide, respectively. They are less common in home use, with occasional exceptions like ammonia and methanol

Entry written by: Camilo Viloria.