Uses
Medical use dates back to descriptions from Hippocrates. Plasters made from wings of these beetles have been used to raise blisters. Cantharides was used as an abortifacient, a stimulant , and as a poison. Cantharidin is used today as a topical application for treatment of benign epithelial growths including most warts.Simón Bolívar may have been accidentally poisoned by the application of Spanish fly.''Dawamesk'', a spread or jam made in North Africa and containing hashish, almond paste, pistachio nuts, sugar, orange or tamarind peel, cloves, and other various spices, occasionally included cantharides.
In Morocco and other parts of North Africa, spice blends known as ''ras el hanout'' sometimes included cantharides as an ingredient. However, the sale of cantharides in Moroccan spice markets was banned in the 1990s.In ancient China, the beetles were mixed with human excrement, arsenic, and wolfsbane to make the world's first recorded stink bomb.
In Santería, cantharides are used in incense.
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