A) A fictitious metal in Cooper’s “Byzantium Nevermore” B) A musical effect involving both high and low notes C) A purgative drug extracted from the squirting cucumber ü D) The afternoon rest period in a nunnery
The squirting cucumber, Ecballium elaterium, is a marrow-like vegetable whose juice can be extracted and processed to produce a drug so potent and unpleasant, warns the 1911 Edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica, that “it must not be used except in urgent cases”. Elaterium does not appear to be in use by medical practitioners nowadays.
