Editing Ricinus (section)

=== Historical usage ===
==== Ancient uses ====
Castor seeds have been found in [[Ancient Egypt|Egyptian]] tombs dating back to 4000 BC; the slow-burning oil was mostly used to fuel lamps. [[Herodotus]] and other [[Ancient Greece|Greek]] travellers noted the use of castor seed oil for lighting, body ointments, and improving hair growth and texture. [[Cleopatra]] is reputed to have used it to brighten the whites of her eyes. The [[Ebers Papyrus]] is an ancient Egyptian medical treatise believed to date from 1552 BC. Translated in 1872, it describes castor oil as a [[laxative]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Tunaru |first1=S |last2=Althoff |first2=TF |last3=Nusing |first3=RM |last4=Diener |first4=M |last5=Offermanns |first5=S |year=2012 |title=Castor Oil Induces Laxation and Uterus Contraction via Ricinoleic Acid Activating Prostaglandin EP3 Receptors |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |volume=109 |issue=23 |pages=9179–9184 |bibcode=2012PNAS..109.9179T |doi=10.1073/pnas.1201627109 |pmc=3384204 |pmid=22615395 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

The use of castor bean oil (''eranda'') in India has been documented since 2000 BC in lamps and in local medicine as a laxative, [[purgative]], and [[cathartic]] in [[Unani]], [[Ayurvedic]], [[siddha]] and other [[ethnomedical]] systems. Traditional Ayurvedic and [[siddha medicine]] considers castor oil the king of medicinals for curing [[arthritis|arthritic diseases]]. It is regularly given to children to treat infections with parasitic worms.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Rekha |first=D. |date=2013 |title=Study of medicinal plants used from koothanoallur and marakkadai, Thiruvarur district of Tamil Nadu, India. |journal=Hygeia Journal for Drugs and Medicines |volume=5 |issue=1 |pages=164–170}}</ref>

The ancient Romans had a variety of medicinal/cosmetic uses for both the seeds and the leaves of ''Ricinus communis''. The naturalist [[Pliny the Elder]] cited the poisonous qualities of the seeds, but mentioned that they could be used to form wicks for oil lamps (possibly if crushed together), and the oil for use as a laxative and lamp oil.<ref>{{cite news |author=John Bostock & H.T. Riley |year=1855 |title=Pliny, the Natural History Chapter 41. – Castor Oil, 16 Remedies |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0137%3Abook%3D23%3Achapter%3D41}}</ref> He also recommends the use of the leaves as follows:

{{blockquote|"The leaves are applied topically with vinegar for [[erysipelas]], and fresh-gathered, they are used by themselves for diseases of the mamillæ [breasts] and de- fluxions; a decoction of them in wine, with [[polenta]] and [[saffron]], is good for inflammations of various kinds. Boiled by themselves, and applied to the face for three successive days, they improve the complexion."<ref>{{cite book| title=Natural History| author=Pliny the Elder| page=Chapter 41, Book 23.41}}</ref>}}

In [[Haiti]] it is called ''maskreti'',<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OeA1-Of-LscC&pg=PA347 |title=Guide to Afro-Cuban Herbalism |year=2009 |isbn=9781438980973 |editor=Quiros-Moran, Dalia |page=347 |publisher=AuthorHouse |access-date=5 August 2017}}</ref> where the plant is turned into a red oil that is then given to newborns as a [[purgative]] to cleanse the insides of their first stools.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FelsAAAAMAAJ&q=maskreti+newborn+haiti |title=Comprehensive Maternity Nursing: Perinatal and Women's Health |year=1990 |isbn=9780867204216 |editor1=Auvenshine, Martha Ann |page=122 |publisher=Jones and Bartlett Publishers |access-date=5 August 2017 |editor2=Enriquez, Martha Gunther}}</ref>

Castor seed and its oil have also been used in China for centuries, mainly prescribed in local medicine for internal use or use in dressings.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Scarpa |first1=Antonio |last2=Guerci |first2=Antonio |date=1982 |title=Various uses of the castor oil plant (Ricinus communis L.) a review |journal=Journal of Ethnopharmacology |volume=5 |issue=2 |pages=117–137 |doi=10.1016/0378-8741(82)90038-1 |issn=0378-8741 |pmid=7035750}}</ref>

==== Uses in punishment ====
{{further|Castor oil#Punishment}}
Castor oil was used as an instrument of coercion by the paramilitary [[Blackshirts]] under the regime of [[Italian Fascism|Italian]] dictator [[Benito Mussolini]] and by the [[Civil Guard (Spain)|Spanish Civil Guard]] in Francoist Spain. Dissidents and regime opponents were forced to ingest the oil in large amounts, triggering severe [[diarrhea]] and [[dehydration]], which could ultimately cause death. This punishment method was originally thought of by [[Gabriele D'Annunzio]], the Italian poet and Fascist supporter, during the [[First World War]].<ref>{{Citation |last=Petersen |first=Jens |title=Violence in Italian Fascism, 1919–25 |date=1982 |work=Social Protest, Violence and Terror in Nineteenth- and Twentieth-century Europe |pages=275–299 |place=London |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK |doi=10.1007/978-1-349-16941-2_17 |isbn=978-1-349-16943-6}}</ref>