Editing Strychnine (section)

=== Other uses ===
Strychnine was popularly used as an athletic [[Performance-enhancing substance|performance enhancer]] and [[Recreational drug use|recreational stimulant]] in the late 19th century and early 20th century, due to its [[convulsant]] effects. One notorious instance of its use was during the [[1904 Summer Olympics|1904 Olympics]] marathon, when track-and-field athlete [[Thomas Hicks (athlete)|Thomas Hicks]] was unwittingly administered a concoction of egg whites and brandy laced with a small amount of strychnine by his assistants in a vain{{clarify|date=April 2025}} attempt to boost his stamina. Hicks won the race, but was hallucinating<ref>{{cite magazine | last1 = Abbott | first1 = Karen | author-link1 = Karen Abbott | date = August 7, 2012 | title = The 1904 Olympic Marathon May Have Been the Strangest Ever | magazine = Smithsonian Magazine | language = en | url = https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-1904-olympic-marathon-may-have-been-the-strangest-ever-14910747/ | access-date = April 8, 2024 | quote = He began hallucinating, believing that the finish line was still 20 miles away.}}</ref> by the time he reached the finish line, and soon after collapsed.<ref>{{cite web | title = Thomas Hicks | url = https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/78551 | access-date = January 17, 2021 | work = Olympedia}}</ref>

[[Maximilian Theodor Buch]] proposed it as a cure for alcoholism around the same time. It was thought to be similar to coffee,<ref>{{cite web | url = http://io9.com/why-strychnine-was-an-early-performance-enhancing-drug-512532345 | title = Rat poison strychnine was an early performance-enhancing drug | vauthors = Inglis-Arkell E | date = 11 June 2013 | website = [[io9]] | publisher = [[Gawker Media]] | access-date = 23 Nov 2015 | archive-date = 23 November 2015 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151123151637/http://io9.com/why-strychnine-was-an-early-performance-enhancing-drug-512532345 | url-status = live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.spectroscopynow.com/details/ezine/sepspec12719ezine/Strictly-strychnine---medicines-to-be-avoided-by-athletes.html?tzcheck=1 | title = Strictly strychnine – medicines to be avoided by athletes | access-date = 2015-05-27 | archive-date = 2015-05-28 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150528012115/http://www.spectroscopynow.com/details/ezine/sepspec12719ezine/Strictly-strychnine---medicines-to-be-avoided-by-athletes.html?tzcheck=1 | url-status = live}}</ref> and also has been used and abused recreationally.<ref>{{cite news |title=News Briefs |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/436941471/?match=1&terms=Strychnine%20abuse |access-date=4 June 2024 |publisher=[[The Sioux City Journal]] |date=14 November 1908}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The Sonics - Strychnine lyrics |url=https://genius.com/The-sonics-strychnine-lyrics |website=Genius.com |access-date=4 June 2024}}</ref>

Its effects are well-described in [[H. G. Wells]]' novella ''[[The Invisible Man]]'': the title character states "Strychnine is a grand tonic ... to take the flabbiness out of a man." Dr Kemp, an acquaintance, replies: "It's the devil. It's the palaeolithic in a bottle."<ref>{{cite wikisource | vauthors = Wells HG | author-link1 = H. G. Wells | title = The Invisible Man | wslink = The Invisible Man (1897) | chapter = Chapter 20 | date = 1897}}</ref>