Wow, that's cool. People used to forage a lot more in those days. My great grandmother used to take my mom mushroom hunting. She knew how to tell which ones were safe to eat.As a child, 70 years ago i can remember my Grandfather picking some for us on a camping/fishing trip with me and my mother, in West Virginia.
It was much stronger than the Beemans Wintergreen gum!
Thanks for sharing that interesting fact about wintergreen! Oh, don't you love plants and talking about plants!?I wrote a paragraph about methyl salicylate from Wintergreen oil use as an effective topical pain relief. "Wintergreen essential oil is usually obtained by steam distillation of the leaves of the plant following maceration in warm water." Result: methyl salicylate, says Wikipedia. I, now and then, use a methyl salicylate ointment for pain.
After writing about it as being safe, I read that there have been poisonings for the same reasons that aspirin has sometimes caused some serious problems. I guess that they are nearly the same in that regard.
Well, anyway –– I will continue to use it, now and then.
Steve