1487 Sabadilly

It started when I went to the Simply Saline website. They had a product called "Simply Saline Cold Formula." Turns out it was not so simple and contained lots of other ingredients, among them luffa operculata and Sabadilla.
That got me curious. As did this disclaimer on the site: "If pregnant or breast feeding, ask a health professional before use."
You always wonder what it is about a cold remedy employing nasal irrigation—essentially rinsing out your nose—that should worry pregnant women.
The Simply Saline site also said its ingredients were "micro-diluted in accordance with the Homeopathic Pharmacopoeia of the United States and are therefore non-toxic and have no known side effects." Translation, it's an herbal additive and doesn't have to go through the rigorous testing of the FDA.
Homeopathic remedies, by the way, operate on the "like cures like" principle. If an ingredient triggers symptoms like the disease you are trying to cure, you use a small amount of it to cure the disease. That why in early times they used stuff like arsenic and mercury, those great disease-symptom mimickers, to cure a host of ills.
With a host of kills along the way.
Quantities are crucial. The poison is in the dose.
So I decided to look up Sabadilla. Turns out it's from the lily family. It's used as a botanical alternative in a number of areas and has a long history as a substitute for chemical concoctions—most notably in its use as a, um, pesticide.
Hmm...Nasal irrigation with Simply Saline's simple saline only product? Or Simply Saline Cold Formula, for when your cold bug's so bad it needs a pesticide?
"Looks like you kicked your cold pretty quick Fred!"
"Yep, that "Ortho-Max" really is all purpose..."
America, ya gotta love it.