Dear wofahulicodoc: I remember pathology prof saying: "In the Middle Ages, Europe was a
hotbed of gangrenous legs." I had a visual picture of what I would call a coldframe with
obese female varicose legs thrashing feet about as they turned red, black and purple.
From fungal smut (so black it became metaphor for dirty stories) containing large amounts
of ergot. I recently saw a site about Breughel's weird paintings allegedly inspired by ergotism's
central nervous effects. I'll see if I can find it again.