Let three or four live Eels, put into the Wine, stay there till they die. Let one drink of this Wine, who is given to Drunkenness, and he will loath Wine, and always hate it, and will never drink it again. Or if he do, he will drink but little, and with much Sobriety. Another way. Wash a Tortois with Wine a good while, and give one of that Wine to drink privately, half a cupful every morning for three days, and you shall see a wonderful virtue. . . . When one complained before the King of the Indians, that he had sons born to him, but when once they began to drink a little Wine, they all died. Jarchus answered him thus. It is better for them that they died, for had they lived, they would have all run mad, because they were begot of seed that was too cold. Therefore your children must abstain from Wine, so that they may not so much desire it. Wherefore if you have any more sons born, observe this rule. See where an Owl lays her Eggs, and boil her Eggs rare, and give them your child to eat. if the child eats them before he drinks Wine, he will always hate it, and live sober, because his natural heat is made more temperate. Philostratus, in the life of Apollonius. Democritus says, the desire of Wine is abolished, with the watery juice that runs from vines pruned, if you give it a Drunkard who knows not of it. -- John Baptist Porta (Giambattista della Porta, 1537-1615)
The illustration is from History for Kids
Clearly it's the technique Ludovico improved upon by adding eyelid clips and violent pornography.
Posted by: Marco McClean | April 03, 2008 at 07:16 AM