Tetrodotoxin

Davis's hypothesis went something like this.

A bokor administers a powder through broken skin that contains tetrodotoxin.

Tetrodotoxin is real, and it's one of the deadliest neurotoxins on the planet.

It's the poison in the famous puffer fish, the fish the Japanese eat as fugu.

Homer ate it back when The Simpsons was still good and actually mattered.

He believed it was the cultural narrative that walked someone through, and that should make the hair on your neck stand up a little if you have it, because a story told by every voice around you until you cannot picture yourself outside of it is not a uniquely Haitian danger.

Like I said, reeling it all in.

Tetrodotoxin is real and does what Davis says it does.

Here's a serious one.

Many pufferfish contain a powerful toxin called tetrodotoxin, or TTX.

The toxin can be extremely dangerous to predators and humans.

And

So puffing up doesn't create the

toxin? Correct.

TTX is incredibly potent.

It interferes with the body's ability to send nerve signals.