After watching part of an episode of the television show 'Lie To Me' which focused on the concept of ergot poisoning and the Salem Witch Trials, I began to look further into the initial causes of the hysteria in colonial Massachusetts. The ingestion of a fungus which is often found in rye as well as other cereals, can have convulsive symptoms such as those experienced by the girls in Salem. Therefore, the symptoms of ergotism are believed to mirror those of 'bewitchment'.