As you all know, and if you don't know, I'll tell you, Viagra was a casual scientific discovery, what we call a serendipity. In 1993, when male volunteers in a clinical trial of an angina drug were asked about any "other effects" they had experienced, they answered, somewhat blushingly, that they had erections. So, scientists focused on combating erectile dysfunction. And although Viagra is the most popular, the most used vasodilator that helps stimulate blood flow to the penis throughout history is the spanish fly (Spanish fly) or cantharid.
Despite its name, it is neither exclusive to Spain nor is it a fly, it is actually a kind of small, bright green beetle that lives on ash trees. The chemical compound obtained by drying and pulverizing the body of this insect is called cantharidin . Hippocrates already described the use of this compound for the treatment of skin ulcerations; the Chinese used it as one of the components of the first stink bomb, but its most frequent use and the one for which it has been consumed throughout history has been as a powerful aphrodisiac. In small controlled doses, since an overdose can be fatal, cantharidine dilates blood vessels, facilitating prolonged erection in men and stimulates nervous perception in the area where the compound has been applied. It was already used by Livia, the wife of César Augusto, for political purposes:she mixed it with food and offered it to her husband's enemies to encourage their sexual indiscretions and then blackmail them with their respective.
The Marquis de Sade was accused of poisoning when he overdosed on an orgy in which several prostitutes died. It is said that Fernando el Católico died from abusing the spanish fly. After becoming a widower of Isabel la Católica, the king married Germana de Foix, 36 years younger than him, looking for a son who could inherit the kingdom of Aragon and not leave it in the hands of his daughter "la Loca" and his son-in-law " the beautiful". So, the obligation to "comply" one day and another with the fiery queen was imposed. And he got out of hand... « sick from an ugly stew that the Queen made him give to further qualify him «. In the 18th century, it became fashionable in France in pastille format, known as Richelieu pastilles.
Today its use is prohibited for these purposes, although it is used to help animals in mating.