DAVID GREENE, HOST:
Good morning. I'm David Greene. You know Sir Isaac Newton - calculus, gravity, all that good stuff? He also dabbled in medicine, attempting to cure the plague in the 1660s. In some early documents up for auction, we discover that his best idea was truly foul. First you hang a toad upside down for three days and collect its vomit. And then you grind it all up, toad and upchuck, and apply the mixture topically. Don't even think about trying this at home, OK? Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.