ANSWERS: 7
  • Elephant dung
  • Before sheepskin? How effective does it have to be to consider?
  • I heard it was sheep's intestine
    • mushroom
      "This new learning amazes me, Sir Bedevere. Explain again how sheeps' bladders may be employed to prevent earthquakes." --Graham Chapman as King Arthur, "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" (1975)
  • Apparently in ancient Egypt crocodile dung & sour milk were mixed into a paste to make an acidic barrier to sperm. Animal intestines were also used as a primitive condom. I'm sure I read something about frogs & citrus fruits somewhere too.
  • Belief in magic.
  • The ancient Romans used plugs of wax. Barrier forms of contraception, made of various substances, have been around for thousands of years in a variety of cultures. The Romans may also have used a plant, combined with the wax, called silphium, which had many uses, apparently. We don't know for certain what it was, because the Romans seemed to have over-farmed it, possibly rendering the soil incapable of continuing to grow it. Or it may have been used to feed cattle, among other things, and was overgrazed. People also made condoms out of sheep gut long before latex condoms were made, and before women sometimes used sponges (with vinegar douches) as barrier contraceptives.
  • My personality.

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