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I POISONS OF ANTIQUITY 11

II POISONS AND SUPERSTITION 21

V POISONING PLOTS 43

VI CONCERNING ARSENIC 45

X ABOUT ACONITE AND HEMLOCK 60

XX POISONS IN FICTION 103

POISON ROMANCE AND POISON MYSTERIES

POISONS OF ANTIQUITY

LONG before the action of vegetable and mineral substances on human beings and animals was known, it is probable that poisonous bodies in some form were used by primitive man.

When injured in battle by perhaps a flint arrow-head, or stone axe, he sought for something to revenge himself on his enemy. In his search after curative remedies he also found noxious ones, which produced unpleasant effects when applied to the point of a weapon destined to enter the internal economy of an opponent.

He doubtless also became aware that the spear-points and arrow-heads on which the blood of former victims had dried, caused wounds that rapidly proved fatal, owing to the action of what we now call septic poisons. This probably led to experiments with the juices of plants, until something of a more deadly character was discovered.

This was the very earliest age of poisoning, when pharmacy was employed for vicious or revengeful purposes.

Medea was also learned in sorcery and an accomplished magician. It is related that, after her adventures with Jason, she returned with him to Thessaly. On their arrival they found AEson, the father of Jason, and Pelias, his uncle, who had usurped the throne, both old and decrepit. Medea was requested to exert her magical powers to make the old man young again, an operation she is said to have speedily performed by infusing the juice of certain potent plants into his veins.

Some years after, Medea deserted Jason and fled to Athens, and shortly afterwards married AEgeus, king of that city. AEgeus had a son by a former wife, named Theseus, who had been brought up in exile. At length he resolved to return and claim his parentage, but Medea hearing of this, and for some reason greatly resenting it, put a poisoned goblet into the hands of AEgeus at an entertainment he gave to Theseus, with the intent that he should hand it to his son. At the critical moment, however, the king cast his eyes on the sword of Theseus, and at once recognized it as that which he had delivered to his son when a child, and had directed that it should be brought by him when a man, as a token of the mystery of his birth. The goblet was at once thrown away, the father embraced his son, and Medea fled from Athens in a chariot drawn by dragons through the air.

Circe's charms were of a more seductive and romantic character. She is said to have been endowed with exquisite beauty, which she employed to allure travellers to her territory. On their landing, she entreated and enticed them to drink from her enchanted cup. But no sooner was the draught swallowed, than the unfortunate stranger was turned into a hog, and driven by the magician to her sty, where he still retained the consciousness of what he had been, and lived to repent his folly.

Gula, the patroness of medicine and a divinity of the Accadians, was regarded by that ancient people as "the mistress and controller of noxious poisons" as far back as 5000 years B.C.

The oldest Egyptian king, Menes, and Attalus Phylometer, the last king of Pergamus, were both learned in the knowledge of the properties of plants. The latter monarch also knew something of their medicinal uses, and was acquainted with henbane, aconite, hemlock, hellebore, etc. Other Egyptian rulers cultivated the art of medicine, and there is little doubt that, probably through the priests, who were the chief practitioners of the art of healing, they gathered a considerable knowledge of the properties of many poisonous and other herbs. Prussic acid was known to the Egyptians, and prepared by them in a diluted form, from the peach and other plants. It is highly probable, indeed, that the priests had some rudimentary knowledge of the process of distillation, and prepared this deadly liquid from peach leaves or stones, by that method. The "penalty of the peach" is alluded to in a papyrus now preserved in the Louvre, which points to the liquid being used as a death draught.

The ancient Greeks, like the Chinese of to-day, looked upon suicide, under certain conditions, as a noble act, for which poison was the usual medium. Their "death cup" was mainly composed of the juice or extract of a species of hemlock, called by them cicuta. The Chinese, from remote times, are supposed to have used gold as a poison, especially for suicidal purposes, and at the present day, when a high official or other individual puts an end to his life, it is always officially announced, "He has taken gold leaf"; a curious phrase, which probably has its origin in antiquity.

Nicander, of Colophon, a Greek physician, who lived 204-138 B.C., in his work on "Poisons and their Antidotes," the earliest on the subject known, describes the effects of snake venom and the properties of opium, henbane, colchicum, cantharides, hemlock, aconite, toxicum , buprestis, the salamander, the sea-hare, the leech, yew , bull's blood, milk, and certain fungi, which he terms "evil fermentations of the earth"; and as antidotes for the same he mentions lukewarm oil, warm water, and mallow or linseed tea to excite vomiting. The same writer also made a rough classification of the poisons known in his time, twenty-two in all, and divided them into two classes--viz., "those which killed quickly," and "those which killed slowly."

Of the minerals, arsenic, antimony, mercury, gold, silver, copper, and lead were used by the Greeks; the antidote recommended in case of poisoning being hot oil, and other methods to induce vomiting and prevent the poison being absorbed into the system.

Bull's blood is classed as a poison by various ancient writers, and it is recorded that AEson, Midas King of Phrygia, Plutarch, and Themistocles, killed themselves by drinking bull's blood. It is probable that some strong poisonous vegetable substance, such as cicuta, was mixed with the blood.

Among the poisonous plants enumerated by Dioscorides are the poppy, black and white hellebore, henbane, mandragora, hemlock, elaterin, and the juices of species of euphorbia, and apocyneae. Medea is said to have been the first to introduce colchicum. The black and white hellebore were known to the Romans, and used by them as an insecticide, and Pliny states that the Gauls used a preparation of veratrum to poison their arrows. Arsenic was employed by the Greeks as a caustic, and for removing hair from the face; while copper, mercury, and lead were used in their medical treatment. The study of poisons was forbidden for a long period, and Galen mentions the fact that only a few philosophers dared treat the subjects in their works.

The early Hebrews were also acquainted with certain poisons, the words, "rosch" and "chema" being used by them as generic terms. Arsenic was known to them as "sam," aconite as "boschka," and ergot probably as "son."

The ancients attributed poisonous properties to certain bodies simply on account of their origin being mysterious and obscure, and many of these errors and traditions have been handed down for centuries. As an instance of this, the belief that diamond dust possessed deadly poisonous properties seems to have existed until recent times. Many mysterious deaths in the Middle Ages were attributed to it. There is little doubt that death might be caused by the mere mechanical effect of an insoluble powder of this kind, if it were possible to introduce it into the stomach in sufficient quantity, but powdered glass or sand would have the same effect as diamond dust, viz. in causing violent irritation of the stomach. Yet some of these old traditions have a substratum of fact.

The poisonous properties of the toad have long been regarded as fabulous, but recent investigation has proved that the skin of a species of toad secretes a poison, similar in action to digitalis.

The venom of the toad has had the reputation of possessing poisonous properties from a very early period, and was probably one of the earliest forms of animal poison known.

The old tradition, that King John was poisoned by a Friar who dropped a toad into his wine, was regarded as a ridiculous fable until some years ago, when it was discovered that the skin of the toad secretes a body, the active principle of which, "phrynin," is a poison of considerable power.

One of the most curious uses to which the toad has been put is recorded on a medical diploma now in the Library of Ferrara, which was granted to one Generoso Marini in 1642. Marini having made application for a Ferrarese diploma in medicine, the judges in whom the power of granting such degrees was invested, ordered him to exhibit some efficient proofs of his capability to practise the medical art.

Marini at once agreed to comply with their demand, and the result is recorded in his diploma, which was discovered by Cittadella in the archives of Ferrara, and is translated as follows:--

"Having publicly examined and approved the science and knowledge of medicine of Signor Generoso Marini, and his possession of the wonderful secret called 'Orvietano,' which he exhibited on the stage built in the centre of this our city of Ferrara, in presence of its entire population so remarkable for their civilization and learning, and in presence of many foreigners and other classes of people, we hereby certify that, also in our presence, as well as that of the city authorities, he took several living toads, not those of his own providing, but from a great number of toads which had been caught in fields in the locality by persons who were strangers to him, and which were only handed to him at the moment of making the experiment. An officer of the court then selected from the number of toads collected, five of the largest, which the said Generoso Marini placed on a bench before him, and in presence of all assembled spectators, he, with a large knife, cut all the said toads in half. Then, taking a drinking cup, he took in each hand one half of a dead toad, and squeezed from it all the juices and fluids it contained into the cup, and the same he did with the remainder. After mixing the contents together, he swallowed the whole, and then placing the cup on the bench he advanced to the edge of the stage, where for some minutes he remained stationary. Then he became pale as death and his limbs trembled, and his body began to swell in a frightful and terrible manner; and all the spectators began to believe that he would never recover from the poison he had swallowed, and that his death was certain. Suddenly, taking from a jar by his side some of his celebrated 'Orvietano,' he placed a portion of it in his mouth and swallowed it. Instantly, the effect of this wonderful medicine was to make him vomit the poison he had taken, and he stood before the spectators in the full enjoyment of health.

"The populace applauded him highly for the indisputable proof he had given of his talent, and he then invited many of the most learned of those present to accompany him to his house, and he there showed them his dispensary as well as his collection of antidotes, and among them a powder made from little vipers, a powerful remedy for curing every sort of fever, as he had proved by different experiments he had made on people of quality and virtue, all of whom he had cured of the fever from which they were suffering, etc.

"In consequence of the rare talent exhibited by Signor Generoso Marini, and as a proof of our love and respect for his wisdom, we have resolved by the authority placed in our hands publicly to reward him with a diploma, so that he may be universally recognized, applauded, and respected. In witness thereof we have set our hands and the public seal of the municipality of Ferrara.

"Data in Ferrara con grandissimo applauso il di 26 Luglio, 1642.

But although the toad under certain conditions was credited with poisonous properties, during the Middle Ages it was esteemed a valuable remedy for the plague, and was employed for that purpose in Austria as late as the year 1712.

Cantharides, or Spanish fly, was very commonly used as a poison in mediaeval times, the usual method of administering being to chop it up and mix it with pepper. It is said to have been the first poison tried on the unfortunate Sir Thomas Overbury, although his murderers finally finished him off with corrosive sublimate. Poisoned rings are said to have been the invention of the Italians, who fashioned rings in which the poison was inserted in a receptacle where the jewel is usually set. Attached to the inner part of the ring was a sharp point which, when the hand of the wearer was grasped, scratched the flesh and injected the poison. Rings were also used for carrying strong poisons secretly--such as arsenic, or corrosive sublimate--and in this manner many were enabled to commit suicide after being imprisoned.

Hyoscyamus, commonly called henbane, is a herb which has been employed from remote times. Benedictus Crispus, Archbishop of Milan, in a work written shortly before A.D. 681, alludes to it under the name of hyoscyamus and symphoniaca, and in the tenth century its virtues are particularly recorded by Macer Floridus. In the early Anglo-Saxon works it is called henbell and sometimes belene. In a French herbal of the fifteenth century it is called hanibane or hanebane. From a very early period it has been employed as a sedative and anodyne, for producing sleep, although simple hallucinations sometimes accompany its use.

An old tradition states, that once in the refectory of an ancient monastery the monks were served with henbane, instead of some harmless root, in error by the cook. After partaking of the dish, they were seized with the most extraordinary hallucinations. At midnight one monk sounded the bell for matins, while others walked in the chapel and opened their books, but could not read. Others sang roystering drinking songs and performed mountebank antics, which convulsed the others with uncontrollable laughter, and the pious monastery for the nonce was turned into an asylum. Certain stones which were sold for large sums of money were supposed to change colour when brought near a poisonous substance, and they were consequently much sought after by high personages. The horn of the unicorn was said to become moist when placed near poisoned food. Bickman records his belief that several slow poisons were known to the ancients which cannot now be identified. The Carthaginians also seem to have been acquainted with similar poisons, and, according to tradition, administered some to Regulus, the Roman general. But we cannot endorse Bickman's belief.

An incident which happened to the army led by Mark Antony against the Parthians, and described by Plutarch, is said to have been caused by aconite. At one time during the expedition, "the soldiers being very short of provisions, sought for roots and pot-herbs ... and met one that brought on madness and death. The eater immediately lost all memory and knowledge, busying himself at the same time in turning and moving every stone he met with, as if he were on some important pursuit. The camp was full of unhappy men stooping to the ground, and digging up and removing stones, till at last they were carried off by bilious vomiting.... Whole numbers perished, and the Parthians still continued to harass them. Antony is said to have frequently exclaimed: 'Oh! the ten thousand!' alluding to the army which Xenophon led in retreat; both a longer way and through more numerous conflicts, and yet led in safety."

It is worthy of note that the diamond was celebrated as a medicinal agent by the Hindoos, who prepared it by roasting seven times and then reducing it to powder. It was given in doses of one grain as a powerful tonic.

The celebrated "Orvietano" was doubtless some preparation of antimony.

POISONS AND SUPERSTITION

AMONG the ignorant, poisons have ever been closely associated with superstition, and thus we find in the dark ages, even among the more civilized nations of the West, a belief in the occult concerning those things the action of which they did not understand. To most of the poisonous herbs used by the ancients certain curious superstitions were attached. The mandrake, in particular, excited the greatest veneration on this account. It is supposed this plant is the same which the ancient Hebrews called Duda?m. That these people held it in the highest esteem in the days of Jacob is evident from the notice of its having been found by Reuben, who carried it to his mother; and the inducement which tempted Leah to part with it proves the value then set upon this remarkable plant. It was believed to possess the property of making childless wives become mothers. Mandrake was among the more important drugs employed by the ancients for producing anaesthesia. Doses of the wine made from the root were administered before amputating a limb or the application of the hot iron cautery. Pliny says: "Mandrake is taken against serpents, and before cutting and puncture, lest they be felt. Sometimes the smell is sufficient." According to Apuleius, half an ounce of the wine would make a person insensible even to the pain of amputation. Lyman states it was this wine, "mingled with myrrh," that was offered to the Saviour on the Cross, it being commonly given to those who suffered death by crucifixion to allay in some degree their terrible agonies. In Shakespeare's time mandrake still kept its place in public estimation as a narcotic. Thus we have Cleopatra asking for the drug, that she may "sleep out this great gap of time" while her Antony is away; and Iago, when his poison begins to work in the mind of the Moor, exclaims--

"Not poppy, nor mandragora Nor all the drowsy syrups of this world, Shall ever medicine thee to that sweet sleep."

The black hellebore, Melampus root or Christmas rose, another poisonous plant known to the ancients, was believed to have magical properties. It was called after Melampus, a great physician, who flourished at Pylos, about one hundred years after the time of Moses, or about one thousand five hundred and thirty years before the birth of Christ. He is reputed to have cured the daughters of Proetus, King of Argos, of mental derangement with hellebore. Pliny mentions that the daughters of Proetus were restored to their senses by drinking the milk of goats which had fed on hellebore. Black hellebore root was used by the ancients to purify their homes and to hallow their dwellings, and they believed that by strewing it about it would drive away evil spirits. This ceremony was performed with great devotion, and accompanied with the singing of solemn hymns. They also blessed their cattle in the same manner with hellebore to keep them free from spells of the wicked. For these purposes it was dug up with many religious ceremonies--such as drawing a circle round the plant with a sword; then, turning to the east, a humble prayer was finally offered up by the devotee, to Apollo and Aesculapius for leave to dig up the root. The flight of the eagle was particularly attended to during the ceremony, for when this bird approached near the spot during the celebration of the rite, it was considered so ominous as to predict the certain death of the person who uprooted the plant in the course of the year. Others ate garlic previous to the rite, which was supposed to counteract the poisonous effluvia of the plant. Dioscorides relates that when Carneades, the Cyrenaic philosopher, undertook to answer the books of Zeno, he sharpened his wit and quickened his spirit by purging his head with powdered hellebore. It is recorded that the Gauls never went to the chase without rubbing the point of their arrows with this herb, believing that it rendered all the game killed with them the more tender. It is of this plant Juvenal sarcastically observes: "Misers need a double dose of hellebore."

With several uncivilised nations in Africa, the practice of compelling persons accused of crime or witchcraft to undergo the ordeal of swallowing some vegetable poison is still carried on. For this purpose certain tribes in Western Africa use the Calabar bean, sometimes called the ordeal bean, which contains a powerful poisonous principle, called Physostigmine. It was customary, at one time, in Old Calabar, and the mouth of the Niger, where the plant grows, to destroy it whenever found, a few only being preserved to supply seeds for judicial purposes, and of these seeds the store was kept in the custody of the native chief. Witchcraft, indeed, may be said to play the chief part in the daily life of all African natives, and to witchcraft they attribute every ill that befalls them. Two classes of witchcraft are supposed to exist--the one practised secretly by evil-doers, and the other practised by the witch doctors with the view of destroying the effects of the former. Witch doctors are, in fact, the greatest power in the land; they hold the lives of all in their hands, and are daily employed to satisfy the passions of their neighbours. "According to native ideas," says one who has had a long experience among the native tribes, "death or sickness never occurs through natural causes, but is always the result of somebody's act. Whenever any one is accused of having practised witchcraft, or of having committed any other crime, Calabar bean or Muavi is used to decided the case. The taking of these is the great trial by ordeal, and, usually, except when the accuser is a witch doctor, accused and accuser have both to submit to the test. Chiefs, however, may appoint a deputy to undergo the ordeal in their stead. Muavi consists of a specially prepared drug, usually made by scraping the wood of a certain tree known to the witch doctors; this is mixed with water, and both parties swallow the decoction. In a very short time the drug begins to act. Vomiting sets in, followed by convulsions and death. Of course, in most cases the result depends on the dose given. Sometimes both accuser and accused are seized with vomiting; in that case the natives say that the medicine has been badly prepared, and the operation is repeated. At other times both die; in that case also the medicine was no good, but the trial cannot be renewed, as may be readily understood. When the guilt of one of the parties has been established by his death, his property is at once looted, his wife and children being killed. So great, however, is the faith of the natives in the infallibility of the Muavi test, and they so fully believe that in case of innocence they will be proof against the deadly effects of the drug, that they will never hesitate to submit themselves to the trial; in fact, they will frequently volunteer to go through it, and insist upon taking muavi even when falsely accused. From this account it will be easily seen that the witch doctor who prepares the muavi can easily get rid of any person he may wish. In some districts the drug used for the trial, instead of causing death, when it has not acted as an emetic, merely causes purging; but the result is the same, as the man is at once put to death." This is probably due to a weaker decoction of the drug having been prepared. The same traveller states, in many instances his own men have offered to take muavi in order to refute the slightest charge. Trial by ordeal, which still survives in the Dark Continent, was practised by other and more civilized nations in the early Christian era.

ROYAL AND HISTORIC POISONERS

POISON appears to have been employed as a political agent from a very early period of history, and numerous stories have been handed down of royal personages who used this secret and deadly method of ridding themselves of troublesome individuals, and removing enemies from their path. They also, at times, became the victims of jealous rivals by the same nefarious means.

One of the earliest traditions we have of this kind is that of Phrysa, who poisoned the queen Statira during the reign of Artaxerxes II , B.C. 405-359, by cutting her food with a poisoned knife. The notorious Nero doubtless resorted to the use of poison more than once, as may be inferred from the story of the death of his brother Britannicus, who, it is said, was poisoned by his orders. Britannicus was dining with his brother and the Imperial family, and, as was the custom of the Romans, hot water was brought round by slaves to the table, the water being heated to varied degrees to suit the taste of the drinker. According to the story, the cup of water handed to Britannicus proved to be too hot, and he gave it back to the attendant slave, who added cold water to it, which addition is supposed to have contained the poison; for no sooner had he swallowed the draught than he fell back gasping for breath. His mother, Agrippina, and Octavia, his sister, who were also at the table, became terror-stricken, but Nero, unmoved, calmly remarked that he often had such fits in his youth without danger, and the banquet proceeded. It is thought probable that the poison given was prussic acid in some form.

A curious superstition existed in early times, and is still entertained by the ignorant, that if the body rapidly decomposes after a sudden death it is to be attributed to the effects of poison. So when Britannicus died, it is recorded that the Romans attempted to conceal his discoloured face by means of paint. During the Roman period, poisoning was reduced to a fine art, and the skilled or professional poisoner obtained large amounts of money for his services.

The Borgias' favourite method of administering a lethal dose was by means of a species of hypodermic injection.

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