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diff --git a/78589-0.txt b/78589-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..495fb7f --- /dev/null +++ b/78589-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,15667 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 78589 *** + + + + + PART I + POISONS IN MYSTERY AND ROMANCE + + +[Illustration: + + NATIVES OF THE FRENCH SUDAN, SOUTH OF THE NIGER, PREPARING THEIR ARROW + POISON AND DIPPING THEIR WEAPONS. + + (_From a drawing by A. Forestier._) + + Reproduced by kind permission of the proprietors of the _Illustrated + London News_. + + [_Frontispiece._ +] + + + + + POISON MYSTERIES + IN + HISTORY, ROMANCE AND CRIME + + + BY + + C. J. S. THOMPSON, M.B.E. + + Author of “The History and Romance of Alchemy and Pharmacy,” etc., etc. + + + _POPULAR EDITION_ + + + LONDON: + THE SCIENTIFIC PRESS, LTD. + 28 & 29 SOUTHAMPTON STREET + STRAND, W.C.2 + 1925 + + + _First Published, 1923_ + _Popular Edition, 1925_ + + + TO + + SIR WILLIAM H. WILLCOX, + K.C.I.E., C.B., C.M.G., M.D., F.R.C.P. Lond. + As a slight appreciation of the eminent + services he has rendered to + Toxicology and + Medicine. + + + + + CONTENTS + + + PART I + POISONS IN HISTORY AND ROMANCE + CHAP. PAGE + I POISONS USED BY ANCIENT AND PRIMITIVE RACES 15 + Poisoned Weapons—Poisons employed by Primitive + Peoples—Malay, African and Indian native Poisons—The + Upas Poison—Ordeal Poisons. + + II POISONS USED BY THE EGYPTIANS, GREEKS, ROMANS, HEBREWS, + CHINESE, PERSIANS, AND HINDUS IN ANCIENT TIMES 26 + A Babylonian Poison Goddess—Poisons in Mythology—Poisons + in Ancient Egypt—The State Poison of the Greeks—The + Death of Socrates. + + III ANTIDOTES TO POISON IN ANCIENT TIMES 40 + Poison Laws in Ancient Times—Antidotes and + Alexipharmica—Theriaca and its History. + + IV PREVENTIVE METHODS AND SUBSTANCES USED AGAINST POISONS 49 + Terra Sigillata—How it was Tested—Toad Stones—Unicorn’s + Horn—Rhinoceros Horn and Assay Cups—Bezoar Stones. + + V SUPERSTITIONS CONNECTED WITH POISONOUS PLANTS 63 + Mandrake—Aconite—Hellebore—Opium—Henbane. + + VI THE POISON LORE OF TOADS AND SPIDERS 84 + Poison extracted from the Toad—How an Italian Doctor + proved his knowledge of Medicine—A Mysterious Chinese + Poison prepared from Toads—Venomous Spiders—A Romany + Poison. + + VII SOME CLASSICAL POISONS AND THEIR HISTORIES 88 + Arsenic—Mercury—Antimony. + + VIII ROYAL AND HISTORIC POISONERS 101 + King John and Maud FitzWalter—The Abbot of Westminster + poisoned—The murder of Sir Thomas Overbury—The Earl of + Leicester and his Victims—Mysterious death of the son of + Peter the Great—The Gaekwar of Baroda tried for attempt + to poison Colonel Phayre. + + IX POISONS TRIED ON HUMAN BEINGS 109 + Vivisection of Criminals—Poisons and Antidotes + administered to Criminals—Brassavola and Fallopius—A + Charlatan’s Challenge at Oxford—English Experimenters. + + X THE SLOW AND TIME POISONS OF MEDIÆVAL TIMES 113 + Early Records of “Slow” Poisons—Attempt to poison Queen + Elizabeth—Death of Macchiavelli—Death of Elisabetta + Sirani. + + XI THE ITALIAN SCHOOL OF POISONERS 120 + The Venetian Poisoners—A Professional Poisoner’s + Fees—The Poisoners of Rome—Toffana—La Spara. + + XII THE MYSTERY OF THE BORGIAS 128 + History of the Family—Pope Alexander + VI—Cesare—Lucrezia—Preparing the Poison—Death of + Alexander—Death of Cesare—The Borgia Poison. + + XIII POISON MYSTERIES IN EARLY SCOTTISH HISTORY 142 + Earl of Moray—The Duke of Albany and Margaret + Drummond—Jean Douglas and James V—Mysterious death of + the Earl of Atholl—The death of Robert Stewart, Earl of + Orkney—The Earl of Dunbar and Secretary Cecil. + + XIV HISTORIC POISON CASES IN FRANCE 145 + Francis II and Mary Queen of Scots—Catharine de’ + Medici—Mysterious death of Gabrielle D’Astrées—Death of + the Duchess of Orléans—Glaser and Exali—The Mania for + Poisoning in France—The Marquise de Brinvilliers and her + Crimes—Sainte-Croix—_Chambre de Poisons_—Le Vigoreux, La + Voisin and Le Sage—Maréchal de Luxembourg, Duchesse de + Bouillon and Comtesse de Soissons tried—Attempted + Poisoning of Louis XVIII—Poisons employed in France in + the XVIIth and XVIIIth centuries. + + XV THE MYSTERY OF AMY ROBSART’S DEATH 164 + + XVI A POISON MYSTERY OF THE XVIITH CENTURY 171 + The strange case of Sir Euseby Andrew. + + XVII A MYSTERY OF THE AUSTRIAN COURT IN THE XVIITH CENTURY 178 + Leopold, Emperor of Austria and Giuseppe Francesco + Borri. + + XVIII POISON PLOTS 186 + Dread of Wholesale Poisoning—The Poisoning of the Bishop + of Rochester’s Guests—The Act of Henry VIII making + poisoning equivalent to High Treason—Poisoners to be + boiled alive—Poison Plot at Malta—Attempted Wholesale + Poisoning at Lima—Plot to poison Ministers of + State—Austrian Army Poison Plot—Plot to Poison the + Commissioner of Police. + + XIX CURIOUS METHODS EMPLOYED BY SECRET POISONERS 198 + Poisoned Food and Wine—Women Poisoners—The Poisoned + Goblet—Poisoned Shirts—Poisoned Robes—Poison in + Boot-Blacking—Poison Rings—Poison by Injection—Poison in + a Wooden Leg—Poisoned Torch—Poisoned Candle—Poisoned + Flowers—Poisoned Bed. + + XX LOVE-PHILTRES AND POISONS 211 + _Pocula Amatoria_ of the Greeks and Romans—Ovid on the + Love-Philtre—Mysterious Substances employed—Love-Philtre + used by Eastern Nations—Belief in Love-Philtres at the + Present Day—Love-Philtres used by African native Tribes. + + XXI POISONS IN FOOD 216 + Poison in Beer—Poison in Food—Poison in Honey—Poison in + Cocoa and Chocolate. + + XXII POISONS USED IN WARFARE 223 + Poison Gas—Poison and Disease Organisms dropped by + Aircraft. + + XXIII CRIMINAL POISONING WITH BACTERIA 230 + A Petrograd Poison Mystery—Criminal use of Diphtheria, + Typhoid and Cholera Organisms. + + XXIV POISON HABITS 238 + Opium—Morphine—Chloroform—Ether—Chlorodyne—Cocaine. + + XXV HASHISH AND HASHISH-EATERS 248 + Ganja and Bhang—Use in Antiquity—Hashish and its + Effects. + + XXVI POISONS IN FICTION 254 + + + PART II + POISON MYSTERIES + + I THE MYSTERY OF LAWFORD HALL—THE CURIOUS CASE OF ELIZABETH + FENNING 265 + + II THE CASE OF MADAME LAFARGE 273 + + III THE CASE OF MADELINE SMITH 279 + + IV THE BRAVO MYSTERY 282 + + V THE RUGELEY MYSTERY 287 + + VI THE CASE OF DR. PRITCHARD 293 + + VII THE CASE OF DR. LAMSON 298 + + VIII THE PIMLICO MYSTERY 303 + + IX THE MAYBRICK CASE 308 + + X THE LAMBETH POISON MYSTERIES 314 + + XI SOME POISON MYSTERIES IN FRANCE 318 + + XII THE HORSFORD CASE 325 + + XIII AMERICAN POISON MYSTERIES 329 + + XIV THE SOUTHWARK POISON MYSTERY 337 + + XV SOME IRISH POISON MYSTERIES 345 + + XVI THE DEVEREUX CASE 347 + + XVII THE CRIPPEN CASE 350 + + XVIII THE MYSTERY OF THE SEDDONS 362 + + XIX THE DALKEITH COFFEE POISON CASE 369 + + XX THE AGRA POISONING MYSTERY 372 + + XXI A CORNISH POISON MYSTERY 381 + + XXII THE ARMSTRONG CASE 385 + + XXIII SOME POISON ASPECTS OF THE ILFORD MURDER CASE 401 + + + + + LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + + + Natives of the French Sudan, south of the Niger, + preparing their Arrow Poison and dipping their Weapons _Frontispiece_ + TO FACE PAGE + Drinking Cup of Unicorn’s Horn (XVIIth Century) 58 + + Assay Cups of Rhinoceros Horn used to detect Poison in + Wine (XVIth Century) 58 + + Bezoar Stones 60 + + A Bottle with Representation of St. Nicholas of Bari + used for Aqua Toffana _page_ 123 + + Pope Alexander VI 128 + + Cesare Borgia 132 + + Lucrezia Borgia 138 + + “A Cup of Wine with Cesare Borgia” 140 + + Marguerite D’Aubray, Marquise de Brinvilliers 156 + + Bottle of Meat Juice and a Bottle containing Meat Juice + and Water exhibited in the Maybrick Case 312 + + Stethoscope and Pocket Medicine Case carried by Neill + Cream 316 + + + + + PART I + POISONS IN HISTORY AND ROMANCE + + + + + CHAPTER I + POISONS USED BY ANCIENT AND PRIMITIVE RACES + + +Poisons, those silent weapons capable of destroying life mysteriously, +secretly and without violence, have ever had a peculiar fascination for +mankind. They have played so large a part in history at various periods, +in romance as well as in crime, that the subject is one which claims the +attention of every student of human nature. + +A poison may be generally described as any substance which, in a small +quantity, when introduced into or absorbed by a living organism, +destroys life by rapid action. In another sense a substance may be +termed a poison that has a cumulative effect if administered for a +length of time so that it ends fatally. Substances of this description +were called venim, venyn, venum or bane in the Middle Ages, and also +termed “slow poisons.” + +It is probable that many substances which had the effect of destroying +life were observed and used by primitive man from a period of remote +antiquity. When injured in a tribal battle, by perhaps a flint +arrow-head or stone axe, he no doubt sought for something to revenge +himself on his enemy. In his search for curative substances 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 observed that the arrow-head and spear on which +the blood of former victims had dried caused wounds which often proved +fatal, owing to the action of what we now term septic poisons. This may +have led him to experiment with the juices of plants till he discovered +something of a more deadly character. The observations of primitive man +as to the poisonous effects of plants on animal life is evident from +some of the names which he gave to them in early times. Instances of +these are perpetuated in cowbane (the water hemlock), which often has a +fatal effect on cattle; sowbane, so called, says Parkinson in his +Herbal, as it was observed to kill swine; wolf’s bane, leopard’s bane, +henbane, and many others which might be mentioned, showing that +primitive man must have observed the evil effects on the animal whose +name he associated with them. + +In primeval times both the poisonous and medicinal properties of plants +appear to have been first discovered and kept secret by the most +observant and intelligent members of pastoral and nomadic tribes. The +possessor of such secrets wielded an immense power over his fellows and +often combined the office of medicine-man and priest. He reserved to +himself as much as possible the knowledge which he had acquired of +plants and their uses, and particularly those which would produce +stupor, delirium and death, for by these means he was enabled to exert a +greater influence over others. + +The study, therefore, of the poisons employed by primitive races for +destroying life in animals and man is one of considerable interest. +Arrow-heads and spear-heads, worked with depressions, probably for +holding poisons, have been found in cave remains of the palæolithic +period in France. Laigneau is of the opinion that these weapons were +first used to destroy large animals, such as the bison and reindeer, and +were probably also used in tribal warfare. + +Τοξιχόν, the Greek word used to denote poison, takes its origin from a +word signifying a bow, which probably symbolized a poison-tipped arrow, +a custom still practised by savage tribes in various parts of the world. +It seems but a natural sequence that man should have turned to his own +account the knowledge he acquired of the effects of the substances which +proved deadly when introduced into the body by either external or +internal means, as in them he found a more secure and secret weapon by +means of which he could rid himself of the objects of his jealousy, +hatred or revenge. + +The Greek toxican, from which the word toxicology is derived, is +believed to have been used for the poisonous substance into which the +arrow-heads were dipped. + +Poisoned arrows are mentioned by several of the early writers, including +Homer, Horace and Ovid. The latter tells how the blood of vipers was +used to poison weapons, and there was a general belief that disease and +death were caused by poisoned arrows shot by an offended deity, as +instanced in the mythical story of Apollo, whose darts were supposed to +smite man with pestilence. + +The Scythians are known to have used poisons and mixed the venom they +employed with human blood. Certain tribes of the Caucasus are said to +have employed viper-venom mixed with decomposed human blood serum. +Aristotle and Strabo state that the Celts were accustomed to poison +their arrows and weapons, while Pliny and Celsus refer to the practice +among the Gauls. As late as the seventh century poisoned arrows were +used by the Dacians and the Dalmatians on the shores of the Danube, and +among the Goths it seems to have been a common custom. Almost every +savage tribe and people throughout the world have been found to have +their own particular poison for this purpose, and there is little doubt +that this method of making the wound caused by the weapons more deadly, +has been practised from a period of remote antiquity. + +Although most of the substances employed and the methods of preparation +are now known to us, there are others about which little or no +information can be obtained. The secret of the poison used by many +barbaric tribes is still most jealously guarded and is only known to +certain chiefs and their families, or the medicine-men of the tribe, who +pass on the knowledge to their successors. The substances used for +lethal purposes are both of animal and vegetable origin, and include +poisonous insects and fish, snake venoms and poisonous plants, which are +used alone or mixed together. These substances are not equally +effective, as the active principle by age tends to decompose, but if the +poison be freshly prepared, as it often is, it generally proves fatal. +Lewin, however, states that he found an arrow poison used by the Bushmen +in Australia still active after remaining for ninety years in a Berlin +museum. + +The poisons used by the various tribes of Bushmen of Africa vary +according to the district in which they live. Livingstone states, that +those who inhabited the Kalahari district used the entrails of a small +caterpillar for poisoning their spears and arrows. When drawn over a +sore, this insect, which is known to the natives as “Nga,” causes the +most excruciating agony, and those wounded by arrows smeared with this +poison die slowly in a condition of violent delirium. + +Baines says the Bushmen squeeze the grub gradually between the +forefinger and thumb, when a colourless fluid exudes which is smeared +over the arrow-head, forming an imperceptible coating. Modern +investigators who have studied the properties of this curious poison +state, that its action strongly resembles some of the snake venoms and +that it will retain its properties for an indefinite time. Livingstone +also mentions a curious fact that the natives consider that the best +antidote to the poison is to swallow the grub. + +A very powerful poison employed by other tribes of Bushmen for their +arrow- and spear-heads is said by Burchell to be prepared from +_Amaryllis disticha_, various species of Euphorbium and Acocanthera, +alone or mixed with snake venom, and a species of black spider or beetle +poison. + +The Bushmen or “Bosjermans” of the South African district called +“Kalahari” use the juice of the leaf beetle, or the _Diamphidia +simplex_. Lewin, who examined the insect, found in its body besides +inert fatty acids, a toxalbumin which causes paralysis and finally +death. Boehm, after examination, states that the poison from the larva +also belongs to the toxalbumins. The poison grubs are of a pale flesh +colour, similar to the silkworm and are about three-quarters of an inch +in length. When a wound is made by an arrow poisoned with this exudation +the most intolerable agony is caused, which proves fatal. + +The Somali prepare a very deadly poison from various species of +Acocanthera which they call Waba, Wabayo or Ouabaio, to which they +sometimes add snake venom. + +The Ovambos of South-West Africa employ a species of Adenium as an arrow +poison, while the seeds of the strophanthus (_Strophanthus hispidus_ or +_kombé_) are largely used by the tribes who inhabit the districts near +the Congo and the Zambezi. + +The arrow poison of the Pygmies of Central Africa, in which the red ant +forms an ingredient, is described by Stanley, and is so very deadly that +a single arrow has been known to kill an elephant. + +According to a recent writer on Malay poisons,[1] native poisoners +frequently use narcotic plants to stupefy their victims as a preliminary +to robbing them. They also employ sand, powdered glass, quicklime and +other powders to disconcert their pursuers. Some of them claim to be +able to know a method of causing loss of voice lasting seven or eight +days, by the administration of certain poisons by the mouth. + +Footnote 1: + + _Malay Poisons and Charm Cures_, John D. Gimlette, M.R.C.S. 1923. + +Gimlette asserts that two or three clinical cases have occurred in +Kelantan in which it was alleged that the witnesses in court could not +give evidence for this reason. + +Malay cunning is proverbial, but it is not generally known that the +natives are accustomed to use poison in the same manner as employed in +ancient times, namely by mixing it with honey which is sometimes smeared +on the under surface of a knife. The poisoner then shares a meal with +his enemy and divides a water-melon in half with the poisoned blade, but +is careful to eat only the upper and harmless portion as his share of +the fruit. This method is said to be common in Tregganu, where potassium +cyanide is employed for the purpose. + +The Malays are said to have a knowledge of slow poisons which they call +“time poisons,” by means of which they can give a single dose of poison +and time the death of the victim within three, six, or even twelve +months, according to the dose and the particular combination used. +Native experts, however, say that the idea of this “time-poison” is +unfounded, but they know that the effect of certain deadly poisons is +greatly accelerated or delayed if certain fruits or vegetables, such as +water-melon or cucumbers happen to be eaten soon after the ingestion of +the poison. + +Some of the Malays believe that poisoned food can be recognized by the +shadow of the right hand and fingers not being cast on eating rice. +Others believe that a stirring rod of ivory will become darkened if +poison has been put into the food, and in Perak a spoon made of the beak +of a horn-bill[2] is said to turn black if touched by anything of a +poisonous nature. + +Footnote 2: + + For the use of horns as antidotes or indicators of poison, see page + 55. + +The Malays use many different vegetable poisons for their blow-pipe +darts, some of which are extremely powerful, but curiously enough some +are poisonous to certain animals and not to others, and many of the +poisons which destroy human life may be eaten with impunity by +graminivorous animals. Thus, opium does not poison pigeons, tobacco and +hemlock do not injure goats, and henbane can be eaten by rabbits. The +Malay jungle natives have special markings on their blow-pipe darts, by +means of which they differentiate their various poisons. That of the +upas-tree is specially marked to distinguish it from the others. + +The sap of the upas-tree (_Antiaris toxicaria_), the active principle of +which is called Antiarin, is used as a poison for their darts by the +natives throughout the Eastern Archipelago, including Java and Borneo. +It is extremely powerful and will sometimes cause death in thirty +minutes after a wound is received. It is often mixed with the venom of +snakes, scorpions or centipedes and occasionally with arsenic. + +The upas-tree sap is collected in primitive vessels fashioned from palm +leaves, which are then suspended a few feet above the fire. The boiling +process is somewhat protracted and during the whole time the sap is +continually stirred. During this operation the liquid is transformed +into a thick viscid mass and in this condition it is withdrawn from the +fire. When cold the sap is a solid, hard, yet brittle substance, so +before it is set, the leaf is rolled up with its soft contents, the two +ends tied with rattan and the poison thus kept till it is required. + +The darts, which are projected by the natives with blow-pipes, consist +of strips of palmwood from 20 to 30 cm. in length; they are pointed at +one end and a quantity of poison is then removed from its palm-leaf +receptacle and ground up until it is of the consistency of flour. It is +then mixed with water and stirred up until it becomes a thin paste, +which is smeared upon the points of the darts. The process of +preparation takes place before a fire, and when completed they are +placed with their points towards the fire until the upas sap has dried +into the wood. In the case of the darts that are required for larger +game, the point of the weapon is split open and a thin metal wedge or +plate is inserted and the whole point is then smeared over with the +poison. The opposite end of the dart comprises a small conical butt made +of the soft pith of the sago palm. The darts are carried in small bamboo +quivers, which are fixed into the loin-cloth of the native, the points +being protected by a piece of animal skin. + +North American Indians employ a poison called “Caramari,” which they +prepare from the roots of a plant found along the sea coast. It is +prepared by being burnt in earthen pipkins and to the residue is added a +species of spider, hairy worms, bats’ wings, the head and tail of a fish +called “Teborino,” toads and mancanillas. These substances are set over +a fire and heated in pots till they come to the consistency of a paste. + +The Choco Indians of Colombia, South America, use a poison which they +extract from a tree frog which they hold on a stick near a fire, when +the heat causes the glands of the skin to secrete the poisonous fluid. + +The Jivaro Indians of the Amazon use a vegetable poison called “jambi” +for their arrows, which is said to be made from a species of vine which +grows in great profusion throughout the Upper Amazon zone. The process +for extracting the poison as described by Up de Graff[3] is simple. + +Footnote 3: + + _Head Hunters of the Amazon_, F. W. Up de Graff. 1922. + + +“The vine is cut into sections a foot in length, and the thin, hard +outer crust of bark is carefully removed by scraping. The main bark, +white when first exposed to the air, turns brown in just the same way as +an apple. This inner bark is scraped into fine shavings by means of +shells and flints, and these are placed in a colander which rests upon a +pot in which water is boiling. The water is poured over the contents of +the colander repeatedly, until the constant action on it has drawn out +the alkaloid, when the lifeless shavings are thrown away and the residue +is boiled down until it resembles, both in consistency, colour and +smell, plain chocolate. While still warm, it is poured into a bamboo +receptacle and when cool it becomes semi-solidified.” + + +The head of the arrow is dipped in the “jambi” and dried in the sun or +before the fire. + +These arrows have a swift and painless effect on animals and birds of +the forest, and after a wound from the poisoned dart projected from a +blow-gun, so long as the skin is broken at any point, they are killed +within about two minutes. Experiments carried out on domestic animals +have proved that the poison acts painlessly, the effect being much the +same as an overdose of morphine, but despite its proved deadliness +“jambi” is never used by the Head Hunters in warfare. + +One of the most curious preparations in use among the North American +Indians is the so-called “Black Poison,” the effects of which are well +known around the lakes of the Winnipeg basin and in the Swan River +district. Some time after administration it changes the colour of the +skin from brownish yellow or copper colour to a sooty black and at the +same time causes hair to grow on unusual parts, such as the cheek bones. +Its first effects are sickness, headache, and pain in the back and +limbs. Afterwards, ulceration and sores break out in various parts of +the body, chiefly over the joints and more particularly the knuckles. +When prepared, the poison is said to be a brown snuff-like powder with a +slight and rather sickening smell. A small quantity administered in food +appears to be sufficient to produce these effects. It is said to be +partly composed of _Rhus toxicodendron_ mixed with a dried acrid matter +secreted by the glands in the skin of a species of toad. + +The Indian tribes indigenous to California have a curious method of +using certain plants to stupefy or poison fish. One of the most +effective is “soap root” (_Chlorogalum pomeridianum_). Besides providing +a substitute for soap the crushed pulp is dropped into the water, +generally into a small pool or stream, and then stirred. The fish are +stupefied by the poison, float to the surface and are captured either by +hand or in a basket. Another plant employed for this purpose is known as +“blue-curls,” or vinegar weed (_Trichostemma lancerlatum_). + +Other tribes of Indians in South America use curare, which they extract +from a certain species of strychnos and other plants, which were first +brought to England by Sir Walter Ralegh in 1595. Although a deadly +poison when introduced into a wound or injected under the skin, curare +is practically harmless when swallowed; indeed Humbolt states the +Indians lick it off their fingers and use it as a stomachic tonic. + +The Ainos of Japan are said to have used a preparation made from aconite +and tobacco, while the natives of the New Hebrides are stated to smear +their arrows with damp earth containing the tetanus bacillus which +infects the person wounded by them. + +Besides the use of poisons for offensive purposes, the institution of +trial by ordeal still exists among barbaric tribes to-day, especially in +Africa. The substances employed vary with the locality inhabited by the +tribe. Muavi, which is used by several tribes in Western Africa, is +prepared by scraping the bark of a poisonous tree, known only to the +witch-doctors. A decoction of the scrapings is made with water and the +resulting draught, which is of a highly poisonous nature, is +administered to the suspected person. The action of muavi is generally +rapid; vomiting is quickly caused, followed by convulsions and death. +When both the accuser and the accused are seized with vomiting the +natives declare that the draught has been badly prepared, and should the +result not prove fatal to either party the test is repeated. When the +guilt of one of the parties has been established by death, his property +is at once confiscated and his wife and children are killed. So great is +the belief of the natives in the infallibility of the Muavi test that +they never hesitate to submit themselves to the trial and are said +frequently to volunteer to go through the ordeal in order to prove their +innocence. + +The Balantes and other tribes who inhabit the West Coast of Africa +employ Sassy bark (_Erythroplæum Guineense_) for their trial by ordeal. +They prepare the poison by mixing the finely scraped or powdered bark +with powdered glass, together with the dried and powdered viscera of the +victims of the preceding trial. When required for use the mixture is +made into a paste with water, about two spoonsful being administered for +a dose. + +It is customary for the chief of another tribe to preside at the ordeal +trial, whose duty it is to see that it is properly carried out. Each +person who undergoes the trial has to pay him a fee in cash or in kind, +the latter being in the form of rice, chickens or goats. The preparer of +the poison and his assistants also receive an honorarium. When one of +the Balantes is accused of a crime or witchcraft he must undergo the +trial, as after once being suspected he is no longer protected by the +ties of blood and friendship, and a father may even denounce his son or +a husband his wife. + +Other West African tribes use the Calabar bean, commonly called the +Ordeal bean, which contains a powerful poisonous principle called +Physostigmine, a drug which is of great value to ophthalmic surgeons +to-day in the treatment of the eyes. It is so powerful that a fiftieth +part of a grain is considered a poisonous dose. It was customary at one +time, in Old Calabar and at 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. Now it is preserved and the +beans exported to Europe on account of the value of their active +principle in medicine. + +Witchcraft plays an important part in the daily life of most African +natives and to witchcraft they attribute every ill that befalls them. +One kind is practised secretly by evil-doers and the other by the +witch-doctors with the view of destroying the effects of the evil-doers. +The witch-doctors or medicine-men are undoubtedly the most powerful +individuals in their tribes; they hold the lives of all in their hands, +and are daily employed to satisfy the passions of their neighbours. +According to native ideas, death or sickness never occurs through +natural causes, but is always the result of somebody’s act. Whenever +anyone is accused of having practised witchcraft or of having committed +any other crime, the Calabar bean or the trial by ordeal is used to +decide the case, except when the accuser is a witch-doctor, when both +the accuser and the accused have to submit to the test. + +Roscoe in his book, _The Soul of Central Africa_, alludes to a +mysterious poison prepared by the medicine-men of Ankole. It is a tribal +custom that should the king feel ill, or through age find his strength +failing him, it is his duty to end his life by taking a dose of poison. +The ingredients for the fatal draught are always kept at hand by the +royal medicine-man, who stores them in a crocodile’s egg. “It must have +been a strong poison,” says the explorer, “for it took effect rapidly, +ending the king’s life in a few moments. I could not, however, discover +the ingredients; the man absolutely refused to divulge the secret. The +king thus experienced no lengthened illness, but passed away in a few +minutes after swallowing the fatal potion and his body was at once +prepared for the ceremony.” + +Thus to primitive and barbaric people in various parts of the world we +owe much of our knowledge of the properties of many powerful vegetable +poisons. + + + + + CHAPTER II + POISONS USED BY THE EGYPTIANS, GREEKS, ROMANS, HEBREWS, CHINESE AND + HINDUS IN ANCIENT TIMES + + +Many mysterious poisons are referred to in the legends and sagas that +have come down to us from the dim ages of the past. + +The earliest deity associated with poisons is Gula, whose name was +revered by the Sumerians about 4500 B.C. She was known as “The Mistress +of Charms and Spells,” the “Terrible Goddess,” “Controller of noxious +poisons,” and was the deified form of the sorceress. Medical schools at +Borsippa and Sirpurra were under her protection. She is described on a +cuneiform tablet, said to have been written about 1400 B.C., as:— + + “Gula, the woman, the mighty one, the prince of all women. + His seed with a poison not curable + Without issue; in his body may she place + All the days of his life, + Blood and pus like water may he pour forth.” + +Ages ago a mysterious country in the far North was supposed to be ruled +and dominated by sorcerers and kindred beings, all of whom were said to +be children of the Sun. Here dwelt Æëtes, Perses, Hecate, Medea and +Circe. To Hecate is ascribed the foundation of sorcery and the discovery +of poisonous plants. Her knowledge of magic and spells was supposed to +be unequalled. She transmitted her power to Medea, whose wonderful +exploits are described in early Greek mythology, and who by her magic +arts subdued the dragon that guarded the golden fleece and assisted +Jason to perform his famous deeds. Hecate’s garden is described by the +poets as being enclosed in lofty walls with thrice-folding doors of +ebony, which were guarded by terrible forms, and only those who bore the +leavened rod of expiation and the concealed conciliatory offering could +enter. Towering above was the temple of the dread sorceress, where the +ghastly sacrifices were offered and all kinds of horrible spells worked. + +According to tradition, after Medea’s adventures with Jason she returned +with him to Thessaly, and on their arrival they found Æson, 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 which she is said to have speedily +performed by infusing the juice of certain potent plants into his veins, +and thus foreshadowing a recent operation for rejuvenating the old by +means of injecting the solution of a certain gland. + +Medea became the wife of Ægeus, king of Athens, whose son, Theseus, had +been brought up in exile and who resolved to return to Athens to claim +his rights. Medea, hearing of this, and for some reason greatly +resenting it, prepared a poisoned goblet and gave it to Ægeus at an +entertainment which he gave to Theseus, with the intent that he should +hand it to his son. At the critical moment the king cast his eyes on the +sword of Theseus, recognizing it as the weapon which he had given to his +son when a child, directing that it should be brought by him when a man +as a token of the mystery of his birth. The king at once threw the +goblet from him and embraced his son, and as tradition has it, Medea +fled from Athens in a chariot drawn by dragons. + +Circe’s charms were more seductive and romantic. 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. + +These mythological stories tend to show that some knowledge of poisonous +substances existed at a very remote period. + +In ancient Egypt a certain crude scientific knowledge probably existed +from a period of great antiquity, and some of the earliest deities, +especially the god Thoth, are associated with the genesis of science, +arts and magic. Thoth is reputed to have been the author of six divine +works dealing with these subjects. He was identified by the Greeks with +Hermes Trismegistos, or the “Thrice Great,” to whom they attributed the +foundation of the science of chemistry. Menes, the earliest Egyptian +king of whom we have record, was said to have studied the properties of +plants, and other Egyptian rulers cultivated the art of medicine, +probably through the priests, who were the chief practitioners in the +art of healing in those early times. They apparently gathered knowledge +of certain poisonous bodies, both vegetable and mineral. They were +learned in the art of alchemy and initiated votaries into its mysteries +in their schools of science. The secrets taught were forbidden to be +revealed under penalty of death, and therefore, probably, many of the +discoveries they made were lost, but there is sufficient evidence to +prove that they were conversant with crude arsenic, opium, mandrake, +lead and other poisonous substances. This knowledge was probably handed +down by oral tradition as part of the priestcraft for centuries before +it was committed to writing. + +The earliest known record of the actual preparation of a substance of a +lethal nature is mentioned in an Egyptian papyrus, now in the Louvre, in +which the following sentence, as translated by Duteuil, occurs: +“Pronounce not the name of I.A.O. under the penalty of the peach.” + +The Egyptians were probably the first to practise distillation, and from +the stones of certain fruits they apparently discovered that they could +extract a powerful poison which we now know as prussic acid. + +The Hebrews in ancient times were also acquainted with the use of +poisonous substances. Arsenic was known to them as “Sam,” aconite as +“Boschka,” and they are said to have known of the poisonous properties +of ergot which they called “Son.” + +Coming to times of early culture in Greece, the knowledge of poisons had +made a considerable advance. The Greeks knew of arsenic in the form of +realgar and orpiment, antimony, mercury, gold, silver, copper and lead, +and they probably had a knowledge of their poisonous properties, as they +recommend hot oil as an antidote in a case of poisoning and mention +other means to promote vomiting and prevent a poison being absorbed into +the system. + +Of the vegetable poisons known and used by the Greeks hemlock appears to +have been chiefly employed. They looked upon suicide under certain +conditions as a noble act, and sanctioned the use of the poison cup by +those who desired to terminate their existence on earth. They also +employed poison as a means of execution. The State Poison was chiefly +composed of a species of hemlock called cicuta, the seeds of which were +pounded in a mortar as the first step in preparation. Several of the +early historians, including Plato, describe the action of the plant +used, but its identification has long been a matter of dispute. From all +accounts the poison draught does not appear to have been either very +powerful or rapid in its action, as a second dose was often found to be +necessary before death ensued. + +At the death of Phocion it is recorded that “having drunk all the +hemlock juice, the quantity was found insufficient and the executioner +refused to prepare more unless he was paid twelve drachmas.” When Seneca +also wished to end his life, a friend and physician, at his request, +procured for him some of the Athenian State Poison, but when he took it +the effect was inadequate. + +The circumstances attending the death of Socrates, which happened in the +year 402 B.C., are thus recounted by Plato: + + +“When the fatal cup was brought he asked what it was necessary for him +to do. ‘Nothing more,’ replied the servant of the judges, ‘than as soon +as you have drunk of the draught, to walk about until you find your legs +become weary and afterwards lie down upon your bed.’ + +“He took the cup without any emotion or change in his countenance and, +looking at him in a steady and assured manner, + +“‘Well!’ said he, ‘what say you of this drink?’ + +“‘May a libation be made out of it?’ + +“Upon being told that there was only enough for one dose, ‘At least,’ +said he, ‘we may pray to the gods as is our duty and implore them to +make our exit from this world and our last stage happy, which is what I +most ardently beg of them.’ + +“Having spoken these words he remained silent for some time and then +drank off the whole draught. + +“After reproving his friends for indulging in loud lamentations, he +continued to walk about as he had been directed until he found his legs +grow weary. Then he lay down upon his back and the person who had +administered the poison went up to him and examined for a little time +his feet and legs, and then squeezing his foot strongly, asked whether +he felt him? Socrates replied that he did not. He then did the same to +his legs, and proceeding upwards in this way, showed us that he was cold +and stiff, and he afterwards approached him and said to us that when the +effect of the poison reached the heart Socrates would depart. And now +the lower parts of his body were cold, when he uncovered himself and +said, which were his last words, ‘Crito, we owe Æsculapius a cock. Pay +the debt and do not forget it.’ + +“‘It shall be done,’ replied Crito. ‘But consider whether you have +anything else to say.’ + +“Socrates answered in the negative, but was in a short time convulsed. +The man then uncovered him; his eyes were fixed and when Crito observed +this he closed his eyelids and his mouth.” + + +The poison which is given the general name of φάρμακον by Plato, is +termed κώνειον by Xenophon in relating the execution of Theramenes, +whose death occurred but forty years after Socrates. The same word is +again used by Plutarch in describing the State Poison by which Phocion +fell a victim to the Athenians in the year B.C. 317. + +Aristophanes, who was contemporary with Socrates, furnishes further +evidence that the State Poison was commonly known in Athens by the name +κώνειον, for in “The Frogs,” which was acted many years before his +death, the following allusion to the poison occurs:— + + +HERCULES: Then there is a short and beaten road—that by the mortar. + +BACCHUS: Speakest thou of hemlock, then? + +HERCULES: Most certainly. + +BACCHUS: A journey cold and winterly forsooth, for it immediately +congeals the shins. + + +Pliny and the other Latin authors use the word cicuta when alluding to +the State Poison of the Greeks. Dioscorides (_circa_ A.D. 40) in his +work on Materia Medica, describing the cicuta, says it has a knotted +stem and likens it to fennel. “Its branches shoot with umbels at their +summits, while it bears a whitish flower with a heavy smell and a fruit +like that of anise, but whiter.” From this it was evidently an +umbelliferous plant. Pliny refers to the spots on the stem, which +further identifies the plant as the _Conium maculatum_, or hemlock. + +According to Sibthorpe, _Conium maculatum_ grows in various parts of +Greece and in the vicinity of Athens, and no other poisonous +umbelliferous plant grows in that country. This seems conclusive +evidence that the cicuta of the Greeks was the plant we know as _Conium +maculatum_. + +In addition to this, Pliny states that the cicuta (described by him as +the Athenian State Poison) grows in Attica and at Megara, and describes +the seeds and leaves as particularly fatal when drunk in wine, the +former producing the most deadly effects. + +The clinical effects of the drug as graphically described by Plutarch +are identical with those produced by conium or hemlock. He mentions the +coldness of the extremities, concluding with its influence on the brain, +which would account for the strangeness of the last words of Socrates, +referring to a sacrifice to the deity who presided over the Medical Art. + +It is probable that opium was sometimes combined with hemlock, judging +from the statement of Theophrastus, who was born only twenty-eight years +after the death of Socrates. + +He says: “Thrasyas, the Mantinian, stated that by making use of the +juices of cicuta, the poppy and such other things, he had discovered a +substance which occasioned death easily and without pain, and so +portable and minute that the weight of a δραχμή (about sixty grains) was +sufficient and absolutely irremediable.” Further, that it was capable of +being preserved for any time without alteration. That a powerful +preparation and certain in effect was required at the time of the death +of Socrates, is evident from the caution of the executioner, who states +that none of the contents of the cup could be spared. Judging from all +accounts, and the evidence afforded by the description of its action, +there seems little doubt that the Athenian State Poison consisted of +hemlock, probably in the form of the concentrated juice of the leaves, +to which a proportion of poppy juice was added to render its action more +certain. + +A curious custom prevailed among the inhabitants of the island of Ceos +in which poison played a part. When the old men found they were no +longer of service to the State and began to feel life a burden, they +assembled at a banquet of death and, with their heads crowned with +chaplets, cheerfully drained the poison cup. A relic of this ancient +custom was once practised at Marseilles, where a poison was kept by the +public authorities, of which hemlock was an ingredient. A dose of this +was allowed by the magistrates to anyone who could bring a sufficient +reason why he should deserve death. Valerius Maximus observes, “This +custom came from Greece, particularly from the island of Ceos, where I +saw an example of it in a woman of great quality who, having lived very +happy ninety years, obtained leave to die in this way, lest by living +longer she should happen to see a change of her good fortune.” + +The reputed poisonous property of bull’s blood is recorded by various +ancient writers, and it is stated that Æson, Midas King of Phrygia, +Plutarch and Themistocles the Athenian leader employed it as a means of +suicide. It is probable that some strong poisonous vegetable substance +such as cicuta was mixed with it. + +The symptoms and signs which were accepted in early times as evidence of +poisoning are sufficiently crude to inspire us with considerable doubt +as to the reliability of many of the cases narrated. That there were +certain post-mortem appearances which were generally considered as +evidence of death by poison is recorded by Cicero, Tacitus and other +early writers. In the account given by Suetonius of the death of +Germanicus, who was poisoned by Piso at the instance of Tiberius, they +are enumerated as “livid spots on the face and body, and foam at the +mouth.” It was further generally believed that worms could not generate +in the bodies of persons who had died from the effect of poison. + +Dioscorides throws a further light on the poisons of antiquity in his +work on Materia Medica, which for fifteen centuries or more remained the +chief authority on that subject. He mentions cantharides, copper, +mercury, lead and arsenic. Among the animal poisons he includes toads, +salamanders, poisonous snakes, a peculiar kind of honey, and the blood +of the ox, probably after it had decomposed. The sea-hare is frequently +alluded to by the ancient Greeks, and was evidently regarded by them as +capable of producing a very powerful poison. Domitian is said to have +administered it to Titus. It is supposed to have been one of the genus +Aplysia, among the gasteropods, and is described by the old writers as a +dreadful object which was neither to be touched nor looked upon with +safety. + +Among the poisonous plants enumerated by Dioscorides are the poppy, +black and white hellebore, henbane, mandragora, hemlock, elaterium, the +juices of a species of euphorbia, and apocynae. 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, in the form of the native realgar and orpiment, +was employed by the Greeks as a caustic and for removing hair from the +face; but no mention is made of it being used internally or as a poison. +Copper, mercury, and lead were also 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. + +Theophrastus states that the poison of most subtle operation of his time +was extracted from wolf’s bane (aconite); no antidote had been +discovered to this poison and it was a capital crime to have in one’s +possession the plant from which it was extracted. He tells us that in +Ethiopia “there grows a certain deadly root, with which the people smear +their arrows,” and “In Scythia there are others some of which kill at +once those who eat them, some after an interval shorter or longer, so +that in the latter case men have a lingering death.” He thus relates the +story of one Thrasyas of Mantineia, who had discovered + + +“a poison which produces an easy and painless end; he used the juices of +hemlock, poppy, and other such herbs, so compounded as to make a dose of +conveniently small size, weighing only somewhat less than a quarter of +an ounce. For the effects of this compound there is absolutely no cure, +and it will keep any length of time without losing its virtue at all. He +used to gather his hemlock, not just anywhere, but at Susa, or some +other cold and shady spot; and so too with the other ingredients. His +pupil Alexias was also clever and no less skilful than his master, being +also versed in the science of medicine generally. + +“At last Eudemus, the vendor of drugs, who had a high reputation in his +business, after making a wager that he would experience no effect before +sunset, drank quite a moderate dose, and it proved too strong for his +power of resistance: while the Chian Eudemus took a draught of hellebore +and was not purged. And on one occasion he said that in a single day he +took two and twenty draughts in the market-place as he sat at his stall, +and did not leave the place till it was evening, and then he went home +and had a bath and dined, and was not sick. However, this man was able +to hold out because he had provided himself with an antidote; for he +said that after the seventh dose he took a draught of tart vinegar with +pumice-stone dust in it, and later on took a draught of the same in wine +in like manner; and that the virtue of the pumice-stone dust is so great +that if one puts it into a boiling pot of wine it causes it to cease to +boil, not merely for the moment, but altogether, clearly because it has +a drying effect and it catches the vapour and passes it off. It was by +this antidote that Eudemus was able to contain himself in spite of the +large quantity of hellebore which he took.” + + +Livy records that about 200 B.C. several persons of distinction died in +a mysterious way in Rome. At first it was thought that they had +succumbed to plague, but Quintus Fabius Maximus is said to have been +informed by a female slave, that the persons had been poisoned and that +she could reveal the names of the guilty. The matter was laid before the +consuls and the Senate. The stipulated pardon was granted, and, guided +by the slave, the officers of justice are said to have discovered the +poisoners, among whom were women belonging to the noblest families of +Rome. Twenty in all were seized; two of them, Cornelia and Serpi, +undertook to speak for the rest, and declared that the drugs they had +prepared were medicinal. They were told that to prove this, the +preparation they had made would be tried on themselves and to this test +they agreed. After drinking the draughts it is said they all died. One +hundred and seventy more of the noblest ladies of Rome were seized, on +similar information and condemned, and before that day, says Livy, there +was never an inquest on poisoning. To mark this memorable example of +what had never been done before, it was resolved to have a nail driven +into the temple of Jupiter. A dictator was appointed for that mystic +duty, a master of the horse, and he drove a nail into the temple of +Jupiter, after which a stop was put to poisoning for two or three +centuries. + +Unfortunately, however, the method of taking life by poisons did not die +out, but apparently increased and became very common in Rome under the +early Emperors. Among these nefarious practitioners, mostly apparently +women, was Locusta, who lived in the time of Nero. She had been +condemned to death for a case proved against her, but her life was +spared, so that she might use her nefarious methods in the service of +the State. She was employed by Agrippina to poison the Emperor Claudius +and to her is attributed the death of Britannicus, whom Nero wished to +remove from his path. 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. 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, became terror-stricken, but Nero, unmoved, calmly remarked that +he often had such fits in his youth without danger, and the banquet +proceeded. + +A curious tradition which has survived from early times, and still +entertained by the ignorant, is, that if a body after a sudden death +rapidly decomposes, it is to be attributed to the effects of poison, +thus when Britannicus died it is recorded that the Romans attempted to +conceal his discoloured face by the use of paint. + +Locusta appears to have been appointed a kind of unofficial +poisoner-in-ordinary to the Emperor, one of her duties being to train +pupils so that her secrets should not be lost. She was encouraged to +experiment with her knowledge on slaves, who were liberally supplied for +the purpose. + +The Persians in ancient times are said to have studied with care the art +of poisoning. Plutarch and Ctesias relate that Queen Parysatis, the +mother of Cyrus the younger, during the reign of Artaxerxes II (405–359 +B.C.), poisoned her daughter-in-law Statira by means of a knife, one +side of the blade being smeared with venom. A bird was set before the +two queens at supper and was divided by the poisoned knife; Parysatis +ate her half with impunity, but Statira died. Such is the story, but +there is no evidence to corroborate it. The Carthaginians were +apparently also skilled in the art of poisons, and it is related that +they killed Regulus, the Roman general, by this means. + +With reference to the use of poisons in Persia in early times the poet +Nizámi, in his _Treasury of Secrets_, relates a story of rivalry between +two court physicians which finally reached such a point that they +challenged one another to a duel or ordeal by poison. It was agreed that +each should take a poison supplied by his antagonist, of which he should +then endeavour to counteract the effects by a suitable antidote. The +first prepared a poisonous draught “the fierceness of which would have +melted black stone”; his rival drained the cup and at once took an +antidote which rendered it innocuous. It was now his turn, and he picked +a rose from the garden, breathed an incantation over it, and bade his +antagonist smell it, whereupon the latter at once fell down dead. That +his death was due simply to fear and not to any poisonous or magical +property of the rose is clearly indicated by the poet: + + “Through this rose which the spell-breather had given him + Fear overmastered the foe and he gave up the ghost. + That one by treatment expelled the poison from his body, + While this one died of a rose from fear.” + +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 +would busy himself in turning over every stone he met with as if on some +important pursuit. The camp was full of unhappy men digging up and +removing stones, till at last they were carried off by bilious +vomiting.” Whole numbers, says Plutarch, 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. + +There is a story told of Alexander the Great that after crossing the +Cydenus, he was seized with a fever and was warned by Parmenio in a +letter not to take the medicine which his physician offered to him for +fear of poison. The physician’s name was Philip, and Alexander so +trusted him that he gave him the letter to read, scanning his face +meanwhile. The calm air of the physician satisfied the ailing conqueror +and assured him that he might safely drink the potion. + +The death of Alexander the Great, like that of many other monarchs, is +ascribed by some historians to poison, but from Littré’s investigations +it would appear that the great Emperor, debilitated by his drinking +habits, contracted malarial fever in the marshes round Babylon and died +after an illness of eleven days. + +In India and the Far East, poisons have been used from very early times, +not only for the destruction of human life, but also for destroying +animals; arsenic, aconite, opium and many other poisonous mineral and +vegetable substances being employed for the purpose. + +The Hindus have many curious traditions concerning poisons, and like the +Western nations attribute to some the property of causing a lingering +death, which can be controlled by the will of the poisoner. The +knowledge of the substances employed is guarded with great secrecy and +even now they are not fully known. Blyth mentions a mysterious substance +known in India, called _Mucor phycomyces_, which is said to be a species +of fungus. When the spores are administered in warm water they are said +to attach themselves to the throat and speedily develop and grow, with +the result that in a few weeks the respiratory organs are attacked and +the victim is rapidly carried off as if by a fatal disease. Nine active +or virulent poisonous substances are mentioned by the ancient writers on +Hindu medicine. Some of them are at present still unidentified, while +others, there is little doubt, are varieties of aconite, also opium, +ganja (_Cannabis indica_), datura stramonium, the roots of _Nerium +odorum_, and _Gloriosa superba_, the milky juices of _Calatropis +gigantea_ and _Euphorbia neriifolia_, white arsenic, orpiment and the +poison venom from snakes. + +Most of the early Sanscrit MSS. are written on paper prepared with +orpiment to preserve them from the ravages of insects. Three varieties +of datura yield atropine, a powerful poison. These plants were +frequently employed in India for putting a sudden end to domestic +quarrels, and to this practice may be traced the origin of the custom of +“Suttee,” or widow-burning, as the Brahmins found from experience that +by making a wife’s life co-terminous with the husband’s, the average +husband lived considerably longer. It is worthy of note that the diamond +was celebrated as a medicinal agent by the Hindus, who prepared it by +roasting it seven times and then reducing it to powder. It was given in +doses of one grain as a powerful tonic. + +Both the Chinese and Japanese, from ancient times down to the present +day, have paid a great deal of attention to the study of poisons. From +an early period the Chinese are said to have used gold leaf for suicidal +purposes, and at the present time when a high official puts an end to +his life it is officially announced that he has “taken gold leaf.” + +At the time of the death of the Emperor Kwang Su, the cause of which was +enveloped in mystery, it was rumoured that he did not die from natural +causes, but committed suicide by request. For some time previous to his +death, it is said that the Emperor had led a miserable existence and was +simply a ruler in name. The Dowager-Empress, Tzu Hsi, had resolved that +her nephew should precede her to the tomb. She therefore convoked the +Grand Council and as a result of this conclave it was announced that +Kwang Su was dangerously ill from heart disease, but the offers of the +foreign Legations to send their medical officers were firmly declined. + +According to the story “at ten o’clock next morning the Chief Eunuch, +with two confidential attendants, entered the Little Palace where the +Emperor was confined, and after having ordered everybody out of the room +he declared to Kwang Su that the Empress was dying, and that it was +needful for him to predecease her. + +“He then deposited on a table, pills of opium, a packet of gold leaf, +and some yellow silk plaited cord, promising to return in three hours’ +time. If he found that neither the opium nor the gold leaf had been used +it would be his painful duty to call upon the two assistants to strangle +him with the silken cord. Meanwhile, the two executioners would watch +the door of the room. It should be explained that a piece of fine +gold-leaf is placed over the lips, and, the breath being deeply drawn, +it is inhaled and obstructs the glottis, causing immediate suffocation.” + +When the Chief Eunuch returned at one o’clock, he found the opium pills +had disappeared and Kwang Su was stretched unconscious on his couch, but +still breathing. It was stated that he died at five o’clock, and the +three-year-old Pou Yi was at once brought to the Imperial Palace and +proclaimed Emperor. + +The Japanese are said to import from China certain powerful poisons +prepared by the Chinese medicine-men, the secret of which is only known +to them. They are thought to be a mixture of both animal and mineral +substances which have a very deadly effect, though their exact +composition is yet undetermined. + + + + + CHAPTER III + ANTIDOTES TO POISON IN ANCIENT TIMES + + +Judging from the earliest laws on record, criminal poisoning does not +appear to have been common amongst the ancient Egyptians or Hebrews. + +The first recorded instance of a judicial trial for poisoning at Rome is +stated by Livy to have been in the year 329 B.C. In the time of +Justinian (A.D. 483–565) the aid of the physician was called in +specially during the investigation of crime. According to the institutes +or laws of that period, those who by odious arts, whether by poison or +by “magical whispers” (incantations), took away the life of another, +were punished with death. A contract for the sale of a poison was also +held to be void “on the analogy of the contracts of partnership and +agency which have no power to deal with improper matters.” + +It seems appropriate that the first law to regulate the sale of poisons +should have been enacted in Italy. Thus as early as 1365 a statute was +passed in Siena rendering it illegal to sell red arsenic or corrosive +sublimate to any slave, freed or otherwise, or to any servant or person +under twenty years of age. These poisons could only be sold to an adult +who was well known to the apothecary. There was also a law in Perugia in +1378 which enacted that a person could not obtain a poison without the +express permission of a doctor, which permit should state the purpose +for which it was intended to be used. The statutes of Genoa (1488) +amongst other items demanded that in no medicament should substitution +be allowed, or as the statute reads “Ponere quid pro quo” without the +doctor’s express permission. The pharmacist was to be careful that honey +was not substituted for sugar, nor that the latter should serve as a +cover for the former, and that he should put neither rice nor starch in +anything composed of sugar, in whole or in part. + +In ancient times there is little doubt that many people died from the +effects of poison without suspicion, although on the other hand many +more succumbed to the sudden effects of latent and unrecognized +diseases, such as aneurism, peritonitis and others of which practically +nothing was known, whose deaths were wrongfully attributed to poison. +Before the period of judicial post-mortem examination, the practice was +to expose the bodies for inspection to those who were believed to be +able to form a sufficiently accurate judgment for themselves as to the +cause of death. + +It was believed that poisonous substances had a peculiar action on the +heart and were capable of altering its substance in such a manner that +it resisted the action of a funeral pyre and remained unconsumed. When +the heart resisted the pyre it was regarded as unmistakable evidence +that the person had perished by poison. If, in addition, the body from +any cause rapidly decomposed, such a sign was at once believed to be +conclusive of death from poison. This belief prevailed to a greater or +lesser extent down to the middle of the seventeenth century. + +From the time man first discovered the effects of poisonous substances, +he no doubt began to consider some means of preventing their action if +taken internally by accident. He sought also to find protection against +the bites of venomous animals, reptiles and mad dogs. Homer (900 B.C.) +in the “Odyssey,” in the account of Ulysses’ men, alludes to a plant +which Hermes recommended him to take when he set out to rescue his +followers:— + + “Then take the antidote the Gods provide + The plant I give through all the direful power + Shall guard thee and avert the evil hour.” + +This is thought to refer to a herb called moli or molu which is often +mentioned by ancient writers. It is alluded to by Theophrastus, Ovid, +Pliny, Dioscorides and Galen and it was considered to be a species of +Allium. It is described by some as a plant having an onion or +squill-like odour, and was said to grow in Arcadia and Campania. + +The Hindus, like other ancient peoples, also had an idea of a universal +antidote against poisons, as expressed by the word “agada.” + +Apparently the ambition of the early Greek physicians was to discover a +universal antidote to all poisons, and many of them appear to have +devoted years and spent a great part of their lives in attempting to +find it. These antidotes were called by the Greeks Alexipharmics, or +Theriacs, the former word being derived from the Greek “Alexipharmakos,” +meaning that which keeps off a poison, and the noun “antipharmakon,” an +antidote. + +One of the earliest writers on the subject was Nicander of Colophon +(185–135 B.C.), who was physician to Attalus, King of Bithynia, under +whom he is said to have secured special facilities for studying poisons, +being allowed to experiment upon condemned criminals. He was an +hereditary priest of Apollo at Clarus. He wrote a work in about a +thousand hexameters on + + Theriaca, which deals with the bites of venomous animals and six + hundred hexameters on + + Alexipharmica, which treats of poisonous substances when swallowed by + the mouth, and the use of emetics. + +Theriaca became an actual substance and differed from the +_Alexipharmica_, which was more a method of treatment. This division was +afterwards adopted by all the subsequent early writers on the subject, +including Dioscorides, Galen, Aetius, Paulus Aegineta, Avicenna and +Rhazes. + +From the first century theriaca was regarded as a very important +compound, and in the endeavour to secure the most effective combination +for the purpose, the most extraordinary formulæ containing a large +number of ingredients, were devised by various physicians. The general +treatment recommended by Nicander for the bites of all venomous animals +was sucking the wound, applying cupping vessels to it, cauteries and +leeches, and afterwards administering stimulant medicines. + +Respecting the sucking of a wound, he gives an important injunction that +the person who sucks the wound should not be fasting, from which it may +be gathered that he was aware of the physiological fact that the vessels +absorb more readily when in an empty state. + +Nicander’s particular remedies were such drugs as birthwort, alkanet, +and theriaca of vipers, which was prepared with a great many aromatic +roots and fruits, including ginger, cinnamon, myrrh, iris and gentian. +In his work he mentions twenty-two poisonous substances including: + +Aconite (wolf’s bane), litharge (lead oxide), buprestis (a beetle +resembling cantharides), ceruse (white lead), conium (hemlock), +cantharides, hyoscyamus (henbane), ixias (probably a species of +chameleon), coagulated milk, sea-hare, poppy (opium), pharicum (probably +a composition of agaric), the red toad and marsh frog, the salamander, +bull’s blood, taxus (yew), and toxicum (an unknown poison). As antidotes +he recommends warm oil, warm water and mallow or linseed tea to excite +vomiting. + +From this list we have some idea of the knowledge of poisons at that +period. Most of the substances enumerated are of vegetable or animal +origin, few of the soluble mineral poisons being known at that time. + +Galen noticed that opium dissolved in a small quantity of wine produced +stronger effects than when given alone, and that when a larger draught +of wine was given, it proved an antidote by counteracting the narcotic +powers of the opium. He stated that he once cured a person reduced to +the last stage of coma by the administration of strong wine. + +Dioscorides also dealt very largely with this subject, and, like +Nicander directs that “the person who sucks the poisoned wound be not +fasting and that he shall keep some oil in his mouth.” The wound is then +to be fomented with a sponge and scarified or cut out, a method on which +there is no improvement at the present time. Cauterization with fire is +another method which Dioscorides recommends, and for the bite of a +venomous serpent known to be fatal, he advises immediate amputation to +save life. + +According to Pliny and Galen, the formula for the first theriaca against +the bites of all venomous animals was inscribed in verse on a stone in +the temple of Asklepios on the island of Cos. It contained wild thyme, +opoponax, aniseed, fennel, parsley, meum and ammi. These were to be +beaten up with meal of fitches (ervum ervilla), passed through a sieve, +kneaded with wine, cut into lozenges of the weight of half a denarius +(30 grammes), one to be placed in three cyathi (about five ounces) of +wine and swallowed. + +The next theriaca in antiquity is that originated by Antiochus the +Third, King of Syria and Babylon, who flourished about 223 B.C. He is +said to have devised a compound that was proof against the bites of all +venomous animals and reptiles except the asp. + +One of the most celebrated of the theriaca was that of Mithridates VI +(120–63 B.C.), King of Pontus in Asia Minor. From the constant +apprehension of being poisoned by his enemies, Mithridates is said to +have rendered himself immune from their effects by taking small doses of +poisonous substances daily in combination with the antidote he devised, +and thus believed himself poison-proof. For many years he carried on +warfare with the Romans, but was finally defeated by Pompey, and, not +wishing to fall into the hands of his enemies, he put an end to his +life. After the conquest Pompey is said to have captured the coveted +formula among the secret papers of the King. + +This compound contained fifty-four ingredients, which were prepared in +the form of a conserve or electuary. Needless to say this elaborate +remedy would be quite useless as an antidote to any poisonous substance, +but judging from what Pliny tells us of some of the so-called poisons +known to Mithridates, such as “the blood of a duck found in a certain +district of Pontus” which was supposed to live on poisonous food, it is +no wonder he had a belief in its efficacy. Curiously enough, Mithridates +employed the duck’s blood as an ingredient in the later modifications of +his theriaca, and he tells us that he did so because he observed that +“these ducks fed on poisonous plants and suffered no harm.” + +Another theriaca is attributed to Zopyros, a Greek physician of +Alexandria, about 80 B.C. He named his formula “Ambrosia,” and it +contained frankincense, galbanum, pepper and other aromatic substances, +made into a conserve with boiled honey. A piece the size of an Egyptian +bean was directed to be taken, washed down with a draught of wine. + +Equally celebrated was the theriaca of Philon of Tarsus, who is said to +have lived in the early part of the first century and recorded his +formula in symbolic Greek verse. Galen mentions that it had a great +reputation for a long time and was one of the most famous compounds of +the kind. It contained such curious substances as “the red hair of a lad +whose blood had been shed on the fields of Mercury,” which was possibly +symbolic language for suffering, and certain drugs the names of which +are disguised in mystic language. The whole of the mixture was to be +made into a conserve with “the work of the Daughters of the Bull of +Athens” which is supposed to mean Attic honey. + +The Theriaca Philonium survived over 1,700 years and has an interesting +history. It passed into many of the pharmacopœias of Europe, remaining +in the _London Pharmacopœia_ until 1746, when it was composed of opium, +pepper, ginger, caraway, syrup, honey and wine. Until 1746 it was called +“Philonium Romanum,” but was then changed to “Philonium Londonense,” and +syrup of poppies was substituted for the honey. It is probable that this +mixture was originally intended as a remedy for a peculiar form of colic +which became epidemic in Rome when Philon flourished there. Philon’s +formula formed the basis of what was afterwards known as Confection of +Opium and remained in the _London Pharmacopœia_ until 1867. + +The Theriaca which eclipsed all others in fame and popularity was that +originated by Andromachus, physician to Nero (A.D. 37–68). So much did +the Emperor appreciate his physician’s efforts to devise a universal +antidote that he raised him to the dignity of Archiatrus. The Theriaca +of Andromachus was claimed to be an improvement on that of Mithridates, +until then the greatest antidote in Roman pharmacy. He added vipers to +the compound and called his theriaca “Galene.” Like other physicians of +his time Andromachus wrote his formula and described its virtues in +Greek verse, which he dedicated to Nero. He claimed that it would +“counteract all poisons and bites of venomous animals and that it would +also relieve all pain, weakness of the stomach, asthma, difficulty of +breathing, phthisis, colic, jaundice, dropsy, weakness of sight, +inflammation of the bladder and kidneys, and plague.” It was indeed a +panacea for all complaints. + +Galen states that he tested this antidote by giving it to a number of +fowls to which he had first administered a poison. Those to which the +theriaca had been given survived, but all the others died. He says that +it resisted poison and venomous bites and cured a great many diseases. +The original formula contained no less than seventy-three ingredients, +including dried vipers. This remarkable preparation remained in popular +use throughout the Middle Ages and is still made and sold in the drug +bazaar of Constantinople and also in some parts of Italy. + +About the year A.D. 50 the Theriaca of Democrates became famous. This +was similar to the compound of Andromachus, the formula for which +Democrates, a Greek physician then living in Rome, translated into +verse. Other formulæ were originated by Nicolaus of Salerno, Amando, +Arnauld and Abano, each of whom added something to the original formula. +These preparations may be said to have reached their zenith in the +sixteenth century when Pietro Andrea Matthiolus, the commentator of +Dioscorides, published another formula which contained no less than two +hundred and fifty separate substances, including dried vipers, pearls, +red coral and emeralds. This formula in a modified form was included in +the _London Pharmacopœia_ in 1618 and remained an official remedy until +1746. + +Several cities became celebrated for the manufacture of Theriaca, +including Cairo, Florence, Genoa, Bologna and Venice. The Theriaca of +Venice or Treacle, as it was called, contained sixty-one ingredients, +had a reputation throughout Europe and was included in the _London +Pharmacopœia_ down to 1746. In Bologna the mixing of the Theriaca was +carried out with great ceremony in the courtyard of the ancient +Archiginnasio in the presence of the chief officials of the city. The +ingredients were mixed under the supervision of the medical professors +of the University to ensure of it being faithfully and properly +compounded. From the fourteenth to the seventeenth century it was +regarded as a remedy for plague and was used in great quantities. +Evelyn, in his Diary, March 23, 1646, thus alludes to the Theriaca of +Venice— + + +“Having packed up my purchases of books, pictures, casts, treacle, etc. +(the making and extraordinary ceremony whereof I had been curious to +observe, for it is extremely pompous and worth seeing) I departed from +Venice.” + + +The great consumption of this medicament in the sixteenth century is +evidenced by Morgan, Apothecary to Queen Elizabeth, who in a pamphlet +insists that a product that he had made had been compared with other +“theriacle” brought from Constantinople and Venice and had been +commended. + + +“It is very lamentable to consider,” he writes “that straungers doe +dayly send into England a false and naughty kinde of Mithridatium and +Threacle in great barrelles more than a thousand weight in a year, and +vtter ye same at a lowe price for 3_d._, and 4_d._ a pound, to ye great +hurt of Her Majesties subjects and no small gaine to straungers purses.” + + +In 1612, it is recorded that the Master and Wardens of the Grocers’ +Company of London marked that “a filthy and unwholesome baggage +composition was being brought into this Realm as Tryacle of Genoa, made +only of the rotten garble and refuse outcast of all kinds of spices and +drugs, hand overhead with a little filthy molasses and tarre to worke it +up withal.” This was communicated to the College of Physicians, and they +set about not only to devise their own formula, but to superintend its +manufacture, which was then entrusted to William Besse, an apothecary in +the Poultry. Besse was made to take a “corporal oath” before the Lord +Mayor, and every year when he made the confection had to show the +ingredients and the product to the College of Physicians. His treacle +was sold at not above 2_s._ 8_d._ per lb. or 2_d._ per ounce. + +The use, however, of this medicament in Great Britain goes back to a +much earlier period. It was recommended to Alfred the Great by Helia, +the Patriarch of Jerusalem, according to an Anglo-Saxon MS. of the +eleventh century. It is again mentioned by Foucher de Chartres in 1124, +who states it was used in the first Crusade. It is recorded in a Close +Roll of King John in 1208, and a “triacle box du pere apelle une Hakette +garniz d’or” is mentioned amongst the precious effects of Henry V. + +Prosper Alpinus, the physician of Padua, who travelled in Egypt in 1591, +refers to the manufacture of Theriaca in Cairo and states that it was +only allowed to be made in public, and that the ceremony was performed +once a year in the Mosque of Morestan by the chief apothecary of the +city in the presence of all the physicians. He states that at that time +Italians, Germans, Poles, Flemings, Englishmen and Frenchmen came to +Cairo to purchase this true Theriaca. + +Much more might be written describing the making of this ancient and +interesting medicament, which has a literature of its own, but it will +be sufficient to quote one more account from the Regulations and +Statutes of Montpellier, where the compounding was also carried out with +great ceremony. + +According to a report by Laurens Catelan, Master Apothecary in Ordinary +to Monseigneur the Prince of Condé, it was required that the preparation +should be made in public in the presence of the very illustrious +professors of the famous Faculty of Medicine so that they might have the +opportunity of censuring or approving the ingredients and that the +public might therefore be sure of the virtue of these important +medicines. + +It may well be asked what was the rationale of administering these +extraordinary compounds which survived for centuries. All that can be +said is, that these complex mixtures of gums, balsams and aromatic +substances would probably have some antiseptic action on the alimentary +and internal organs. They were generally directed to be given with wine +which would aid this effect and, at any rate, would have a reviving and +stimulating effect on the individual, but no real antidotal properties +can be ascribed to them. + +The search for antidotes to poison was not confined entirely to the Old +World, for according to the _Carolina Gazette_ of May 9, 1750, the +General Assembly, the Governing Body of the Colony, authorized the +publication of “Nigger Caeser’s cure for poison.” The General Assembly +had purchased Nigger Caeser’s freedom, who was apparently a slave, and +granted him £100 a year for life as the price of his formula, which +consisted of roots of plantain and wild horehound, 3 oz. boiled together +in 2 quarts of water down to 1 quart and strained. Of this, one-third +was to be given every morning fasting for three consecutive mornings. +Certain dieting was also required, and it is stated that if in the three +days’ treatment no benefit had resulted, it was a sign that the patient +had either not been poisoned at all or had been by such poisons as +Caeser’s antidote would not remedy. + + + + + CHAPTER IV + PREVENTIVE METHODS AND SUBSTANCES USED AGAINST POISONS + + +Among the famous medicaments of antiquity reputed to be effective in +counteracting poisons was “terra sigillata” or “sealed earth,” a +peculiar clay which originally came from the Isle of Lemnos. Its +reputation dates from the time of Herodotus, and it continues in use in +Turkey and some parts of the East to-day. This red clay was formerly +excavated from the side of a certain hill on August 6, with great +ceremony, in the presence of the principal inhabitants of the island. +The ceremony was originally associated with the worship of Diana and was +carried out on May 6, each year. This particular earth was not allowed +to be dug by anyone on any other day of the year except that formally +set apart for the operation. + +According to Dioscorides, the clay was made into a paste in his time +with goats’ blood, and the Greeks stamped or sealed the earth with a +representation of Diana, one of the goddesses associated with healing, +and this seal was regarded as sacred. It had a universal reputation as +an antidote to all poisons, and a poisoned liquid drunk from a cup made +from the clay was believed to be harmless. The earth was so called on +account of the seal stamped upon it in proof of its being genuine. + +So great was the demand for the famous “terra sigillata” of Lemnos from +the thirteenth to the fifteenth century that many other earths, for +which similar properties were claimed, were exploited and recommended in +books on medicine of the period. Thus a “terra sigillata” was made in +Cilicia (Silesia), also in several districts of Italy, in Malta and in +Palestine. In England a clay was found which was said to have the same +properties. It entered into the composition of many important remedies, +including the Theriaca of Andromachus, and was regarded generally as +being an antidote against all deadly poisons. + +On analysis made some years ago “terra sigillata” was found to consist +of oxides of iron, aluminium, and magnesia, with a proportion of +silicates. The whole formed an astringent and absorbent earth, its chief +virtues probably being, like many other ancient remedies, chiefly due to +the mystery surrounding its origin and the superstition connected with +its source.[4] + +Footnote 4: + + See “Terra Sigillata, a famous Medicament of Ancient Times,” C. J. S. + Thompson, _Proceedings 17th International Congress of Medicine_, + London, 1913. + +A curious account of how its value was once tested is recorded in the +following grant dated 1580, made by Prince William, the Landgrave of +Hesse, to Andreas Bertoldus of Oschatz:— + + +Be it knowen unto all persons, that an honest man called Bertold of +Oschatz, came into the presence of the most noble Prince and Lord, the +Lord William Landgraue of Hesse Court of Catzenelnbogen Ditz, Ziegenheim +and Nidda etc., our gracious Lord and prince, and in humble manner +declared unto him, that hee had found in an olde mine of Golde within +the dominion of Schneidnitz, a new kinde of earth, which is a present +help and a most notable remedie against all manner of poysons and +sundrie diseases, which earth having a stampe upon it he offered to sell +unto his Excellencie: who not trusting the man upon his bare worde, +committed the matter to his Phisitions Maurice Thauern, and Laurence +Hyper: Commanding them to make a perfect tryall of the saide earth, +whereupon the saide Doctors in Phisicke to satisfie their Prince, did +make a double proffe of the deadliest poysons that might be, which were, +Mercurie Sublimate, Aconitum, Nereum and Apocinum, and of some one of +these they gave halfe a dramme a peece to eight dogges, to four of them +they gave the earth, after the poyson, and to the other foure the poyson +alone: of these foure that tooke it alone, the first that tooke +Apocynum: dyed within halfe an houre, the second that has taken Nereum +died within foure houres: the third that swallowed Mercurie, died within +nine houres after. And although they all did call up some part of the +poyson, yet after most cruell tormentes with crampes and trembling they +died: the fourth dogge that eat Aconitum, systeyned thirteene great +panges of the crampe, so as every man thought hee woulde have died with +his fellowes, yet lived he the first day, and having half of the dose of +this medicine given him, he thoroughly recovered. The other foure dogges +to whom the poysons before named with the like quantities of this Terra +Sigillata was given, for three houres after the receiving of it, were +very sicke and feeble, especially one of them to whom the double +quantitie of Aconitum by negligence was given, vomited thrise: the next +day they were all well and did eate their meate greedily, so as there +appeared scarse any token of poyson. + +When thus his Highnesse had seene the experience of this earth to bee so +present a remedie against such deadly poysons, and that the saide Andrew +Bertold had humbly craved his letters of credite, both in the favour of +man and advancement of the truth, that others might have knowledge, he +denied not to graunt them: But commanded that his letter, testimonial +sealed with his Highnesse his privie seale, and subscribed with the +handes of the foresaid Doctors, in whose presence this triall was made, +should be given unto him. Which we the above named Doctors upon our +allegiance to his Highnesse, and for the furtherance of the truth, +because we found it as hath beene declared to be true and unseyned, most +willingly have done. Given the XXVIII of July, the yeare of our Lorde +1580. + + MAURITIUS THAUER, D. + LAURENCIUS HYPERIUS, M.D. + IOHAN KRUG. + + +Another document regarding a trial of the “terra sigillata” is as +follows:— + + +A copie of the Letters Pattents which the noble earle Wolfgan earle of +Holenhoe, Lord of Langenburg, etc. Had graunted to Andrewe Bertolde +Oschatz, in witnes of the wonderful vertues of the Terra Sigillata, +found latly in Germaine which hath been tried to be an approved medicine +against the strongest poysons, and sundrie other grieues: faithfully +translated out of the Germaine Originall. + +We Wolfgangus, Earle of Holenhoe, Lorde of Langenburge Hc. Do openile +make known unto all men by these my Letters, Testimoniall, that there +came lately before me at Langenburge, my well-beloved friende Andreas +Bertoldus of Oschatz, and declared unto mee that he had a most excellent +kinde of Terra Sigillata, which was not al onely of great force against +sundrie diseases: but also a most undouted remedie against all manner of +venemous poisons, as had beene proved by sundrie witnessess upon a great +number of dogges, which made me also desirous to see the triall of it. +It happened at the same time, that one called Wendel Thumblardt was by +our Lieuetenant of Langenburg for certain felonies imprisoned, who being +examined by our Justices, confessed himselfe guilty of a great number of +robberies: And therefore brought to the barre was condemned to bee +hanged. Being yet detained in prison, and coming to his eare that there +was such a medicine, so soueraigne against sundrie sicknessess, and the +most deadly poisons, he made humble request as well by his parents, as +by other his friends, of which there were present no small number, +desiring for the mercie of God, and respect of his poore life, that +being thus condemned, he might have given unto him the most deadly +poison that might be devised, whereby a perfit triall might bee had of +the worthiness of this medicinable earth. And in this respect, not onely +for this pittiful request of his: but also for the commoditie and +benefite of all Christendome, (if so be the medicine proove answearable +to the report). Pardoning the offender, wee graunted his life on that +condicion. Therefore the day of the date of these present, and our +welbeloved Cosin the Countie George Friderick of Holenhoe, and the Lord +of Langenburg, and in the presence of all our Nobilitie and Commons, the +said patient received a dram and a halfe of Mercurie Sublimate, mingled +with Conserue of Roses, and immediately after it he drank a dram of the +Terra Sigillata in olde wine. And albeit the poison did in the judgment +of our learned Phisition George Pistor Doctor of Phisicke, and John +Lutzen our Apothecarie, who were both by him all the while, extremely +torment and vexe him: yet in the end the medicine prevailing overcame +it, whereby the poore wretch was delivered, and being restored to his +health was commited to his parents. Whereas therefore the foresaid +Andrew Bertold, hath humbly required to have our Letters Testimoniall +for his farther credite, wee have thought good for the furtherance and +advancement of the truth, to graunt him these our Letters, signed with +our seale Manuell. Given at Langenburg the 25th of Januarie, in the +yeare of our Lord, 1581. + + +Petrus Oponus or Petri de Abano (1250–1303), so called from his +birthplace, Abano, wrote a work entitled “De Remediis Venenorum” in the +thirteenth century in which he gives the following poisons known in his +time, many of which, however, are innocuous. He mentions mercury, +gypsum, copper, iron rust, magnetite (magnetic stone), lapis lazuli, +arsenic sublimate, litharge, lead, realgar, cateputia juice, cucumber +juice, usnea, coriander juice, mandragora, poppy, opium, scammony, +aconite, oleander juice, hellebore juice, mezereon juice, +fool’s-parsley, briony, nux vomica, colocynth, laurel berries, poppy, +cicuta, serpentary and cantharides. + +Certain charms were believed to act as antidotes to poison and the two +following quotations are taken from a MS. by Petrus Hispanus (Pope John +XXI) in the fourteenth century:— + + + CONTRA VENENUM + +[Illustration] + + “Scribe nota nostra i lamina loctonus ut alio quoque + comodo et lana et dari biber et abent scribi + cum moro ut cumque nio alio nota sit nota et sine + scripta 7 lineis past.” + +[Illustration] + + “Zaare. Zaare Zaam, Zaare + Zaare ssleqer Bohorum, nabarayn + Uessally—uessredaza—asseyan—Haurahe + reamue—ayn latinume quene: + draytery, nuyyeri, quibari, yeh ay + hahanny ymkatrum hanitanery vnerym + caruhe tahuene cehue beyne + et Lana cuz aqua ... dame bibere.” + + +The so-called Toadstone has from early times been reputed to possess the +property of counteracting the effect of poisons. These stones were +believed to be found in the heads of old toads which, when caught, were +placed on a red cloth and the stone recovered through the mouth. Pomet, +who wrote in the seventeenth century, threw doubt on this source of +origin and states that “toad stones are found in the mountains or +plains, although he would not dispute that they might have been bred in +the heads of old toads.” He describes two kinds, “the round and the +long: the former being of a deep grey inclining to blue; the long being +redder grey with reddish spots. It is false that they change colour and +sweat when they approach the cup wherein there is poison.” + +Lemery, a French writer of the same period, in describing these stones, +states, that when applied to the sting or bite of venomous beasts, they +draw out the poison. They were usually set and worn as rings and +regarded as of great value. They were generally mounted so that the back +of the stone could touch the skin, and were said to notify the presence +of poison by producing a sensation of heat in the finger at the point of +contact. + +A toadstone ring is described by Jones, which he attributes to the +fossil palatal tooth of a species of Ray that is believed to be a +specific in cases of kidney disease when immersed in water and drunk by +the patient. In the inventory of the Duc de Berry mention is made of a +toadstone in a ring of gold, and similar rings are alluded to in the +records of the Duke of Burgundy. + +Fenton, writing in 1569, says, “Toadstones being used in rings, give +forewarning of venom”; and in Ben Jonson’s “Fox” they are referred to as +follows:— + + “Were you enamoured on his copper rings, + His saffron jewel, with the toadstone in’t?” + +Lupton, in his _Thousand Notable Things_, goes as far as to give a +method of obtaining the stone from the toad: + + +“Put a great or overgrown toad (first bruised in divers places) into an +earthen pot; put the same into an ants’ hillock, and cover the same with +earth, which toad at length the ants will eat, so that the bones of the +toad and stone will be left in the pot.” + + +Another writer, however, states that the stone should be obtained while +the toad is living, and this may be done by simply placing him upon a +piece of scarlet cloth, “wherewithal they are much delighted, so that, +while they stretch out themselves as it were in sport upon that cloth, +they cast out the stone of their head, but instantly they sup it up +again, unless it be taken from them through some secret hole in the same +cloth.” + +The scarlet cloth, however, did not always perform this miracle, for +Boetius relates how he watched a whole night an old toad he had laid on +a red cloth to see him cast forth the stone, but the toad was stubborn, +and left him nothing to gratify the great pangs of his whole night’s +restlessness. + +In the Wellcome Historical Medical Museum there is a toadstone mounted +as a ring in bronze gilt of the seventeenth century; and the +Londesborough Collection included a specimen described as being of metal +gilt, having upon it the figure of a toad swallowing a serpent. Another +set with a large greyish-brown stone mounted in silver bears an +inscription on the inside of the ring, “God cureth me.” + +The so-called horn of the unicorn, which was in reality the tusk of the +narwhal, has been associated with mysterious properties since the time +of Aristotle, Pliny and other ancient writers. Ctesias (about 390 B.C.) +was the first to record the wonderful properties attributed to it. +“Drinking vessels,” he says, “were made of the horn and those who used +them were protected against poisons, convulsions and epilepsy, provided +that, just before or just after taking poison, they drank wine or water +from the cup made from it.” Other writers declared that poisoned wounds +could be cured by merely holding the horn of the unicorn close to the +wound. + +These horns were considered of great value and in the Middle Ages are +said to have been worth about ten times the price of gold. In 1553 a +unicorn’s horn was brought to the King of France which was valued at +£20,000 sterling, and one presented to Charles I, supposed to be the +largest then known, measured seven feet long and weighed 13 lb. + +Edward IV gave to the Duke of Burgundy a gold cup set with jewels, with +a piece of unicorn’s horn worked into the metal; and one large horn in +the possession of the City of Dresden was valued at 75,000 thalers. A +piece was occasionally sawn off to be used for medicinal purposes, and +it was a city regulation that two persons of princely rank should be +present whenever this operation was performed. + +In the sixteenth century these horns were so rare that Dr. Racq, a +physician of Florence, recorded that a German merchant sold one of them +to the Pope for 4,000 livres. Ambroise Paré wrote a treatise on the +unicorn’s horn and its remedial properties, and Thomas Bartholinus +published a work on “Observations on the Unicorn Horn” in 1678, dealing +with its medical uses only. + +Although it was considered of such great value, the horn was utilized +for making goblets mounted in gold, and walking sticks, to which were +ascribed remarkable virtues, the greatest of which, according to writers +on natural history of the time, was its “resistance to all manner of +poysons.” + +Before the seventeenth century the genuine unicorn’s horn was supposed +to be black or dark in colour, and Boetius de Boodt records that he saw +a horn in Venice at the close of the sixteenth century which was said to +be a genuine unicorn horn, but he believed it to be that of a gazelle. +However, in the seventeenth century it came to be universally agreed +that the genuine so-called unicorn’s horns were long, and of an +ivory-like colour, tapering towards the tip with curling staves. Several +of these horns are still kept among the treasures in churches and +monasteries in Europe. One of the more famous and frequently mentioned +is the horn that was preserved in the Monastery of St. Denis, near +Paris. Cardanus, who described it in the sixteenth century, added that +he saw it when he visited the monastery while on a journey in France. He +states “it was so long that he could not reach the tip when he placed it +at his side; it was not particularly thick, becoming gradually thinner +towards the tip and curling like a snail’s shell. The colour was that of +a hartshorn.” + +This horn was greatly venerated and was included in the inventory of +treasures consisting of gold and precious stones and holy relics of the +monastery. Two unicorn’s horns were preserved at St. Mark’s in Venice, +and in the sixteenth century were exhibited to the people once a year on +Ascension Day, together with the other treasures of the Duomo. + +There is frequent mention in records of ducal cups of unicorn’s horn +which were used as drinking vessels by those whose lives were sought by +poisoners. The effect of the poison was believed to be neutralized on +coming into contact with the horn. A cup of this kind is preserved at +Rosenberg which dates from the early part of the seventeenth century. + +Gesner states that the rich put a piece of horn in their cups to protect +themselves and to cure themselves, “but it must be a fresh piece and not +one the properties of which have been exhausted by often being placed in +drinks. It loses its virtue like plants do.” + +Pomet, writing in the seventeenth century, says: “We ought to undeceive +those who believe what we now call the unicorn’s horn was the horn of a +land animal whereof mention was made in the Old Testament, since it is +nothing but the horn of the Narwhal and, as to the choice of it, ought +to be the whitest, largest and finest.” + +It is recorded in 1650 that a certain well in Venice was remarkable for +its fresh water on account of two pieces of unicorn’s horn being +concealed at the bottom. + +In all probability horns were used in early times as drinking vessels, +not only on account of their suitability in shape, but also with the +idea that they could impart their supposed health-giving properties to +the liquid placed in them. + +In Denmark, in the seventeenth century, unicorn’s horn was sold in the +apothecaries’ shops and was much esteemed by Danish physicians on +account of its medicinal properties. In 1593 there is a record that some +physicians in Vienna in order to prove the efficacy of unicorn’s horn as +an antidote to poisons, experimented on a dog who was first given a dose +of arsenic followed by one of unicorn’s horn, and the dog subsequently +recovered, while dogs to which arsenic had been given alone died from +the effects. Similar tests were said to have been carried out in +Copenhagen in 1636, as the result of which it was recorded that +“unicorn’s horn is an antidote against poisons, just as those seen at +Paris and elsewhere.” + +On October 31 of that year, Drs. Fincke, Worm and Scheele met in the +house of an apothecary called Johannes Woldenberg in Copenhagen and +undertook the following experiment. Two pigeons and two cats were dosed +with arsenic and corrosive sublimate. Unfortunately for the experiment, +the pigeon which received both the poison and the antidote of unicorn’s +horn, vomited the latter and died some hours afterwards. The cat which +was given sublimate but no antidote, is said to have died after a short +interval, while the cat which in addition to the poison was given a +small dose of unicorn’s horn lived until the middle of the night. These +and similar attempts to prove the value of the horn were made in Europe +during the seventeenth century. It was said to be efficacious in plague +and fever because they had certain symptoms in common with those +produced by poisons and were called “poisonous diseases.” + +The Coronation Chair of the royal house of Denmark in the seventeenth +century was partly composed of unicorn’s horns, which are said to have +been used on account of their great value, and as being more precious +than gold. The making of this curious chair was commenced by Frederick +III, “the columns supporting it being composed of narwhal’s teeth and +the chair covered with the horn wherever possible, the same being used +for the supports for the arms.” In the time of Frederick III and +Christian V this chair was considered one of the most wonderful and +valuable objects in the kingdom, and was celebrated both in history and +story. On June 7, 1671, Christian V in magnificent robes was crowned in +it, and the feet of the throne were guarded by two silver lions. The +bishop who crowned the king in the Castle of Fredericksborg in his +address said, “Of mighty King Solomon, history bears witness that he +built a throne of ivory and covered it with the finest gold; Your +Majesty is also sitting on a costly throne which in the glory of its +material and shape is like unto King Solomon’s throne, and the like +thereof cannot be found in any kingdom.” + +From a time of great antiquity, the horn of the Indian rhinoceros has +been reputed to possess the power of absorbing poisonous substances +brought into contact with it. + +The Chinese fashioned these horns, which they still value very highly, +into cups which are sometimes ornamented with beautiful carving. The +tradition in China concerning the horn was, not so much that it acted as +an antidote to poison, but that it gave a sure indication when any +liquid placed in it contained some poisonous substance. When a poisoned +liquid was allowed to stand in the horn the latter was said to sweat and +change colour. It is not therefore to be wondered at that the great +emperors of the East, whose lives were frequently attempted by poison, +chose these horns as drinking cups. + +[Illustration: + + DRINKING CUP OF UNICORN’S HORN (XVII CENTURY). +] + +[Illustration: + + [_Copyright to the Wellcome Historical Medical Museum._ + + ASSAY CUPS OF RHINOCEROS HORN USED TO DETECT POISON IN WINE (XVITH + CENTURY). +] + +Rudolf II of Germany (1575–1612) fashioned a cup of rhinoceros horn for +his own use, which is now preserved in the National Museum at +Copenhagen. Several other vessels of rhinoceros horn are mentioned in +Danish records, one being described as “a little flat dish of rhinoceros +horn with a gilt foot and then gilded, with an Indian underneath.” + +Lemery says: “The horn and nails of the animal are both used in medicine +and contain in them a good deal of volatile salt and oil which are +useful to resist poison.” + +Pomet declares that “the horn is highly alkalescent and is also good +against malignant fevers and destroys malignant acids which stir up the +most pernicious diseases.” + +There have been certain periods in the world’s history when every +eminent personage, king, prince, minister or favourite, was deemed in +danger of poison, and when not a particle of food was swallowed by them +until it had been first tasted. + +The traditions attached to the horn of the rhinoceros must have come to +Europe at an early period, as we find that cups made from the horn, +called “assay cups” were used in England as early as the fifteenth +century in the time of Edward V. + +The earliest allusion to the assay cups, which were made both from the +horn of the rhinoceros and the unicorn, is in Russell’s _Book of +Nurture_, 1480, in which it is stated:— + + “Credence and tastynge is used + for drede of poysenynge + to all officers ysworne and grete + othe by chargynge.” + +It was customary for the esquire in attendance on a distinguished person +to first test the wine by drinking some from his assay cup. Hall, in his +Chronicle (1550), refers to this custom as follows:— + + +“The esquier whiche was accustomed to sewe and take the assaye before +kyng Rychard.” + + +“The Maior of London claymed to serue the quene with a cuppe of golde +and a cuppe of assay of the same.” + + +Gutch in 1530 alludes to + + “Two little Cuppis of asseye silvar and gilt.” + +An assay cup of rhinoceros horn with a silver rim about 1½ in. deep, +with a bishop’s mitre and the initials T.T. crudely engraved upon it, is +in the Wellcome Historical Medical Museum with other specimens of the +kind. It is believed to date from the middle of the sixteenth century. + +On account of its association with medicine, the rhinoceros was adopted +as the crest of the Apothecaries’ Society of London when it was founded +in 1617. + +The Chinese, who appear to have ever been suspicious of being poisoned, +also made little cups of glass about 1½ in. high which they believed +would crack if a poisoned liquid were poured into them. + +There is an early tradition in India connected with bowls of pottery +with a light greenish glaze, called Gherian ware. They are supposed to +break into pieces if touched by poisoned food or liquid, and are said to +have been introduced into Northern India by Mohamed Ghori in the twelfth +century from whom they take their name. + +Another substance which was regarded with great veneration as an +antidote to poisons, especially in the East, was the bezoar stone, a +calculus found in the intestines of Persian wild goats, cows, a species +of ape and other animals. These stones vary much in size from that of a +small egg down to a hazelnut, and are of a yellowish brown colour. + +Pomet says, “If you would have the finest and best oriental bezoar, you +must choose that which is shining, of a pleasant scent, tending to that +of ambergris. The shape is of no consequence, whether round, smooth or +rough, and whether white, yellow or grey, but the principal colour is +usually an olive.” + +It was introduced into Eastern medicine by the Arabs, but its reputation +is of much greater antiquity. The name is said to be of Persian origin +and derived from the word “pad-zahr,” “an expeller of poisons,” and is +mentioned first by Avenzoar, an Arab physician of Seville, about the +year A.D. 1140. + +It was known to the Hebrews in ancient times as “Bel Zaard” which means +the “Master,” or “every cure for poisons.” + +[Illustration: + + Oriental Bezoar. +] + +[Illustration: + + Oriental Bezoar. +] + +[Illustration: + + [_Copyright._ + + Occidental Bezoar. + + BEZOAR STONES. +] + +There are several varieties of these stones, the most esteemed being the +Oriental, which come from Persia. On dividing the calculus, it appears +to have been formed by a deposit of calcium phosphate round some +nucleus, such as hair or the stone of a fruit. One that is still +preserved in the Museum of St. Bartholomew’s Hospital has a date stone +as the nucleus. It was believed that the special virtues of the stone +were due to some unknown plant on which the animal had fed. + +The Occidental, another variety of bezoar stone, is said to be obtained +from the llamas of Peru, and a European variety is got from the chamois +of the Swiss mountains, but these varieties never commanded the great +value as did those from the Orient, which are said by early writers to +have been sold for ten times their weight in gold. The Occidental bezoar +stone is usually much larger than the Oriental and has a dull surface. + +Lemery mentions a bezoar stone obtained from the hog, which is of a +whitish colour inclining to green. It is said to be produced in the gall +of certain swine in India and is very highly esteemed by the natives. + +All varieties of bezoar had a reputation for counteracting the effects +of poison. They were generally preserved in elaborate cases of pierced +gold with a chain attached so that they could be suspended in the wine +or liquid before it was drunk. “The Portuguese above all nations,” says +a writer of the seventeenth century, “drive a great trade with bezoar, +because they are always on their guard and watching one another for fear +of poison.” + +As well as an antidote to poison, the bezoar came to be regarded as a +valuable remedy for fevers and was also applied externally in skin +diseases. It was given internally in doses of 4 to 16 grains and, in +Portugal, in time of plague, the stones were loaned to sufferers at +about the equivalent of 10_s._ a day. + +Three bezoar stones were sent by the Shah of Persia, as a royal gift, to +the Emperor Napoleon a little over a century ago. + +Ambroise Paré, when surgeon to Charles IX of France, relates that one +day, when the king was at Clermont, a Spanish nobleman brought him a +bezoar stone which he assured him was an antidote to all poisons. The +king sent for Paré and asked him if he knew any substance which would +annul the effects of any poison. Paré said that could not be, for there +were many sorts of poisons which acted in very different ways. The +Spanish nobleman, however, maintained that this stone was a universal +antidote and as the king was eager to test the question, the Provost of +the Palace was sent for and asked if he had any criminal in his charge +condemned to death. He replied that he had a cook who had stolen two +silver dishes, who was to be hanged the next day. The offer was +thereupon made to the cook that he should take a poison and the alleged +antidote immediately afterwards, and if he escaped with his life he +should go free. The cook gladly consented, and an apothecary was ordered +to prepare a deadly draught and administer it, to be followed by a dose +of the bezoar. This was done. The poor wretch lived for about seven +hours in terrible agony which Paré tried in vain to relieve. After his +death Paré made an autopsy which showed that the antidote had no effect +at all. It was sublimate which had been given. “And,” the writer +concludes, “the king commanded that the stone should be thrown into the +fire; which was done.” + +A stone called Draconites, described by Albertus Magnus (1193–1280) as a +shining black stone of pyramidal shape, was also believed to be antidote +to all kinds of poisons. + +A cup or goblet made of electrum, an alloy composed of gold and silver +known to the ancients, according to Pliny, had the property of revealing +any poisonous liquid which was placed in it, by exhibiting certain +circles like rainbows in the liquid, which it also kept sparkling and +hissing as if on fire. + + + + + CHAPTER V + SUPERSTITIONS CONNECTED WITH POISONOUS PLANTS + + +Many strange superstitions are associated with certain poisonous plants +which have been handed down to us from past ages. The mysterious +properties, especially of those which caused sleep or by supposed +magical powers concealed in them produced delirium, were attributed by +the ancients to a spirit or demon which dwelt in the roots of the +plants, and various rites and ceremonies were connected with their +gathering. The real cause of their physiological effect on the body was +of course unknown, but the narcotic effects which from experience were +found to produce insensibility, dreams, and frenzy made a deep +impression on the mind. + +The hallucinations of the witches which we read about in the Middle +Ages, may be compared with those of the medicine-men of many savage +tribes to-day. In all probability they were not entirely fictitious, but +these effects were produced by the taking of various drugs which had the +effect of causing hallucinations and temporary insanity. Weak-minded +women, who probably formed the greater part of the class known as +witches, made use of an unguent with which they anointed themselves in +preparation for the so-called “witches’ Sabbath.” Johannes Wierius, who +was a witness of such a gathering, recorded in 1566 the composition of +the witches’ ointment and states it contained such powerful narcotic +poisons as mandrake, belladonna, henbane and stramonium. The absorption +of this unguent was followed by unconsciousness and sleep, and on being +awakened the person so anointed was fully assured that she had visited +the “Sabbath.” + +The frenzies into which the sorcerers of the Middle Ages worked +themselves may also no doubt be attributed to the action of various +substances with similar properties. + +There is probably no plant around which clusters more legendary lore and +tradition than the mandrake (_Atropa mandragora_). Sufficient has been +recorded about it to fill volumes, and between the years 1510 and 1850 +no less than twenty-two treatises are known to have been written on the +subject. + +It was known to the Babylonians over 3,000 years ago, and their women +carried a mandrake root as a charm against sterility. The ancient +Egyptians called it “The Phallus of the Field” and held it in the +highest esteem. The Greeks surrounded it with strange traditions, and in +Eastern Europe, Arabia, Palestine and Syria, it has been associated with +mysterious rites and customs from time immemorial. + +Theophrastus (300 B.C.) the earliest writer on botany, alludes to the +mandrake and records its property of inducing sleep and its use in the +composition of love-philtres. Demosthenes, the Athenian orator, is +stated to have compared his lethargic hearers to those who had eaten it. +The early Greeks bestowed on it the name of Circeium, derived from the +name of the witch Circe, as they believed that an evil spirit dwelt in +the root. Pliny, in alluding to the mandrake, states that “he who would +undertake the office of uprooting it should stand with his back to the +wind, and before he begins to dig make three circles round the plant +with the point of a sword, and then turning to the west proceed to dig +it up.” In other countries the gathering of the root was believed to be +attended with great danger to the individual who was sufficiently daring +to pull it from the ground. + +The Greeks believed that when dragged from the earth the root gave a +dreadful shriek and struck dead the person who had the presumption to +pull it up. They therefore adopted the following ingenious method of +obtaining it. A dog was allowed to fast, and was then brought near the +plant round which was fastened a cord, the end of which was tied to the +tail of the dog. The gatherer would then place some food within a few +feet of the hungry animal, who in his struggles to reach it would uproot +the plant and be killed by the evil spirit in consequence. At the moment +of uprooting the gatherer generally sounded a horn, which was supposed +to drown the shriek of the demon that dwelt in the plant. + +It is believed by some, that the mandrake is the plant alluded to in the +Book of Genesis, which was called by the ancient Hebrews “Dudaïm,” and +is stated to have been found by Reuben, who carried it to his mother. +The inducement which tempted Leah to part with it proves the value set +upon the plant at this time. Maundrell found it used in the +neighbourhood of Aleppo as described in the Bible and states that the +Arabs call it “tuphac el sheitan.” The Greeks sometimes alluded to Venus +as Mandragoritis and the fruit of the plant was popularly termed “place +of love.” Pythagoras calls the mandrake “Anthropomorphum,” and Columella +terms it “semihomo.” + +Dioscorides refers to it in the first century, and mentions that it is +used for love charms and philtres. In the earliest MS. of his work, +written in the fifth century, and which is still preserved in Vienna, +there is a drawing in colour depicting Euresis, the goddess of +discovery, presenting the author with a mandrake root. The root is in +human form with five leaves growing out of the head, and near by on the +ground is a dog in the agonies of death. + +Josephus records the custom in a Jewish village of pulling up the root +by means of the dog, which was killed by the shriek from the demon which +resided in it. This tradition appears to have been attached to the +gathering of the mandrake in nearly every country where it was grown. + +Many of the traditions and superstitions connected with the plant appear +to have arisen from the curious natural shape of the root, which often +bears a strong resemblance to the human form. This similitude was turned +to account by those who dealt in the plant, as they found they obtained +a greater value after manipulating it to make the features and limbs +more perfectly resemble a man or a woman. + +Beyond the effects attributed to it by tradition, the mandrake has +undoubted powerful narcotic properties. Its active principle, discovered +by Ahrens, is called mandragorine, and is said to be a mixture of bases +of which hyoscyamine is the chief, mixed with scopolamine. The ancients +attributed powerful aphrodisiacal virtues to the root and claimed that +it could produce a condition of sexual excitement which was often +attributed to natural and magical powers, and for this reason included +it in the composition of their love-philtres. It was among the more +important narcotic drugs employed by the ancients for producing +anæsthesia, and Dioscorides gives the formula for a wine made by +infusing the root in Cyprus wine, which was directed to be administered +before amputation of a limb or before the application of hot cautery. + +Pliny remarks that mandrake “is taken against serpents and before +cutting and puncture, lest they be felt. Sometimes the smell is +sufficient,” and Apuleius, writing in the second century, claims that +half an ounce with wine is sufficient to make a person insensible, even +to the pain of amputation. + +Lyman believes it was mandragora wine mixed with myrrh that was offered +to Christ on the Cross, as it was commonly given to those who suffered +death by crucifixion to allay in some degree their terrible agonies. + +In Shakespeare’s time the mandrake still kept its place in 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, +whilst the poison begins to work in the mind of Othello, exclaims + + “Not poppy, nor mandragora + Nor all the drowsy syrups of this world + Shall ever medicine thee to that sweet sleep” + +In the sixteenth century the Germans called these human-like roots +Abrunes or Alraun, considering them very valuable and treating them with +the greatest veneration. After fashioning them as near as possible to +the form of a man or woman, they dressed them every day and consulted +them as oracles. They were introduced into England in the time of Henry +VIII, and met with ready purchasers. To increase their value and +importance, the roots were said by the vendors to be produced from the +flesh of criminals which fell from the gibbet, and that they only grew +beneath the gallows:— + +Lord Bacon notices their use in the following words:— + + +“Some plants there are, but rare, that have a morsie or downie root and +likewise that have a number of threads like beards, as mandrakes, +whereof witches and impostours make an ugly image, giving it the form of +a face at the top of the root, and these strings to make a broad beard +down to the foot.” + + +Madame de Genlis states that “the mandrake roots should be wrapped in a +sheet, for that then they will bring increasing good luck.” + +The plant is still used medicinally in China, where it is said to be +largely used by the Mandarins, who believe it will give them increased +intellectual powers and prolong their lives. + +The origin of Alraun, the German name for the mandrake root, has been +variously explained. Tacitus speaks of a formidable people among the +Germans called Aurinia, believed to be endowed with magical powers, and +“some attribute Allrun to their name on account of their use of the +plant in sorcery. They are the same of whom Aventinus speaks as +loose-haired, bare-legged witches who would slay a man, drink his blood +from his skull and divine the future from his mangled remains.” There is +some reason to believe, however, that the word is simply a later form of +the Gothic Allrune, and that it is related to rune. The French word +Mandragloire is simply a part of the Greek word Mandragora, blended with +the name of the old French fairy Magloire. In Germany and France the +superstition took the following form. The mandrake was said to spring up +where the presence of a criminal had polluted the ground. It was sure to +be found near a gallows, and so was popularly called in Germany +Galgemännlein. It was to be obtained generally in the way described by +Josephus, but, it was added, one must sign the cross three times over +the plant before pulling it up. Having got the root it must be bathed +every Friday, kept in a white cloth in a box and then it would procure +manifold benefits. There is a letter still preserved from a burgess of +Leipzig to his brother at Riga written in 1675, which shows the popular +notion of the mandrake at that time and its various names. It reads:— + + +“Brotherly love and truth and all good wishes to thee dear brother. I +have thy letter and have made out from it enough to understand that thou +dear brother in thy home affairs hast suffered great sorrow; that thy +children, cows, swine, sheep and horses, have all died; thy wine and +beer soured in thy cellar, and thy provender destroyed and that thou +dwellest with thy wife in great contention; which is all grievous to +hear. I have therefore gone to those who understand such things to find +what is needed and have asked them why thou art so unlucky. They have +told me that these evils proceed not from God but from wicked people; +and they know what will help thee. If thou hast a Mandrake (Allruniken +oder Erdmannikin) and bring it into thy house, thou shalt have good +fortune. So I have taken the pains for thy sake to go to those who have +such things and to our executioner have paid 64 thalers and a piece of +gold drinkgelt to his servant, and this (Mandrake) dear brother I send +thee, and thou must keep it as I shall tell in this letter. When thou +hast the Erdman in thy house let it rest three days without approaching +it; then place it in warm water. With the water afterwards sprinkle the +animals and sills of the house going all over, and soon it shall go +better with thee and thou shalt come to thy own if thou serve +Erdmannikin right. Bathe it four times every year and as often wrap it +in silk cloth and lay it among thy best things and thou need do no more. +The Bath in which it has been bathed is especially good. If a woman is +in child pain and cannot bear, if she drinks a spoonful she will be +delivered with joy and thankfulness. And when thou goest to law put +Erdman under thy right arm and thou shalt succeed whether right or +wrong. Now dear brother this Erdmannikin I send with all love and faith +to thee for a happy new year. Let it be kept and it may do the same for +thy children’s children. God keep thee—Leipzig, Sunday before fastnight, +75 Hans, N.” + + +It is certainly remarkable that in 1675 so much as seventy-five thalers +could be obtained for one of these little figures, but is probable that +the dealing in them had become very secret on account of the danger +incurred of being suspected of witchcraft. In 1630 three women were +executed in Hamburg on this account. Matthiolus, in his commentary on +Dioscorides, describes the great ingenuity which had been reached in the +carving of the root into the human semblance and the training of little +shoots from seeds planted in it which were manipulated so as to look +like hair. The same ingenuity was employed to invest each figure with a +marvellous legend of its origin or potency. + +A haunted spot is shown in Lower Würtemberg where a merchant of Ulm +tried vainly to get rid of his Galgemännlein, and for a long time a +house stood in Frankfort which was avoided because it was related, that +there a baker woman had perished horribly with a mandrake in her +possession, which she had long tried to be rid of. + +This diabolical phase of the superstition was especially strong in +France and England. It was believed by many that Joan of Arc had one of +the mandrake figures in her possession, and she was even asked by the +judge at her trial whether this was not the case; but she disclaimed any +knowledge of the mandrake. At Romorantin, Margaret Ragum Bouchery, the +wife of a Moor, was hanged as a witch in 1603, the charge against her +being that she kept and fed daily a living mandrake fiend which was +stated to be in the form of a female ape. + +Superstitions concerning the mandrake were strong throughout the South +of England, the belief being that it had a human heart at its root. It +was believed that in some places it was perpetually watched over by +Satan, and if pulled up at certain holy times and with certain +invocations, the Evil Spirit would appear to do the bidding of the +practitioner. In the mining regions of Germany the mandrake was supposed +to reach down to the cobolds beneath the earth, and shrieked when it was +torn up. In Silesia, Thuringia, the Tyrol and Bohemia, it is still +connected with the idea of subterranean treasures, and in the Hartz, +mandrake decoction is poured on animals to prevent swellings. + +In 1429 the use of mandrakes as amulets was so general in France that +Friar Richard furiously denounced them and vast numbers were burned. La +Fontaine’s fable “La Mandragore,” copied from Machiavel’s comedy of the +same title, turns upon the supposed potency of the plant to produce +children. The Tyrolese believe that it not only reveals treasures, but +prevents wicked possessions, and renders the possessor proof against +blows. In the Alpine regions it is laid on the bed to prevent nightmare, +and carried to secure the mountaineer against robbers and bad weather. + +The mandrake is called in Iceland thjofarot (thieves’ root) and is +believed to spring from the froth of the mouth of one who has been +hanged or the cairn where he has been buried. + +In Kent the mandrake may be occasionally found kept by women to prevent +sterility, and the superstition still survives in Greece, where pieces +of the root are worn by young people as love charms. Mandrake roots are +also carried in Syria and Turkey by women against sterility and are sold +to-day in the bazaars of Constantinople. + +Of the poisonous plants known to the ancients, aconite may rightly be +claimed to be one of the most important. It has been called the “Queen +Mother of Poisons” and has been a matter of comment and note by early +historians for over two thousand years. Species of the plant were known +as wolf’s bane, leopard’s bane, and women’s bane. Its root was compared +by some of the ancient botanists to sea crabfish, by others to a +scorpion; “for,” says one writer, “the root doth turn and crook inward +in manner of a scorpion’s taile.” Various origins are given to the name +aconite; some attribute it to the fact that it grows quite naturally +upon bare and naked rocks, which the Greeks call Aconas. Theophrastus +says the name is derived from Aconæ, “a certain towne, neer to which it +groweth abundantly.” It is also said to have been derived from the Greek +word for javelin or arrow, because “some barbarous nations employed the +juice to poison their arrows and spears.” + +In ancient times apparently quite a number of poisonous plants were +described under the name of aconite, as well as the _Aconitum napellus_, +the species now employed in medicine. Its deadly effects are alluded to +by Ovid, Virgil and Juvenal. Plutarch, in referring to the death of +Orodes, says: “He fell into a disease that became a dropsie after he had +lost his son Pacorus who was slain in a battle by the Romans. Phraates, +his second son, thinking to set his father forwards gave him a drink of +the juice of Aconitum. The dropsie received the poison and the one drave +the other out of Orodes’ body and set him on foot again.” + +Hanbury says the ancients were well aware of the poisonous properties of +aconite, though the various species were not more exactly distinguished +until the close of the Middle Ages. It was used by the Chinese in +ancient times and is still employed by the less civilized of the hill +tribes of India as an arrow poison. It is said also to have been used +for the same purpose by the aborigines of ancient Gaul. It is mentioned +in the well-known ancient Welsh MS. of “The Physicians of Myddvai,” +written in the thirteenth century, as “one of the plants that every +physician is to grow.” + +Matthiolus, in his commentary on the Materia Medica of Dioscorides, +relates the results of certain experiments carried out by order of Pope +Clement VII, on the persons of two criminals condemned to death, for the +purpose of testing the value of an antidote to aconite, which he +describes as the most deadly of all known poisons. One of the criminals +was used as a test and the other for control experiment. + +The root, which contains the largest proportion of the active principle +called aconitine, has often caused fatal results in being mistaken for +that of horse-radish. It had rarely been used for criminal purposes +until Lamson in 1881 employed the alkaloid to take the life of Percy +Malcolm John. In connection with aconitine it is related that +Christison, the famous toxicologist, who was professor of Medical +Jurisprudence at the University of Edinburgh, when giving evidence in a +certain case as to the recognition of poisonous substances sought for in +the body after death, said to the judge, “My Lord, there is but one +deadly agent of this kind which we cannot satisfactorily trace in the +human body after death, and that is—” when the Judge sharply interrupted +him with, “Stop, stop, please, Dr. Christison. It is much better that +the public should not know it.” Years afterwards it was vividly recalled +to the memory of his then student class, that Lamson, who was a member +of his audience as a medical student, and exceptionally assiduous in +note-taking, was present on one of the occasions when Professor +Christison was explaining to his class that the real name of the poison +which the Court had prevented him from naming was “aconitine.” + +It is satisfactory to record that toxicology has advanced since the days +of Christison, for Sir Thomas Stevenson, who gave evidence for the Crown +at Lamson’s trial, was able to prove by clinical tests that the boy John +had been poisoned by aconitine, and his murderer, Dr. Lamson, suffered +the extreme penalty of the law. + +The aconite now used for medicinal purposes is derived from the +_Aconitum napellus_, chiefly grown in Britain. It is also found in the +mountainous districts of the temperate parts of the northern hemisphere. +It grows on the Alps, the Pyrenees, the mountains of Germany and Austria +and also in Denmark and Sweden. On the Himalayas it is found at 10,000 +to 16,000 feet above the sea-level. Both the root and the leaves are +used medicinally. Aconite contains several alkaloids, all of which are +powerful poisons, the chief of these being aconitine—one of the most +deadly poisons known—the fiftieth part of a grain of which has nearly +caused death. Indian aconite known as “Bish” is chiefly derived from +_Aconitum ferox_—a native of high altitude in the Himalaya regions—and +is mentioned by the Persian physician, Alhervi, in the tenth century, +and also by many early Arabian writers on medicine. Ali Ben Isa +pronounced it to be the most rapid of deadly poisons, and describes the +symptoms with tolerable correctness. The chief symptoms of poisoning by +aconite are heat, numbness and tingling in the mouth and throat, +giddiness, and loss of muscular power. The pupils become dilated, the +skin cold and pulse feeble, with oppressed breathing and dread of +approaching death. Finally, numbness and paralysis come on, rapidly +followed by death in a few sudden gasps. The poison being extremely +rapid in effect, immediate action is absolutely necessary to save life. + +Several species of aconite grow plentifully in India, where it has been +used for centuries. It is found growing, among other places, in the +Singalilas, a mountain range which forms the watershed boundary between +Nepal and British territory, north-west of Darjiling. _Aconitum +palmatum_ is collected in abundance at Tongloo, the southern termination +of the Singalilas, but _Aconitum napellus_, which is more poisonous, +requires a higher elevation in which to thrive. The natives, especially +the hill tribes, take aconite in the crude state as a remedy for various +ailments, and every Bhotiah has a few dried roots put away in some +secure corner of his hut. + +Early in October, when the aconite root has matured, the collecting +begins, and one of the leading men of the village organizes a party +composed of both sexes. He, for the time, becomes their leader, settles +all disputes and quarrels while out in camp, and, while keeping an +account of general expenses, supplies to each all necessaries in the way +of food. Before starting he has to obtain a ‘permit’ from the Forest +Department, the charge for which is fifteen rupees. Carefully wrapping +the permit in a rag and placing it in his network bag of valuables, he +collects his band together, and they set out for the higher ranges. As +soon as they arrive at the slopes where aconite is growing plentifully, +they set to work to build bamboo huts about five feet high, roofing them +with leaves. After the morning meal they all set off for the lower +slopes, each with his basket and spade over his shoulder. But before the +actual work is commenced, a ceremony has to be performed. The Bhotiahs, +like the Nepalese, have a belief that the presiding demon of the hills +imprisons evil spirits in the aconite plant, which fly out as soon as it +is dug up, and inflict dire calamity on the digger. In order, therefore, +to counteract this, every morning before the digging commences, the lama +or headman, standing on a convenient hill with his followers around him, +makes a fire and burns some dhuna, a native resin, then, inserting two +fingers in his mouth, blows several shrill whistles. All wait in +breathless silence till an answering whistle is heard, which may be an +echo or the cry of some bird. Whatever it may be, it is taken as the +dying dirge of the evil spirits, and digging begins at once. + +The roots, after being shaken from the soil, are placed in the baskets, +which on return to the encampments are emptied and formed into heaps, +and covered with bamboo leaves to protect them from the frost. During +the day they are spread out in the sun to dry. When a sufficient +quantity has been collected and dried thus, bamboo frames are fixed up +with a fire below, on which the aconite is placed when the flame has +died out. The one who looks after the drying process has a cloth tied +round his head covering the nose, as the constant inhalation of the +fumes causes a feeling of heaviness and dizziness in the head. This +process is carried on three or four days until the roots are dried. When +sufficient have been collected and dried they are packed in baskets. +These are shouldered, and with their cooking utensils and blankets on +the top, the whole band set their faces homeward. On arrival at the +commercial centre at the termination of their march the results of the +expedition are soon sold, and each man is handed his share of the +profits, according to the amount of aconite he has collected. + + +Hemlock, or cicuta, was a classical poison well known to the ancients. +References are made to it in Greek literature as early as the fourth or +fifth century B.C. The old Roman name of Conium was Cicuta, but it was +applied in the sixteenth century by Gesner to other varieties of the +plant, such as _cicuta virosa_, which is of a non-poisonous nature. Its +use by the ancient Greeks as a State poison has already been fully +described in a preceding chapter. It was used in Anglo-Saxon medicine, +and is mentioned in the vocabulary of Alfric as early as the tenth +century. The name “Hemlock” is derived from the Anglo-Saxon words “hem,” +border or shore, and “leac.” Its chief active principle, conine, is a +colourless oily liquid, which resembles nicotine in its action. It is to +Linnæus we owe the use of the classical Greek name _Conium maculatum_ in +1737. + +Another plant around which clustered many superstitions in ancient times +was black hellebore, called Melampus root, or Christmas Rose. It is said +to have taken its name from Melampus, a traditionary physician, who is +said to have flourished at Pylus about 1530 B.C. He is reputed to have +cured the daughters of Proetus, King of Argus, of mental derangement and +leprosy with hellebore. Pliny states 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 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 with hellebore in the same manner to keep them free from the +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 Æsculapius for leave to dig up the root. +The flight of the eagle was particularly attended to during the +ceremony, for should this bird approach 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, and it is of this plant Juvenal +sarcastically observes “Misers need a double dose of hellebore.” It is +stated that the Gauls never went to the chase without rubbing the point +of their arrows with this herb, believing that it would render the game +killed with them all the more tender. + +Hyoscyamus, commonly called henbane, is a herb which has been employed +in medicine from early times. Benedictus Crispus, Archbishop of Milan, +in a work written shortly before A.D. 681, alludes to it under the name +of hyoscamus and symphoniaca, and in the tenth century its virtues are +recorded in the works of Macer Floridus. In the early Anglo-Saxon +manuscripts it is called henbell and sometimes belene. In a French +herbal of the fifteenth century it is called hanibane or hanebane. From +ancient times it has been employed as a sedative and anodyne for +producing sleep, although hallucinations sometimes accompany its use. +Its chief active principles are hyoscyamine and hyoscine, both of which +are very powerful poisons. An old tradition states, that once in the +refectory of an ancient monastery, the monks were served in error by the +cook with henbane instead of some harmless vegetable. 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 a lunatic asylum. + +There are few drugs used to-day with a more interesting history than +opium. It figures not only in history but also in romance and crime. It +has been associated with the acquisition of wealth and prosperity and +with the most terrible degradation. Opium has been the cause of war, of +bitter feeling and punishments, and whilst it has enslaved many with the +most pleasurable hallucinations, and relieved the most agonizing pains, +it is capable of reducing human beings to the level of the beasts. + +It is mentioned in the Papyrus Ebers, one of the earliest known records +of medicine, as having been known and used by the Egyptians about 1550 +years B.C. It is described by Theophrastus as having been used by the +Greeks 300 years B.C. and is supposed to have formed the chief +ingredient in the potion known as “Nepenthe” which Helen of Troy gave to +the guests of Menelaus to drive away their care. This conjecture +receives support from Homer, who states that Nepenthe was obtained from +Thebes, the ancient capital of Egypt. According to Prosper Alpinus, the +Egyptians were practised opium eaters and were often faint and languid +through the want of it. They prepared and drank it in the form of +“Cretic Wine,” which they flavoured and made hotter by the addition of +pepper and other aromatics. Scribonius Largus (A.D. 40) mentions the +method of preparing opium and points out that the true drug is derived +from the capsules of the poppy and not from the foliage of the plant. + +Dioscorides, in the same century, describes how the capsules from which +the drug is collected should be cut and the milky juices collected, and +one can infer from his statements that the collection of opium was at +that time a source of industry in Asia Minor. Pliny gives an account of +“opion,” while it is also mentioned by Celsus, a Roman medical writer of +the first century, and by several other Latin authors, who allude to it +by the quaint name of “poppy tears.” + +It was well known to the Arabs, who transmitted their knowledge of its +properties first to the Persians and then to other nations of the East. +In India its introduction would appear to be connected with the spread +of Mahommedanism, and may have been favoured by their prohibition of the +use of wine. The earliest mention of opium in connection with India +occurs in the travels of Barbosa, who visited Calicut and the Malabar +Coast in 1511, and who gives it a prominent place with other valuable +drugs. Pyres, the first ambassador from Europe to China in 1516, speaks +of the opium of Egypt, Cambay, and the kingdom of Coûs (Kus Bahar, S.W. +Bhotan in Bengal), and states it was eaten by “the kings and lords, and +even the common people, though not so much because it costs dear.” In +the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries its praises were sung by poets of +the Far East. + +It is believed that opium was introduced by the Arabs into both India +and China, as they are known to have traded with the southern parts of +the empire as early as the ninth century. In the eighteenth century the +Chinese marketed the drug in their junks as a return cargo from India, +and it was at that time almost exclusively used as a remedy for +dysentery, but the trade grew, and in 1787 the importation reached a +thousand chests, for some years most of the trade being in the hands of +the Portuguese. + +The East India Company in 1780 opened an opium depot with two small +vessels at Lark’s Bay, Macao. The Chinese authorities began to complain +of these two ships in 1793, but the traffic still increased, until they +issued an edict forbidding any vessel having opium on board to enter the +Canton River. This led to political differences which culminated in the +war that was called the “Opium War.” It was concluded by the Treaty of +Nankin, after which five ports of China were opened to foreign trade, +opium being admitted as a legalized import in 1858. + +Opium smoking does not appear to have been known in China until the +latter part of the seventeenth century, but within a hundred years it +spread like the tentacles of an octopus over the entire empire. At this +time the authorities became greatly alarmed at the injurious effects +among the people following the abuse of opium. Suicides became frequent +and the high officials and all classes were becoming rapid slaves to the +habit; the sale rose from 2,300 chests in 1788 to 17,500 in 1836. The +first edict was issued in 1796 and since that time they have been +innumerable, but the traffic increased and is still almost universally +carried on. In 1879 in the State of Amoy and its adjacent towns the +proportion of opium smokers was estimated at from fifteen to twenty per +cent. of the total population. + +With regard to the introduction of opium into India, the Mahommedans, +once having established its use, began to make it a source of income. +The Great Mogul monopolized the opium production and trade, and derived +an immense income from its sale. From reliable reports it appears that +in India “the largest amount of opium is produced in the central tract +of the Ganges, extending from Dinapore in the east to Agra in the west, +and from Gorakhpur in the north to Hazaribagh in the south, comprising +an area of about six hundred miles long and two hundred miles broad.” In +the district of Bengal, the Government has the monopoly of the opium +industry, and the districts are divided into two agencies, Behar and +Benares, which are under the control of officers residing in Patna and +Ghazipur. In 1883 the number of acres under poppy cultivation in Behar +was 463,829, and the Benares district 412,625; but the export of opium +has somewhat diminished since then. Anyone may undertake the industry, +but cultivators are obliged to sell the opium exclusively to the +Government agencies, at a price which is fixed beforehand by the +officials. The Government sells the ready goods to merchants at a much +higher price, which difference is paid by the country to which the opium +is exported. In India itself, the sale of opium is restricted to +licensed shopkeepers, a practice which has proved to be useful, because +in some places, when the licensed shops have been closed, a greater +number of unlicensed and secret places have sprung up, and have made the +contract insufficient. + +The opium question is so complex in its nature, and is so largely +influenced by the habits and constitution of those nations who are +addicted to its use, that it is obvious that only those with skilled +medical knowledge, who are on the spot and have lived and had a daily +experience of the people, are in a proper position to deal with the +question. So much has been written by religious enthusiasts, and other +persons totally ignorant of the nature and properties of the drug, that +one almost hesitates to touch upon the subject. + +The following facts have been furnished by reliable medical authorities, +who are really in a position to judge on the matter. + +The cause which led to the use of this narcotic drug by the races of the +East, as already stated, may have been primarily due to the prohibition +of wine by the Moslems, but more likely on account of its remedial or +protective properties being needed by a race subject to malaria and +kindred diseases, and to counteract the effect of the hot climate to +which they are exposed. It is a remedy at hand, and would seem to be one +to which they at once fly. The evil lies more in the smoking than the +eating of the drug, the former habit being more prevalent in China, and +has the more demoralizing effect. The extent of its use in the East +varies according to the geographical and social differences of the +people, and it is used in various degrees of moderation and excess. + +The drug is employed in various forms, according to the class of people +who consume it. In India it is largely used in the crude state, and is +sold at about two annas a drachm, in small square pieces. The opium +eater will take two or three grains and roll them into the form of a +pill between his fingers, and then chew or swallow it, often twenty +times in the day. It is also used in a liquid form called Kusamba, made +by macerating opium in rose water; others boil it with milk, then +collect the cream and eat it. The varieties for smoking are known as +Chundoo and Mudat, the former being a very impure extract of a fairly +stiff consistency, and the latter made from the refuse of Chundoo, of +which it largely consists; but being much cheaper, is chiefly used by +the low-class Hindus and Mahomedans. From two to four grains a day may +be called a moderate use of the crude drug. The poorer people regularly +give it to children up to two years of age, to keep them quiet, also as +a preventive against such complaints as enteritis, which is very common +in the East; and so before youth is reached they become inured to its +action. Licences to sell the drug are sold to the highest bidder at the +opium auctions, the licensee having the privilege of supplying a certain +number of small dealers. + +The Chinese smoker usually lays himself down on his side, with his head +supported by a pillow. On the straw mat beside him between his +doubled-up knees and his nose, a small glass oil lamp, covered with a +glass shade, is burning. Close to this is a tray, containing a small +round box, holding the drug, a straight piece of wire used for +manipulating it, a knife to scrape up the fragments, and the pipe used +for smoking. The latter is about two feet long, with a nose of about +half an inch in diameter, and is not unlike the stem of a flute before +it is fitted. About two inches from the bottom of the tube, is a closed +cup or bowl of earthenware or stone, having a central perforation. To +charge the pipe, a small portion of the drug (weighing a few grains) is +picked up with the wire, kneaded and rolled in the closed surface of the +cup, then heated in the flame of the lamp till it swells. This is rolled +up and again manipulated, then finally placed in the aperture in the +surface of the bowl. It is then lighted from the lamp, and the smoke +drawn into the lungs through the tube till the first charge is +exhausted. + +In a report made by the _British Medical Journal_ concerning the use of +opium in India, from the evidence of medical men long resident in that +country, there seems a general consensus of opinion that opium eating, +in the majority of cases, exercises no unfavourable influence on the +people who indulge in the habit, and that it is a prophylactic against +fever, and prevents the natives from malaria and excessive fatigue. +There is no comparison between the effects of the opium habit and the +habitual use of alcohol. English people cannot judge, from their own +standard, the manners and customs of people living under conditions with +which they are unacquainted. While we look upon opium as a narcotic, the +Hindu uses it as a stimulant to enable him to go through hard work on +the smallest quantity possible of food. With reference to the measures +suggested by the Committee of the League of Nations for the suppression +of the use of opium in India, the Jam Sahib of Nawanagar has recently +declared that it would be impossible to carry them out. It was a habit +among working men who needed opium, just as the European wanted tobacco. +In Persia, at the present time, according to Wills, nine out of ten of +the aged, take from one to five grains of the drug daily. It is largely +used by the native physicians. It does not appear that the moderate use +of Persian opium in the country itself is deleterious. Opium smoking is +almost unknown, and when it is smoked, it is, as a rule, by a doctor’s +orders. The opium pillbox—a tiny box of silver—is as common in Persia as +the snuffbox was once with us. Most men of forty in the middle and upper +classes take from a grain to a grain and a half, divided into two pills, +one in the afternoon and one at night. The majority of authorities agree +that opium smoking as a habit is much more harmful and attended with +much more demoralizing influences than opium eating; but either habit is +undoubtedly harmful to Europeans, and when once formed, is extremely +difficult to break. + +Paracelsus is generally credited with being the originator of the word +“laudanum,” the name by which tincture of opium is commonly known. Yet +there seems little doubt the word was first applied to the gum of the +cistus. Clusius, in his _Rariorum Plantarum Historia_, states: “The gum +of the cistus is called in Greek and Latin, ladanum, and in shops +laudanum.” It is therefore very likely that the secret preparation +originated by Paracelsus which he called laudanum, was composed of the +gum of the cistus as well as opium, and that he adopted the title from +the former ingredient. + +Sir Henry Holland, in his Recollections,[5] relates that Mehemet Ali, +whom he visited, brought the conversation round to poisons. It ended by +Mehemet Ali asking him point-blank whether he knew of any poison which, +put on the mouthpiece of a pipe or given in coffee, might slowly and +silently kill, leaving no note behind. Holland instantly answered that +“as a physician he had studied how to save life, not destroy it.” This +reply, he added, was probably faithfully translated to Mehemet Ali, for +he dropped the subject abruptly, and never afterwards reverted to it. +Desgenettes, when it was suggested to him by Napoleon that he should +poison the plague-stricken soldiers at Jaffa, curtly answered that it +was his business to prolong life, not to kill. + +Footnote 5: + + _Recollections of Past Life_, Sir Henry Holland. + +When he was driven from Leipzig in defeat and disaster, culminating in +his abdication at Fontainebleau, it is said Napoleon attempted to end +his life by means of opium. During the retreat from Moscow the Emperor +requested his physician to provide him with means to prevent his falling +into the hands of the enemy alive, and was supplied with a drug which he +carried in a small packet suspended round his neck. Either from the +poison losing its properties or having become innocuous, it is said only +to have thrown Napoleon, after he took it, into a deep sleep, from which +he awoke in spasms. + +The Kiowa and other Mexican Indians use the fruit of the _Anhelonium +Lewinii_, which they call “mescal buttons,” to produce a species of +intoxication and stimulation during certain of their religious +ceremonies. The effects of this fruit, which, like Indian hemp, varies +considerably in different individuals, are very peculiar, and have been +described by Lewin, Prentiss and Morgan. + +The eating of the fruit first results in a state of strange excitement +and great exuberance of spirits, accompanied by volubility in speech. +This is shortly followed by a stage of intoxication in which the sight +is affected in a very extraordinary manner, consisting of a +kaleidoscopic play of colours ever in motion, of every possible shade +and tint, and these constantly changing. The pupils of the eyes are +widely dilated, cutaneous sensation is blunted and thoughts seem to +flash through the brain with extraordinary rapidity. The colour visions +are generally only seen with closed eyes, but the colouring of all +external objects is exaggerated. Sometimes there is also an +indescribable sensation of dual existence. + +Some years ago Havelock Ellis published an account of the use and his +personal experiences of the properties of mescal buttons. The Mexican +Indians treat this cactus with great veneration, gathering it with +uncovered heads and amid clouds of incense. + +The celebration of the rite is usually held on a Saturday night, when +seated in a circle around a large camp fire, for the visions are said to +be most intense by flickering firelight. The men pray for “a good +intoxication,” and then the leader passes the drug around. Throughout +the night the men sit quietly round the fire in a state of reverie, +absorbed in colour visions, amid continual singing and beating of drums +by assistants. The effects do not pass off till the following noon, when +they get up and go about their business with apparently no depression or +other after-effects. + +After taking three of the buttons in small fragments by pouring boiling +water on them twice and drinking the infusion thrice at intervals of an +hour, Ellis states that the phenomena of mescal intoxication are merely +the saturnalia of the specific senses and chiefly an orgy of vision. + +After a transient consciousness of energy, he felt faint and giddy, pale +violet shadows floated before him, suggesting, without any definite +form, pictures. The air seemed to be filled with a vague perfume, then +he saw glorious fields of jewels which sprang into flower-like shapes +before his gaze, and then turned into butterfly forms. + +“I was further impressed,” he says, “not only by the brilliance and +delicate beauty of their colours, but even more by their lovely and +various textures.” + +A friend, to whom he gave some of the drug, experienced a pain at the +heart and a sensation of imminent death, then with the suddenness of a +neuralgic pain the back of his head seemed to open and emit streams of +bright colour. “I had the sensation of the skin disappearing from the +brow; any movement sent out streams of blue flames of wondrous beauty.” + +The Mexicans also make a drink from the mescal, which is distilled from +the juice of the plant, and during their social entertainments swallow +it in copious draughts. Its effects are said to be highly intoxicating, +and according to the reports of authorities 90 per cent. of the crimes +perpetrated in the ranches and villages are due to this poisonous +liquid. + +Recent investigation into the pharmacology of the mescal plant prove it +to be a poison of a very powerful nature. Large doses produce complete +paralysis, and death is caused by respiratory failure. + + + + + CHAPTER VI + THE POISON LORE OF TOADS AND SPIDERS + + +From early times the toad has had an unenviable reputation and has been +suspected of poisonous properties. Some of the early historians +attribute the death of King John of England to a friar who placed a toad +in his cup of wine. The story is no doubt fictitious, but there is some +ground for the evil reputation that has so long been associated with +this unlovely reptile. The venom of some toads is believed to possess +poisonous properties in certain countries throughout the world, and some +species are said to be particularly virulent. A few years ago Phisalix +and Bertrand undertook an investigation to ascertain if there was any +truth in the story of the poisonous properties attributed to toads. They +succeeded in extracting two powerful principles from the parotid gland +and skin of the common toad. One of these was found to act on the heart +in a similar manner to digitalis, and the other known as bufotenine +exercises a powerful paralysing action on the nerve centres. + +The _Ceratophrys ornata_, a toad found in South America, is of a very +poisonous nature. It will bite anything that comes in its way and then +hang on with the tenacity of a bulldog, poisoning the blood with its +glandular secretion. Death may follow its bite, and it has been known to +kill a horse by gripping him by the nose, while the animal was cropping +grass. + +Shakespeare alludes to the evil reputation of the toad in two of his +plays and the + + “Toad, that under cold stone, + Days and nights went thirty-one + Swelter’d venom sleeping got,” + +formed an ingredient in the witches’ hell-broth in “Macbeth.” When +dropped into the wine cup it was believed to act with deadly effect on +those who drank its contents. + +In connection with the poison of the toad there is an interesting record +on a medical diploma at present in the Library of Ferrara, which was +granted to one Generoso Marini in 1642. Marini appears to have made an +application for a diploma of medicine and the judges who had the power +of granting such degrees, ordered him to produce some efficient proofs +of his capability to practise the healing art. Marini agreed to comply +with their demand and the result is recorded on his diploma, which was +discovered by Cittadella among the archives of Ferrara some years ago; +it reads 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 civilisation 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 recognised, 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. + + “JOANNES CAJETANUS MODONI, + Index sapientum Civitatis Ferrari. + + “FRANCISCUS ALTRAMARI, + Cancellarius.” + + +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. + +The country people of Brazil believe the milky secretion of the common +toad possesses wonderful curative properties and use it externally as a +cure for shingles. In these cases living toads are generally applied to +the part affected. + +The poisonous drug known as “Senso” in China and Japan is said to be +composed of the dried poison from a species of toad. It has been found +to contain cholesterol, the bufagin of Abel and Macht; bufotenine, and a +base resembling epinephrine. Bufagin causes a marked rise of blood +pressure, and acts as a diuretic. It is toxic in small doses. Bufotenine +acts as a local anæsthetic, causes convulsions of the medullary type, +and is pharmacologically allied to picrotoxin. The base, resembling +epinephrine, is a powerful sympathicomimetic poison. + +Certain species of spider possess poisonous properties, notably the +_Chiracanthium nutrix_ and the _Epeira diadema_. The bite of the female +of the former is distinctly venomous, and one milligramme of the juice +of the latter variety injected into a cat resulted in death. + +Some curious methods of the manner in which some Indian tribes of South +America utilize a poisonous grass as a method of defence have been +investigated by Bomain. He found that a belt of this plant formed a +natural barrier between the Indian tribes who lived on each side of a +range of mountains, where it flourished. Animals died as soon as they +ate the poisonous grass, and thus a hostile tribe was prevented from +encroaching on the territory of another. + +On scientific investigation, it was discovered that a few hundred grains +of the grass would kill a horse or a mule in an hour or two, the deadly +effect being due to the production of prussic acid, which was caused by +the decomposition of a glucosive under the influence of a ferment. + +A mysterious poison is said to be known among some of the gipsy tribes +of Europe which is supposed to consist of the germs of a certain +poisonous fungus. When mixed with food it causes death in from two to +three weeks after administration. The symptoms produced are said to be +similar to those of typhoid fever. A case of poisoning with this +substance, which is known to the gipsies by the name of “Dri” or “Drei,” +was reported in London in 1864. + + + + + CHAPTER VII + SOME CLASSICAL POISONS AND THEIR HISTORIES + + +Arsenic appears to have had an extraordinary fascination for the +poisoner for centuries past and has, perhaps, been more frequently used +than any other substance for criminal purposes. Through its history runs +a vein of mystery and romance which has continued until the present day. + +It was known to the Greeks as early as the fifth century before Christ. +Hippocrates, the father of medicine, who flourished 460–377 B.C., used +it as an external remedy for ulcers and similar disorders. It was known +to the Greeks in that time in the form of sulphuret of arsenic or +realgar, also as arsenic sulphide or orpiment, which is found native in +Greece and Hungary. Dioscorides knew it in its latter form and also +mentions its properties when applied externally. There is no allusion at +this period to its employment either as a poison or for internal +treatment of disease. + +The golden colour of orpiment caused many of the early alchemists to +consider it the key to the philosophers’ stone, and this is said to be +grounded on some enigmatical phrase attributed to the Sibylline oracles. +The Emperor Caligula (A.D. 12–41), according to Pliny, ordered a large +quantity of orpiment to be melted and manipulated so that the gold it +was supposed to contain could be extracted from it, but he was no doubt +disappointed by the result. + +Diocletian (A.D. 260) is said to have collected all the books dealing +with the transmutation of metals possessed by the Egyptians whom he had +conquered, and destroyed them; but, when the Arabs overran Egypt, the +Jews who fled to Europe, carried with them the knowledge of chemistry +they had acquired from the Arabs who kept the lamp of alchemy alive. + +In the eighth century there arose a great Arab alchemist called Jábir +ibn Háyyan, whose writings were known under the name of Geber. He is +said to have been a native of Tarsus and believed to have been the first +in Europe to obtain what is now known as white arsenic (arsenious acid) +by heating realgar. He gave it the name which it still bears to +distinguish it from orpiment or yellow arsenic. From his works we know +that he was acquainted with metallic arsenic and apparently knew, that +under certain conditions, it deposited a dull silver coat when in +contact with bright copper. This discovery was not without its +disadvantages to mankind, as from this period probably dates the time it +became used for criminal purposes. On the other hand, its medicinal +properties, when properly administered, became known and recognized by +physicians. + +Before white arsenic or arsenious acid was known, most of the poisons +recorded by the early writers had something peculiar in regard to their +taste, smell or colour, but white arsenic put a new instrument in the +hands of the cunning poisoner who sought for something powerful and +tasteless for his evil designs, which we shall see later developed into +a diabolical art in several parts of Europe. + +In India, arsenic has been commonly used for criminal purposes from +ancient times down to the present. The reports of the Analyst of the +Bombay Government throw considerable light on the methods pursued by +native poisoners. In most cases the poison is introduced into sweetmeats +and generally distributed by a “strange woman” who has been met in the +bazaar or street and who mysteriously disappears. This “strange woman” +is found in nearly every analyst’s report for the past fifty years and +under much the same circumstances. Most of the cases are typical of the +people among whom they occur, as instanced in the account of a man who +went into a shop one day and entered into friendly conversation with a +stranger he met there. By way of thanking him, the stranger presented +him with some sweets for distribution among his friends. The result was +that five men and a boy were poisoned, and the obliging stranger has +never been heard of since. + +It is difficult to account for the rationale in such cases, but still +they occur and the professional poisoner in India—for there are many +such—is rarely caught or even suspected. In many instances, crimes of +this kind are taken little notice of by the community and sometimes the +criminal apparently thinks nothing of poisoning a whole family in order +to make sure of his victim. The utter absence of motive in many cases +would point to the conclusion that they are largely the result of +homicidal mania. + +In the Middle Ages there was a prevalent idea that all poisonous +substances possessed a powerful and mutual elective attraction for each +other, and if a portion of the substance was worn suspended round the +neck it would intercept and absorb all other noxious matter and even +preserve the body from contagion of disease. During the Great Plague of +London amulets containing arsenic were worn suspended over the region of +the heart and were believed thus to preserve the wearer from infection. + +It is characteristic of arsenic, antimony and mercury that their +presence may be detected and demonstrated years after they have been +taken into the body. Many cases might be cited in corroboration of this, +but the following is one of peculiar interest. A wealthy farmer died and +was buried in the grave where his father had been interred thirty-five +years previously. An examination of certain of the bones of the father +revealed particles of a metallic-looking substance which was collected, +and on analysis proved to be mercury. It had thus been preserved in the +remains for more than a third of a century, the probability being that +he had been in the habit of taking it medicinally during the latter part +of his life. Another case worthy of record came under the notice of a +Bristol analyst, in which he found abundant traces of arsenic in the +remains of young children after they had been buried for eight years. + +A curious case, proving how the advance of science may influence the +rendering of justice, is shown in a striking way by a decision of the +Judicial Committee of the revision of trials in France in February, +1904. Twenty-five years previously one Dauval, a chemist, had been found +guilty of the murder of his wife by poisoning her with arsenic, and was +sentenced to transportation for life. Scientific evidence having since +come to light, tending to show that he was innocent of the crime, he was +granted a free pardon eighteen months previous to the meeting of the +Judicial Committee. The evidence on which Dauval was found guilty was +purely scientific, and later investigation showed the evidence in +question to be open to doubt. At the trial in 1879, all the expert +witnesses swore that the quantity of arsenic—namely one +milligramme—found in the body of Dauval’s wife after the post-mortem +examination, could not possibly have existed in the system under natural +circumstances. It was held to be proved that the presence of such a +quantity of the poison was incompatible with life. Since the trial +Gautier and Bertrand and other scientific workers have demonstrated that +the quantity of arsenic mentioned can, and frequently does, exist in the +human body in a normal condition. The presumption thus set up in +Dauval’s defence was, that the presence of arsenic in his wife’s remains +was owing to her having been in the habit of taking the drug in +medicinal doses. + +A strange story is related by the late Sir Richard Quain that came under +his notice, and one which would have proved a profound mystery to this +day but for his practical knowledge and acumen. He was asked to make a +post-mortem examination on the body of a man who was by trade a +stone-mason. To continue the story in his own words; “One day, on coming +in to his dinner, he went into the scullery, washed his hands, and going +into the kitchen he said to his wife, ‘It is all over; I have taken +poison.’ ‘What have you taken?’ ‘Arsenic,’ he replied, and she at once +took him off to the Western General Dispensary. + +“The senior surgeon was out when they got there, but two young students +of his happened to be in, who thought it was a very important case, and +they would treat it pretty actively. So they gave him tartar emetic, +pumped out the stomach, and pumped oxide of iron into it, and performed +a good many other operations. The poor man was extremely ill and died in +twenty-four hours. The coroner’s beadle went to the chemist and said: +‘How did you come to sell this man poison?’ He replied, ‘I sold him no +poison; I thought he was off his head when he came.’ ‘What did you give +him?’ ‘Oh, I gave him some alum and cream of tartar and labelled it +poison.’” “He swallowed this in the belief it was arsenic,” says Sir +Richard. “When I made the post-mortem examination, to my amazement I +found a great deal of _arsenic_ in the stomach. This was rather +puzzling. I said, if it is in the stomach it ought to go farther down. +So I searched the intestines, but there was no trace of arsenic +anywhere. The simple explanation of it was this, these two young +fellows, horrified to find the man had died without taking arsenic after +all, pumped some into the stomach.” + +Another instance that terminated in a less tragic manner, in which a +would-be suicide was frustrated by a watchful chemist, happened some +years ago. One morning a tall, decently-dressed man, of seafaring +aspect, entered a chemist’s shop in the neighbourhood of the docks of a +northern seaport, and in a solemn and confidential manner asked for a +shilling’s worth of _strong_ laudanum. + +“For what purpose do you require it?” asked the chemist. + +“Well, you see, sir,” the man explained, “I’ve just come off a voyage +from ’Frisco, and I find my sweetheart has gone off with Jim, you see, +sir, and now it’s all up with me. Give me a strong dose please, and if +you don’t think a shilling’s worth will be enough——” + +“But, my good man——” interrupted the chemist. + +“I’ll shoot myself if not, sir, I will,” replied the man, thrusting his +hand into his pocket. + +“All right, then,” said the chemist; and seeing that argument was +useless, he proceeded to mix an innocent but nauseous draught of aloes. + +“Now put in a shilling’s worth of arsenic.” + +“Very well,” replied the chemist, adding some harmless magnesia. + +“And you might as well throw in a shilling’s worth of prussic acid,” +said the broken-hearted lover. + +The chemist carefully measured a little essence of almonds into the +glass and handed it to the would-be suicide. He paid, swallowed it at +one draught, and solemnly walked out of the shop. Crossing the street, +which was quiet at the time, he deliberately laid himself flat on his +back on the footpath and closed his eyes. A group of children gathered +round, and stood gazing with their eyes and mouths open in wonderment, +and an occasional passer-by stopped a moment, cast a glance at the +unwonted sight and then passed on. After lying thus quite motionless for +about five minutes, he suddenly raised his head, took a look round, then +with one bound jumped to his feet and made off as hard as he could run. + +A parallel case occurred quite recently at Dartmouth, when a naval +stoker after a quarrel with his fiancée, entered a chemist’s shop and +asked for an ounce of strychnine. The chemist, noting his excited manner +and becoming suspicious, to pacify him gave him an ounce of borax which +he took away, and obtaining a glass, mixed it with water and went out on +the cliffs and drank it. Finding it only made him feel very unwell he +resolved to throw himself over the cliffs into the sea, but the police +arrived just in time to prevent him and found the glass with the remains +of borax in it at his side. In this case it ended in a charge of +attempted suicide. + +Arsenic has been the favourite medium of female poisoners from early +times, and in two celebrated poison cases of recent years, in which +women were accused of murder by the administration of arsenic, it has +been pleaded that the poison had been used by them for cosmetic +purposes. The effect of arsenic on the skin is well known, and also that +it is frequently used by women both internally and externally to improve +the complexion. That this practice may lead to the taking of arsenic as +a confirmed habit there is also evidence to prove, and there are many +cases recorded where the habit of taking arsenic in solution has been +contracted by women. + +Formerly, many cases of chronic arsenical poisoning have resulted from +arsenic which at one time was used in making cheap green wall-papers and +green sweets (both coloured by Scheele’s green or hydrogen copper +arsenite), the arsenic in the wall-papers being given off in gaseous +form during warm damp weather. It is also found in some artificial +flowers, in carpets, furs, dress fabrics dyed with aniline dyes, and in +black stockings. Murrell examined a number of coloured tobacco and +cigarette covers and found arsenic in one-third of them. Used as an +insecticide for spraying fruit, it remains on the skins and is sometimes +eaten. In these minute doses it seldom does any harm, but may produce +chronic poisoning, with loss of hair, neuritis and other harmful +results. + +Arsenic is poisonous to all animals with a central nervous system (brain +or spinal cord) and to most of the higher plants. Mice show the greatest +resistance and next come hedgehogs, rabbits, dogs and cats. + +In 1903 an analysis of sweets in the Isle of Wight revealed the presence +of ¹⁄₁₅th of a grain of arsenic per pound. When arsenic is taken for +some time it finds its way into the hair within about two weeks and +remains there for years. + +The alleged practice of eating arsenic or taking it as a habit has long +been a matter of discussion, and as far back as the early part of the +last century toxicologists were sceptical as to the statement that the +inhabitants of Styria, and other parts of Hungary where arsenic is +found, had contracted the regular habit of taking the drug until they +had almost become immune to its effects. + +In 1865, Maclagan of Edinburgh visited Styria for the purpose of +investigating these statements, and he affirms in an account of his +visit given in the _Edinburgh Medical Journal_, 1865, that while he was +staying at the village of Legist in Middle Styria, two men were brought +to him, and in his presence one took about 4½ and the other 6 grains of +white arsenic. He brought back samples of what they had swallowed, and +on testing it found it to be undoubtedly white arsenic. It was taken by +one man on a piece of bread, and by the other was washed down with a +draught of water. How extensively the habit existed in the district +Maclagan was not able to ascertain, but he mentions that the peasants +called it Hydrach or Huttereich. One of the men took a dose about twice +a week, the other generally once a week, and he learned they had +commenced the habit with doses of less than a grain. The effect was said +to be tonic and stimulant and was believed to aid the respiration when +climbing. Once having acquired the habit, like that of other poisons, an +occasional dose is much missed if omitted. + +Arsenic has been a subject of interest to some of our most eminent +chemists, one of whom at least, has fallen a victim to it. The first to +make an accurate investigation of its chemical nature was Georg Brandt, +a Swede, in 1773. The famous Swedish chemist Scheele (1742–1786) also +worked on the subject, and discovered arsenic acid in 1775, and impure +arseniuretted hydrogen. Soubeiran, the French chemist, together with +Pfaff, succeeded in obtaining pure arseniuretted hydrogen, but so little +was known of its deadly nature that in 1815 Gehlen, the professor of +chemistry at Munich, died owing to inhaling a minute quantity of the +pure gas. Both Berzelius (1779–1848) and Bunsen contributed much to the +scientific knowledge of arsenic, and the latter in 1842 discovered an +organic radical containing arsenic and methyl, which became known as +cacodyl, the salts of which have since been introduced into medicine for +certain diseases with satisfactory results. + +From the end of the eighteenth century the founders of the modern +science of toxicology, Orfila, Raspail, Christison, Taylor and Thomas +Stevenson, devoted the best part of their lives to the discovery of new +and accurate tests for poisons. Orfila (1787–1853) did his best to make +their detection a matter of certainty by insisting that poisons should +be looked for in other parts of the body and not only in the alimentary +canal. It was in his time that the three principal tests by liquid +reagents became known. + +Robert Christison (1797–1882) worked under Orfila in Paris, and devoted +much attention to methods of testing for arsenic. He was professor of +medical jurisprudence in the University of Edinburgh until 1882, and was +called as toxicological expert at the trial of Madeleine Smith and in +other famous cases. + +Reinsch, who developed the test of the deposition of metallic arsenic on +a bright copper plate, published his results in 1842, and this was +followed by Marsh with his still more important test with nascent +hydrogen in 1846. Fresenius and von Babo discovered a method for the +systematic search of the organic matter of the viscera in 1844, and in +1850 Stas published his process by which alkaline poisons could be +extracted from the viscera. + +As the science of toxicology has progressed, so the chances of the +criminal poisoner have grown smaller and smaller, till at the present +day there is a very slight chance of the arsenical poisoner going +undetected. + +The story is told of a distinguished medical professor who used to +impress on his students that they should never dismiss from their minds +the possibility of murder in the case of a mysterious illness, however +little suspicious the circumstances might be. He used to give an +illustration from his own experience in a case where he was called in +consultation by a local practitioner, who was baffled by the illness of +the wife of a clergyman. The professor, after the consultation, asked +the husband, “Has the possibility of poisoning occurred to you?” “It +has,” was his reply, “and I have been so careful to guard against it +that I have actually made it a practice to prepare my wife’s food +myself.” “Then I dismiss the thought,” replied the doctor, “but as I +have already taken a sample of the food in the bedroom, I may as well +have it analysed as a matter of form.” The clergyman thanked the +physician for his scrupulous care, the latter returned to London, and +the former shot himself. According to the story, the truth of which is +not vouched for, the wife recovered and erected a memorial to her +husband in the parish church. + +Mercury, one of the most fascinating of all the elements, has traditions +that carry it back to an unknown period of antiquity. In the form of +sulphide it is recorded in the Papyrus Ebers (1550 B.C.) as being used +by the ancient Egyptians, but it is said to have been known at an even +earlier date in the form of quicksilver in China and India. + +The metal was probably named after the Roman divinity Mercury on account +of its volatile nature and its elusive properties when handled. It has +the peculiar property of absorbing other metals and forming amalgams. As +well as being found native, it was obtained by the ancients by +sublimation from cinnabar the oxide. By the alchemists it was +represented by the same sign as the planet Mercury. It is alluded to by +Theophrastus in the fourth century B.C., but it is to Dioscorides in the +first century A.D. it owes the name of hydrargyrum or fluid silver. + +For a long time the liquid metal was believed to be poisonous and the +native quicksilver was thought to be different from hydrargyrum obtained +from the sulphide. Berthelot has shown that the protochloride of mercury +was prepared and known as far back as the time of Democritus in the +fifth century B.C. In 1386 Chaucer alludes to it as “quicksilver yclept +mercurie.” + +The Arabs, who doubtless derived their knowledge of the metal from the +Greeks, were much attracted by it, and Geber describes perchloride of +mercury, also the red oxide from which Priestley afterwards prepared +oxygen. Avicenna, the Arab physician, was the first to doubt the +poisonous properties of the metal itself, and noted that many persons +swallowed it without any ill effects, as it passed through the body +unchanged. Fallopius (1523–1562) records that shepherds gave quicksilver +in his time to sheep and cattle to expel worms, and Brassavola +(1500–1555) says that he had given it to children in doses from two to +twenty grains for the expulsion of worms. + +About 1497 it was first used in the treatment of syphilis, in the form +of inunction, plasters and fumigation. Beringario de Carpi of Bologna, +who lived in the early part of the sixteenth century, is said to have +made large sums of money from his treatment of syphilis by inunction +with mercurial ointment. John Vigo advised fumigation in obstinate +cases. The first to record its use internally was Peter Matthiolus, the +commentator of Dioscorides (1501–1577). Paracelsus popularized its use, +and since the sixteenth century mercury has come to be recognized as a +valuable medicine throughout the world. + +Robert Boyle, who was born in 1627, and is regarded as the father of +chemistry in Great Britain, commenced his experiments in a little +laboratory in Oxford in 1653. He afterwards founded the Royal Society, +and used to make the oxide by heating mercury in a bottle fitted with a +stopper provided with a narrow tube by which air was admitted. The +product was known as “Boyle’s Hell,” on account of the belief that it +caused the metal to suffer extreme agonies. + +The many ways in which mercury can be transformed and the numerous +products which can be made from it, have had a fascination for chemists +throughout the ages. Homberg (_c._ 1675), a German chemist, found that +by putting a little mercury into a bottle and attaching it to the wheel +of a mill that the metal was turned into a blackish powder (protoxide). +It is to Sir Theodore Turquet de Mayerne that we owe the popularity of +calomel, another product of mercury, for medicinal purposes. Mayerne was +the favourite physician of Henry IV of France, but being compelled to +leave Paris, he settled in London and served in the same capacity to +James I and Charles I. + +Mercury has been credited with certain occult properties, and in the +seventeenth and eighteenth centuries it was a common practice in London +to carry in the pocket a quill filled with quicksilver and sealed at the +end, as a protection against rheumatism. This superstition has survived +to the present day, and in some chemists’ shops in the City little glass +tubes containing mercury, sealed and placed in wash-leather bags, are +still sold, and carried in the belief that they will ward off attacks of +rheumatism while the phial is on the person. + +Antimony has played an important part, both in medicine and chemistry, +from a very early period. Known to the ancients as “stibium” or +“stimmi,” the native sulphide was used by women in Egypt and in the East +over three thousand years ago, for darkening the eyebrows and eyelids. +Arab women still use it in the form of “kohl,” finely ground for making +lines between the eyelids, which they regard as an aid to beauty. It was +a favourite metal with the alchemists, who hoped to obtain from it a +remedy for all ills. They soon discovered how readily it formed alloys +with other metals, and found it a simple matter to make salts of the +metal. They knew that by simply heating crude antimony in a crucible +they would sometimes get a vitreous substance, in consequence of some of +the silica of the crucible combining with the antimony. They found that +by digesting it in wine, the tartar of the wine formed a tartrate of +antimony, and by other processes they got various salts which they +discovered had medicinal properties. + +The white oxychloride which was called “Algaroth’s powder” or the +“mercury of life” was one of the most popular emetics in the sixteenth +century; it was introduced by Victor Algarotti, a physician of Verona. +Another celebrated antimony compound was Kermes Mineral, which is said +to have been discovered by Glauber about 1651. The process for making +this orange-red powder was kept secret, and wonderful cures are declared +to have been effected by it. + +In the seventeenth century it was probably one of the most popular +remedies in France for ague, dropsy, smallpox, syphilis and other +diseases. Louis XV bought the formula for its preparation for a +considerable sum in 1720 from La Ligerie. + +In the early part of the seventeenth century, Mynsicht is said to have +re-discovered the properties of tartar emetic, which has probably been +more frequently used in medicine than any other salt of antimony. It was +regarded at one time as a specific for fevers, but used more especially +for its emetic properties. + +In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries cups were made of an alloy of +antimony and tin, called “antimony cups” (_pocula emetica_). The cup was +filled with wine, which was allowed to stand in it for some little time +and become slightly impregnated with tartar emetic, so that the liquid +when drunk produced vomiting. These cups were frequently found in +monasteries, where it is said they were kept in order that the monks who +took too much wine could be punished by having to drink some more which +had been kept in the _poculum emeticum_. + +In the seventeenth century Basil Valentine, a German monk, whose +identity is still a matter of dispute, published a work entitled the +“Triumphal Chariot of Antimony,” in which he describes its virtues as a +remedy, and the forms in which it could be prescribed. It was translated +into English and published in London in 1678. + +Antimony has several times been employed as a poison for criminal +purposes, and the cases of Dr. Pritchard and Chapman or Klosowski, who +used it, are described in later chapters. + +A curious case, which shows how by accidental means a poison may find +its way into human remains after death, came to light some months ago in +Yorkshire. After the death of a young man, who was certified to have +died of gastro-enteritis, his friends found that they could not obtain +an order to cremate the body until a partial post-mortem examination had +been made. This was done and a small quantity of antimonious oxide was +found, which was supposed to have contributed to the cause of death. + +A further examination was therefore ordered, and the organs of the body +were sent to the Home Office analyst. He found that these were entirely +free from antimony, but he discovered that antimonious oxide was present +in the rubber rings of old pickle jars which had been used to send the +remains to London for examination. From this source the organs had +become contaminated and the certificate that death resulted from natural +causes was confirmed. + +It is probable that in this case if the analyst had not found antimony +present in the rubber bands of the stoppers of the glass jars—which of +course should not have been used—it might have been declared that the +man had died from the effects of antimonial poisoning, as presumably he +had been actually taking antimony in the form of medicine and the result +would have been another unsolved poison mystery. + +One of the peculiarities of antimony when given in large doses is its +property of preserving the tissues of the body after death. In the +Klosowski case the body of one of his victims, whom he had poisoned with +antimony, was exhumed after five years, and was found to be completely +mummified and as well preserved as if it had only been buried a few +days. + + + + + CHAPTER VIII + ROYAL AND HISTORIC POISONERS + + +Poison appears to have been employed as a political agent from an early +period of history, and many stories, probably more legendary than +correct, 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. In the same way, they themselves +sometimes became the victims of jealous rivals by similar nefarious +means. The greatest craft and cunning were exerted in order to introduce +poison into the human body, and there are many stories concerning the +curious and subtle methods said to have been employed. + +There are but few authenticated records of the use of poison in England +for the purpose of taking life until the sixteenth century, although +according to tradition King John is said to have compassed the death of +the unfortunate Maud FitzWalter by means of a poisoned egg. + +The story is a romantic one, and is related by Hepworth Dixon in _Her +Majesty’s Tower_. In the reign of King John the White Tower received one +of the first and fairest of a long line of female victims, in the person +of Maud FitzWalter, who was known to the singers of her time as Maud the +Fair. The father of this beautiful girl was Robert, Lord FitzWalter, of +Castle Baynard on the Thames, one of John’s most powerful and greatest +barons. The King, it is said, during a fit of violence or temper with +the Queen, fell madly in love with the fair Maud. As neither the lady +herself nor her father would listen to his disgraceful suit, the King is +said to have seized her by force at Dunmow and brought her to the Tower. +FitzWalter raised an outcry, on which the King sent troops into Castle +Baynard and his other houses, and when the baron protested against these +wrongs his master banished him from the realm. FitzWalter fled to France +with his wife and other children, leaving poor Maud in the Tower, where +she suffered a daily insult in the King’s unlawful suit. She remained +obdurate, however, and refused his offers. On her proud and scornful +answer to his overtures being heard, John carried her up to the roof and +locked her in the round turret, standing on the north-east angle of the +keep. Maud’s cage was the highest and chilliest den in the Tower, but +neither cold, solitude nor hunger could break her resolve, and at last, +in a rage of disappointed love, the King sent one of his minions to her +room with a poisoned egg, of which the brave girl ate and died. + +According to the French Chronicles, “After the death of Gaultier +Giffard, Count Buckingham, in the early part of the twelfth century, +Agnes his widow became enamoured with Robert Duke of Normandy, and +attached herself to him in an illicit manner, shortly after which time +his wife Sibylle died of poison.” + +Probably the earliest recorded case of secret poisoning in England is +that of Sir Walter de Scotiney, who was convicted of poisoning the Abbot +of Westminster and William, brother of the Earl of Gloucester. According +to Leland’s account, this happened during the meeting of a parliament +which had been convened at Winchester by Henry the Third about 1230. The +story is told in the following words:— + + +“The Abbot of Westminster and William brother of the Earl of Gloucester, +a person of great worth and spirit, were both destroyed. The Earl of +Gloucester himself languished under the effects of the poison and only +escaped death with extreme difficulty, for the hair fell from his head +and the nails from his fingers. They are said to have received into +their bowels the deadly drug at the table of the Lord Edward, King +Henry’s eldest son, during breakfast. The Earl escaped destruction +merely by the strength of his constitution with the loss of his hair, +nails, skin and great injury to his teeth. These atrocious deeds struck +the people with Horror. The villainy was imputed to a certain knight, +Walter de Scotiney, and at the appeal of the Countess de L’Isle he was +seized, judged and drawn.” + + +“In the same year and the latter end of February,” the chronicler +continues, + + +“was apprehended at London Walter de Scotiney, the Chief Councillor of +the Earl of Gloucester and his seneschall, being suspected of having +given the poisonous potion to the Earl, who was himself hardly saved +from the gate of death, and to his brother William de Clare who was +really killed by it; also was taken William de Bussey whose villanies if +related must excite horror and astonishment. He was the seneschal and +principal councillor of William de Valence. These men, although they had +been under the safe custody of sureties, being now seized and brought +before the judges were committed to a viler prison and put in chains.” + + +In the records of Hugh de Bigot, the High Justiciar, it is stated: + + +“Coming to Winchester they brought Walter de Scotiney steward of the +Earl of Gloucester to his trial for poisoning William de Clare the +preceding year. Scotiney was convicted, condemned and executed.” + + +Henry VIII at one period of his life was apprehensive of being poisoned, +and it was commonly stated that Anne Boleyn attempted to administer +poison to him surreptitiously. It is recorded that the King, in an +interview with young Prince Henry, burst into tears, saying that “he and +his sister, the Princess Mary, might thank God for having escaped from +the hand of that accursed and venomous harlot, who had intended to +poison them.” + +The story of the Countess of Somerset, who was tried with others for the +murder of Sir Thomas Overbury in the reign of James I, forms an +interesting episode in the history of romantic poisoning. Robert Earl of +Essex, son of Queen Elizabeth’s favourite, and who afterwards became +Commander-in-Chief of the Parliamentary forces, married, at the age of +fourteen, Frances Howard, a younger daughter of the Earl of Suffolk, the +bride being just a year younger than her husband. The match had been +arranged and brought about through the influence of relatives, who +thought it expedient that the youthful bridegroom should be sent off to +travel on the Continent immediately after the marriage had taken place, +and he remained away for three or four years. During this period the +countess, who was brought up at Court, developed into a very beautiful +woman, but seems to have been equally unprincipled and capricious. On +the return of the earl from his travels, she shrank from all advances on +his part, and showed the utmost repugnance to her husband on all +occasions. Their dispositions were entirely different. He loved +retirement, and wished to live a quiet country life, while she, who had +been bred at Court, and accustomed to adulation and intrigue, refused to +leave town. The King about this time had a number of young men of +distinguished appearance and good looks attached to the Court, and of +these, one Robert Carr, at length became an exclusive favourite. Between +him and the self-willed young countess there sprang up an attachment, +which, at least on her side, amounted to infatuation. Her opportunities +for meeting her lover were short and rare, and in this emergency she +applied to a Mrs. Turner, who introduced her to Dr. Forman, a noted +astrologer and magician at that time, and he, by images made of wax and +other devices of the black art, undertook to procure the love of Carr +for the lady. At the same time he was also to practise against the earl +in the opposite direction. These measures, however, were too slow for +the wayward countess, and having gone to the utmost lengths with her +inamorato, she insisted on a divorce from her husband, and a legal +marriage with her lover. + +One of Carr’s greatest friends was Sir Thomas Overbury, a young courtier +and a man of honour and kindly disposition. He was much against this +intimacy, and besought his friend to break it off, assuring him it would +ruin his prospects and reputation if he married the lady. Carr unwisely +made this known to the countess, who at once regarded Overbury as a +bitter enemy, and resolved to do what she could to overthrow him. The +pair plotted together with evident success, for the unfortunate Sir +Thomas was shortly afterwards committed to the Tower by an arbitrary +mandate of the King, and was not allowed to see any visitors. Finally, +his food was poisoned, and, after several unsuccessful attempts on his +life, he at last died from the effects of poison. Cantharides, nitrate +of silver, spiders, arsenic, and last of all, corrosive sublimate, are +said to have been administered in turn to this unfortunate individual. +Meanwhile, the countess obtained a divorce from her husband on the +ground of impotency, and married Carr, who was soon after made Earl of +Somerset by King James. + +Two years elapsed before the murder of Sir Thomas Overbury was brought +to light, when the inferior criminals, Mrs. Turner and others, were +convicted and executed; but the Earl of Somerset and his countess, +although found guilty with their accomplices, received the royal pardon. +The happiness of the earl and countess, however, was not of long +duration, as it is stated they afterwards became so alienated from each +other, that they resided for years under the same roof with the most +careful precautions that they might not by any chance come into each +other’s presence. Mrs. Turner, implicated in the crime, is said to have +been the first to introduce into England the yellow starch that was then +applied to ladies’ ruffs. Her last request was that she should be hanged +in a ruff dyed with her own yellow starch, and her wish is said to have +been carried out. + +Whether Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, Prime Minister and favourite +of Queen Elizabeth, was as black as he is painted by some of the +historians of his time, it is difficult to judge. His ambition to marry +his royal mistress, who, shrewd woman as she was, appears to have had no +insight into his unscrupulous character, was apparently the cause of his +attempting to move every human obstacle from his path by insidious +methods. The death of Amy Robsart, a mystery which has never been +completely solved and a description of which is given in a following +chapter, is attributed to Leicester’s machinations. He was suspected of +causing the death of Lord Sheffield, and the Earl of Essex, another +rival, is stated to have been also the victim of his hatred. + +The death of the latter peer is said, in the language of a contemporary +chronicler, as having been due to “an extreme flux cause by an Italian +Receit, the maker whereof was a surgeon that was then newly come to my +Lord from Italy, a cunning man and sure in operation.” The inventor of +this recipe was known as Dr. Julio, who was said to be able “to make a +man dye in what manner of sickness you will.” Essex died when on his way +back to England from Ireland, with the object, it is said, of revenging +himself on Leicester for his domestic wrongs. “With the Earl of Essex, +one Mrs. Alice Drakott, a godly gentlewoman, is also said to have been +poisoned.” This lady happened to be accompanying the earl on her way +towards her own house, when after partaking of the same cup she was also +seized with violent pain and vomiting, which continued until she died, a +day or two before the earl succumbed. “When she was dead,” says the +chronicler, “her body was swollen into a monstruous bigness and +deformity; whereof the good earl, hearing the day following, lamented +the case greatly, and said in the presence of his servants, ‘Ah! poor +Alice, the cup was not prepared for thee, albeit it was thy hard fortune +to taste thereof.’” + +According to all accounts, Leicester’s list of victims did not cease +here, and, rightly or wrongly, the death of Cardinal Chatillian, who was +taken suddenly ill and died in Canterbury, is also attributed to him. +The Cardinal had accused the earl of preventing the marriage of the +Queen to the King of France, and was journeying back to Dover when he +was taken ill and died in a mysterious manner. + +Another mysterious death at this time that occasioned considerable +sensation was that of Sir Nicholas Throgmorton, a wealthy city magnate +of Elizabeth’s time, whose name is still perpetuated in the City. Sir +Nicholas is said to have been an associate of Leicester’s and the one +who was ready to do his bidding in thwarting the doings of the Lord +Treasurer, Sir William Cecil, who was thought by Leicester to be playing +him false. He invited him one night to a supper at his house in London, +and, just as the meal was served, hurriedly left for Court, to which he +said he had been called suddenly by her Majesty. Sir Nicholas was told +to proceed with the meal in his absence, which he did, but soon after +was seized with violent vomiting, from which he never recovered. The +story continues, that the day before his death he declared to a dear +friend “all the circumstances and causes of his complaint, which he +affirmed plainly to be poison given him in a sallet at supper, +inveighing most earnestly against the earl’s cruelty and bloody +disposition, and affirming him to be the wickedest, most perilous and +perfidious man under heaven.” + +Whether Leicester was the unscrupulous villain he was made out to be or +not, there is no evidence to prove. Many writers aver that he kept his +professional poisoners ready to do his will and carry out his designs. +There seems little doubt that he had some needy physicians in his pay. +His personal doctor, one Bayly, is said to have boasted of the fact that +“he knew of poisons which might be so tempered that they should kill the +party afterwards at what time it should be appointed.” This method, +which is alluded to by many writers of the fifteenth century as slow +poisoning, was probably due to the effect of administering some poison, +such as arsenic or antimony in small doses until the cumulative effect +of the substance proved fatal. + +An Italian doctor whom Leicester brought home from his travels in Italy, +is mentioned in several stories as one of the unscrupulous physicians +employed by him who were ready to administer the “Italian Comfortive,” +as the poison was called, at his bidding. Those whose sudden deaths were +attributed to Leicester’s instrumentality were commonly said to have +succumbed to “Leicester’s cold.” + +There is little doubt, however, that Leicester was suspected of being +the instigator of many murders which probably he may have had nothing to +do with, as he made many enemies. + +His name is also associated with the sudden demise of Lord Sheffield, +whose death is said to have been due to “Leicester’s cold.” A short time +afterwards the earl married his widow, but under pretence that the Queen +would be offended at the marriage, compelled her to keep it secret. +After some time, the more effectually to conceal the connection, he +required her to marry Sir Edward Stafford. This she refused to do, till +under the gentle discipline of Leicester it is recorded that “her hair +fell off and her nails fell out, and she did what was demanded of her to +save her life.” This story is certified by her own testimony on oath, +and recorded by Sir William Dugdale. + +The Earl of Sussex, his great rival, is also said to have been one of +his victims. On his death-bed he is said to have warned his friends in +the following words: “I am passing into another world and must now leave +you to your good fortunes and to the Queen’s grace and goodness; but +beware of the gipsy’s son [Leicester] for he will be too hard for you +all. You know the beast as well as I do.” + +Camden, the historian, who does not discredit many of these stories, +asserts that Leicester actually proposed in Council that Mary Queen of +Scots should be removed by poison. + +There was a curious mystery about the death of Prince Alexander, the son +of Peter the Great, the story of which is related by Henry Bruce, an +Englishman in Peter’s service in 1782. Bruce states that he was at the +citadel of St. Peter and St. Paul, where the Tsarevitch was imprisoned +on a charge of _lèse-majesté_, the Tsar and Marshal Veide being also +present. The latter ordered Bruce to go to the apothecary Beer, who +lived close by, and tell him “the potion must be made strong, for the +Prince was very bad indeed.” The apothecary trembled and turned pale at +the message, but refused to explain to Bruce why he was thus agitated. +The Marshal, who had sent Bruce, followed him, and told Beer to “hurry, +for the Prince had had an apoplectic fit.” The apothecary handed him a +silver cup, which the Marshal carried to the Prince, “staggering all the +time like a drunken man.” Half an hour after the Tsar left the citadel, +gloomy, like all his retinue. Bruce was ordered to stay and dine at a +table set for the Tsarevitch. “Two doctors and two surgeons dined apart. +They were called in to the Prince; he was in convulsions, and died at 5 +p.m., after atrocious suffering. Bruce informed the Marshal, who told +the Tsar. The viscera were removed by Peter the Great’s orders before +the body was coffined.” + +In India, when powdered glass is employed for lethal purposes, it is +generally given with sherbet or some kind of food. It acts as a powerful +irritant to the coats of the stomach or intestines and produces +gastro-enteritis. + +A celebrated case in which this substance was used occurred in India in +1874, when the Gaekwar or reigning prince of Baroda, was tried for +attempting to kill the British political resident, Colonel Phayre, by +administering powdered glass to him in sherbet. He was brought to trial +before a court composed of three Indian and three English judges, and +after a trial lasting thirty-five days the English judges pronounced for +a conviction and the three Indian ones for an acquittal. In the end the +Gaekwar was deposed and deported to Madras. + + + + + CHAPTER IX + POISONS TRIED ON HUMAN BEINGS + + +From an early period science has been gradually built up by experimental +methods and even the ancients were cognizant of the fact that the +remedial properties of a substance could only be proved by actual +experiment. Not only animals but human beings were utilized for this +purpose by many famous physicians in the Middle Ages. Criminals who had +been condemned to death were generally selected when available. + +It is stated by Pierre Fabre, in the _History of the Apostles_, that the +Apostle John was present at the execution of two criminals by poison in +the public forum at Ephesus. + +Vivisection of the live human subject was practised by the Alexandrian +school in the time of the Ptolemies. Erasistratos and Herophilos, pupils +of Chrysippos of Cnidos, are said to have experimented upon 600 +condemned criminals handed over to them by Ptolemy Soter. They opened +the abdomens of some of these men to study the movements of the colon +and those of the muscle of the diaphragm on the inspiration of air; they +also opened the chests of the others to study the cardiac movements. +Their conduct, however, met with the reprobation of their +contemporaries. Celsus and Galen reproached Herophilos with “cruel and +useless sacrifices” and of “inhuman feeling,” while Tertullian called +him roundly “an executioner who gave lingering death with refined +cruelty.” The Court physicians of Attalus, King of Pergamus, and +Mithridates, King of Pontus, were authorized in virtue of their office +to try poisons upon criminals, and were accused by their jealous +colleagues of pluming themselves upon their privileges, while less +favoured practitioners were compelled to be content to experiment upon +cocks and dogs. + +An allusion to the use of animals for the purpose of physiological +experiment is to be found in a document still preserved in the Venetian +secret archives, which bears the date 1432. It states: “Trial has been +made on three porcine animals of certain venoms found in the chancery +sent very long ago from Vicenza which have been proved not to be good.” + +This document affords interesting proof that the Italians at that early +period were much in advance of other European nations in their knowledge +of poisonous substances. + +Brassavola of Ferrara studied little known and doubtful remedies by +testing their effects on criminals, and Fallopius, his pupil, who +eventually made such important physiological discoveries, followed his +master’s example. It is recorded that Cosimo de Medici, Grand Duke of +Tuscany, on one occasion ordered the magistrates of Pisa to hand over +two men to Fallopius, “in order that he may put them to death in +whatever way he pleases, and then anatomize them.” Fallopius, however, +seeing the men were condemned to death, seems to have acted with both +dignity and humanity. He gave them each eight grains of opium; one died +and the other recovered. Cosimo pardoned him, but, if we may believe +contemporary records, Fallopius did not: he gave the man eight grains +more, and this time he died. + +At Bologna, poisons were habitually administered to criminals without +their knowledge to obviate the perturbing influence of fear upon natural +toxic effects. Arsenic was employed in the same way at Mantua and +Florence. Even princes of the Church did not show themselves above +taking part in these experiments. The Cardinal-Archbishop of Ravenna, +with the permission of Duke Ercole II, tried the effects of corrosive +sublimate (!) as an antidote, though this seems rather like cutting off +a child’s head to cure it of squinting. Pope Clement VII’s experiment +with a secret oil which was given to certain unfortunate Corsicans as an +antidote to the aconite they administered judicially, may be cited as a +more humane effort in the cause of science, and was, no doubt, +considered to have been partially successful, as one of the victims +survived the aconite and received a free pardon. + +Dr. Harris, who was physician-in-ordinary to Charles II, gives an +account of one Pontæus, apparently a contemporary, who is described as +the first mountebank who ever appeared on a stage in England. This +performer issued a challenge to the physicians of Oxford to prepare the +rankest poison they could contrive, and he undertook that one of his +servants should take it and recover. Thus would he demonstrate the +marvellous virtues of the orvietan he had for sale. The medical +practitioners of Oxford accepted the challenge, and decided on aqua +fortis. Pontæus’s man drank off on the stage what they brought him, fell +down as dead, was carried off, and reappeared the next day no worse for +his experience. Dr. Harris explains that previous to the test he had +well greased his mouth and gullet with 2 or 3 lb. of fresh butter, and +that after getting him behind the scenes a lot more butter was +administered, and then warm water, which made him sick. Another member +of the charlatan’s staff next washed his hands in molten lead before the +spectators. His hands were immediately violently inflamed, and his +sufferings were obvious to the crowd, if not appreciated by himself. +Some of the professor’s famous green ointment was then applied to the +almost skinless flesh, and the hands were carefully bandaged. Next day +the bandages were removed, and the hands were scarcely even inflamed. It +transpired afterwards that the molten lead was warm quicksilver placed +in a ladle painted red, and when the man dipped his hands in the metal +he was concealing in them some vermilion, which he rubbed over the flesh +under the quicksilver. + +François Ranchin, Professor and Chancellor of the Faculty of Montpellier +in the eighteenth century, wrote that experiments upon human beings were +worthy of approval and had been held in high honour by the ancients. + +English surgeons in the eighteenth century were also willing to avail +themselves when the opportunity offered to experiment on a condemned +criminal. + +In 1731 a man named Charles Ray was reprieved on condition that William +Cheselden, the famous anatomist and surgeon, should perforate the drum +of his ear in order to ascertain if it would cause deafness. The +unfortunate subject, however, was taken ill with fever before the +experiment could be performed, and the operation was abandoned. + +Again, in 1763 another condemned man was offered a reprieve on condition +that he consented to have one of his legs amputated to test the power of +a new styptic. Fortunately, perhaps, for him, he died before the +experiment could be performed. Four years later one John Benham is +reported to have been reprieved for a similar purpose, but when Pierce, +the inventor of the styptic, waited upon the Secretary of State to make +arrangements, he was informed that His Majesty the King was of the +opinion that it was quite improper to try such an experiment. + +In more recent times seven condemned criminals in France were inoculated +with the plague, but only one contracted the disease, and a certain +German professor inoculated a man with carbuncle, which brought upon him +the denunciations of his professional brethren. + +On the ethics of such experiments much diversity of opinion exists, but +only when the subjects voluntarily submit themselves, as was recently +done in connection with the researches on yellow fever, can this course +be in any way justified. + + + + + CHAPTER X + THE SLOW AND TIME POISONS OF MEDIÆVAL TIMES + + +The belief that certain slow and secret poisons could be so prepared +that their administration could be controlled with such a degree of +precision as to cause death at any given period, according to the will +of the poisoner, has existed from ancient times. This idea was +encouraged and fostered by the practitioners of alchemy and astrology, +and others who professed to exercise magical powers. They also claimed a +knowledge of certain lethal bodies which could be administered to the +victims that would leave no trace behind them. + + +“Truly,” says a writer of the seventeenth century, “this poisoning art +called ‘veneficium’ of all others is most abominable, as whereby [crime] +may be committed where no suspicion may be gathered nor any resistance +be made; the strong cannot avoid the weak; the wise cannot prevent the +foolish, the godly cannot be preserved from the hands of the wicked; +children may thereby kill their parents, the servant the master, the +wife her husband so privily, so uncurably that of all other it hath been +thought the most odious kind of murther.” + + +The origin of the time or slow poison tradition may be found in the +cunning which is usually associated with the poisoner. In order to avoid +suspicion, the poison was probably first administered to the victim in +minute quantities, then gradually increased, from time to time, until it +was finally decided to give the lethal dose, and so the culminating time +was determined by the poisoner. + +Theophrastus refers to a poison prepared from aconite which, he states, +would produce its effects after two, three or six months, or even years, +after it had been administered. Plutarch records that one of the Philips +of Macedon caused such a poison to be given to Aratus King of Sicyon, +which is said to have produced a gradual wasting of the whole body, +accompanied by bleeding from the nose. + + +In Italy, during the Middle Ages, the highest dignitaries of the Church +did not scruple to employ this evil method of gaining their ends, and +statesmen used it as an instrument of diplomacy. Princes and nobles +became adepts in devising the most cunning methods of administering a +lethal dose to those whom they wished removed from their paths. This +subtle method for the destruction of human life seems to have specially +appealed to the Latin races of all classes. When they desired to dispose +of a dangerous enemy or an inconvenient rival, they saw no distinction +between using poison and the dagger. Many notable personages are said to +have fallen victims to the poisoner’s craft, including Pope Victor II, +Christopher I, King of Denmark, and Henry VII of Germany. + +With respect to the latter monarch, it is stated that on his return from +Italy, where he had made many enemies both in Church and State, he +stopped at the small town of Buonconventis to celebrate the festival of +Easter. After receiving the sacrament he fell suddenly ill and died in +terrible agony. The sacred elements of the Eucharist are said indeed to +have been often utilized as a medium for this evil purpose. A case +occurred within recent years when the same method was employed, proving +that even to-day, in some remote parts of Italy, the old craft of the +poisoner still survives. A few years ago, an aged priest named Donato +Marulli, while celebrating mass in his church in the village of +Villamagua in Abruzzi, fell writhing in agony on the altar steps. +Consternation ensued among the congregation present, who crowded round +the sacristan demanding explanations. Hearing suspicions of poisoning +mentioned, he seized the chalice and drained the contents to demonstrate +that the priest’s seizure was not due to the consecrated cup, but in a +few moments he collapsed in the same manner. Suspicion afterwards fell +on a young priest, who was subsequently arrested. It was found that he +had mixed corrosive sublimate with the wine just before the celebration, +the motive being to get promoted as parish priest in the old man’s +stead. + +The extent to which the belief in the extraordinary power of poisons +grew is instanced in the story of an association of women that +flourished at Cassalis in Italy in the year 1536. The members are said +to have poisoned whole families by + + +“smearing the posts and doors of their houses with a noxious ointment +and powder of which they prepared about forty crocks for the purpose. +The like villainy was practised at Genoa and execution was done upon the +offenders. Their art consisted in poisoning cattle as well as men, for +it is written by divers authors that if wolves’ dung be hidden in the +mangers, racks, or else in the hedges about the pastures where cattle go +(through the antipathy of the nature of the wolfe and other cattle) all +the beasts that favour the same do not only forbear to eat but run about +as though they were mad.” + + +It need hardly be said that this story is simply a phase of the +witchcraft superstition so commonly believed at this period. + +On carefully investigating the cases recorded of so-called secret and +slow poisonings mentioned by writers of the Middle Ages, the substance +employed in the majority of such cases was probably arsenic in some +form. La Spara’s mysterious elixir, that was the cause of so many deaths +in Rome in the seventeenth century, was a preparation of arsenic, and so +also was the famous Aqua Toffana, which is said to have put an end to no +less than six hundred persons. It is very improbable that any substances +of a toxic nature were used in mediæval or earlier times that are +unknown to science to-day, and most of the stories of slow and secret +poisoning can be explained by the manner in which the poison was given. +A common phrase used by historians of this period in closing the account +of some personages of note was, “he died not without suspicion of +venom.” + +According to the Burghley papers, there was great dread of secret +poisoning in Queen Elizabeth’s time. + +On June 27, 1572, one Richard Bexley, writing to Burghley, advises him +not to take any physic of Dr. Gyfford, recently from Rome, lest he might +be “Italianated” (a phrase actually coined to express secret poisoning). +As early as 1561 it became necessary to surround the Queen with +precautions against poisons. Not an untasted dish was allowed to be +brought to her table, not a glove or a handkerchief might approach her +person which had not been scrutinized, and she was dosed weekly with +antidotes. + +Another story which shows the extraordinary credulity respecting the +power of poisons that existed in the sixteenth century is related in a +rare tract published in 1652, that purports to be an account of an +attempt on the life of Queen Elizabeth. It states, in “Anno Dom. 1596 +one Edward Squire sometime a scrivener at Greenwich, afterwards a deputy +purveyor for the Queen’s stable, in Sir Francis Drake’s last voyage was +taken prisoner and carried into Spaine, and being set at liberty, one +Walpole a Jesuite grew acquainted with him and got him into the +Inquisition whence he returned a resolved Papist, he persuaded Squire to +undertake to poyson the pommell of the Queen’s [Elizabeth’s] saddle, +and, to make him constant, made Squire receive the Sacrament upon it; he +then gave him the poyson chusing that he should take it in a double +bladder and should prick the bladder full of hoales in the upper part, +when he should use it (carrying it within a thick glove for the safety +of his hand) should after turne it downward pressing the bladder upon +the pommell of the Queen’s saddle. This Squire confest. Squire is now in +Spaine, and for his safer dispatch it was devised that two Spanish +prisoners taken at Cales should be exchanged for Squire and one Rawles, +that it might not be thought that Squire came over but as a redeemed +captive. + +“The Munday sennight after Squire returned into England, he +understanding the horses were preparing for the Queen’s riding abroad +laid his hand and crushed the poyson upon the pommell of the Queene’s +saddle saying, ‘God save the Queene,’ the Queene road abroad and as it +should seem laid her hand upon the place or els received no hurt +(through God’s goodness) by touching it. Walpole counting the thing as +done, imparted it to some principall fugitives there, but being +disappointed of his hope, supposing Squire to have been false, to be +revenged on him sent one hither (who should pretend to have stolne from +thence) with letters wherein the plot of Squire was contained; this +letter was pretended to be stolne out of one of their studies. + +“Squire being apprehended confessed all without any rigor, but after +denied that he put it into execution, although he acknowledged he +consented to it in the plot, at length he confessed the putting it in +execution also.” + +The death of Niccolo Macchiavelli, whose abbreviated Christian name +according to Macaulay was the origin of the term “Old Nick” commonly +applied to the universal enemy of mankind, is said to have been due to a +magic potion. Henry Morley, however, gives another version, and states +that, “having failed in health after his last reverses, Macchiavelli +increased his ailment by an overdose of castor oil, a medicine then in +particular repute, and died two days afterwards on June 22, 1527.” + +This statement is evidently an error, as castor oil (the oil expressed +from the seeds of the _Ricinis communis_) was not in use as a medicinal +agent until more than 200 years after Macchiavelli’s death. The drug +that Macchiavelli may have taken is the oil of castor, a product of the +animal of that name which was often used in the fifteenth and sixteenth +centuries. An interesting light is thrown on the composition of the +so-called magic potion in a letter written by him to his friend +Guicciardini on August 17, 1525, nearly two years before his death. He +states: + + +“I send you twenty-five pills made for you already four days since; you +will find the receipt for them at the end of my letter. I tell you they +have resuscitated me. Begin by taking one after supper; if it has any +effect you will cease; if not, you will take two or three, but not +beyond five. As for myself, two have always sufficed, and that only once +a week, except when my head is heavy or my stomach loaded.... But let us +return to the receipt for the pills:— + + Aloes drachm 1½ + Carman. deos? (Cardamom sem.) „ 1 + Saffron „ ½ + Myrrh „ ½ + Betony „ ½ + Pipinella „ ½ + Armenian bole „ ½” + + +Such was the medicine of which Macchiavelli ordinarily made use, and +which Paul Jove entitles an enchanted potion, saying that Macchiavelli, +after having taken it, died mocking God, and pretending that he was, so +to speak, become immortal. + +These pills are a strong purgative taken in the dose prescribed, and it +is possible Macchiavelli, while in a weakened condition, may have +overdosed himself with them, and so hastened his end. + +Elisabetta Sirani, one of the famous women painters of the Bolognese +school in the seventeenth century, is supposed to have been poisoned by +her maid, and an interesting account of her illness and death is +recorded in a manuscript in the Archives of Bologna. It states, that, +“In Lent 1665, she was seized with pains in her stomach. She grew thin +and lost her colour so that every one wondered at it, for before she was +healthy and robust. In the summer, about St. Bartholomew’s Day, a +redness with a little swelling appeared under her chin and jaw. These +were cured with an ointment in a few days. On August 12 or 13 she was +again seized with pain which was worse after eating. Her sister was in +bed stricken with fever and the family physician Doctor Gallerati was +attending her. Elisabetta complained to him. He said, ‘it was no time to +take medicine for the Sun was in Leo and that the pain was due to a +little catarrh.’ He advised her to take a little acid syrup early in the +morning. Her aunt made the syrup and she took it two or three times, +four teaspoonsful for a dose and seemed relieved. + +“But the pains returned. Nevertheless, she went with her mother on +August 24 to the Feast of the Porchetta, and when asked how she was, +said she ‘was all right when she didn’t think about it.’ On August 27 +about two in the afternoon the pain returned with violence. She became +ghastly and was bathed in cold perspiration. Her aunt with difficulty +put her to bed. She could not lie flat, but was easier in a half sitting +posture. + +“She felt sick, but the emetics and clysters given had little effect. +All through the night her relations applied hot cloths to her cold body. +The pain continued and the extremities turned black. + +“A little while before her death the pain seemed to lessen and go lower; +she began to move in bed, then fainted and died about eleven o’clock +after being ill about thirty-three hours. After death her body swelled. +The nose thickened, the features changed. She looked like a woman of +sixty albeit she was but twenty-six years of age. She was given by her +relatives: 1, Teriaca; [6]2, Spetie di Elescoff in broth; 3, Bezoar and +oil of the Grand Duke against poison.” + +Footnote 6: + + A purgative electuary composed of scammony, cream of tartar and salt + of tartar. + +At her father’s urgent request a post-mortem examination was made the +day following Elisabetta’s death! This, it is recorded, was carried out +by Master Ludovico, Surgeon of the Ospedale della Morte, in the presence +of six other physicians. Perforations were found in the stomach, which +five out of the seven doctors, attributed to the action of a “corrosive +poison.” A Doctor Fabri introduced his finger into one of these +perforations and found the circumference was surrounded by hardened +tissue, and Dr. Gallerati, the family physician who had attended her, +was of the opinion there was evidence of a “corrosive poison.” + +Suspicion fell upon a maidservant called Lucia Tolomelli, on the +assertion of another domestic, that she had seen her place a “brown +powder” in some food. So Lucia was arrested on September 1, 1665, and +charged with the murder of Elisabetta Sirani. After a protracted trial, +the evidence was deemed insufficient and she was released, it being +concluded that death had been due to natural causes. + +There seems little doubt that this conclusion was correct, and this +gifted lady probably died from peritonitis. + +In this case, as in many others where the physician was unable to +diagnose the disease and was puzzled to account for a patient’s death, +it was generally deemed to be the result of a slow poison, which +deduction formed a ready solution of the difficulty. + + + + + CHAPTER XI + THE ITALIAN SCHOOL OF POISONERS + + +The study of the criminal methods of using poisons developed into a cult +in Italy during the Middle Ages, and the Italian school of poisoners +became known throughout Europe. There is authentic record that its +members were ready on receipt of certain fees to carry out murder by +poison to order. + +A document drawn up by Charles King of Navarre throws some light on the +systematic manner in which the poisoning of obnoxious persons was +carried out. It is in the form of a commission to one Wondreton to +poison Charles VI, the Duke of Valois, brother of the King, and his +uncles, the Dukes of Berri, Burgundy and Bourbon. It reads: + + +“Go thou to Paris; thou canst do great service if thou wilt. Do what I +tell thee; I will reward thee well. There is a thing which is called +sublimed arsenic; if a man eat a bit the size of a pea, he will never +survive; Thou wilt find it in Pampeluna, Bordeaux, Bayonne, and in all +the good towns thou wilt pass at the apothecaries’ shops. Take it, and +powder it; and when thou shalt be in the house of the King, of the Count +de Valois his brother, and the Dukes of Berri, Burgundy and Bourbon, +draw near and betake thyself to the kitchen, to the larder, to the +cellar, or any other place where thy point can best be gained, and put +the powder in the soups, meats, or wines; provided that thou canst do it +secretly. Otherwise do it not.” + + +It is satisfactory to learn that the miscreant who was entrusted with +this diabolical commission was detected in time, and executed in 1384. + +From the fifteenth to the seventeenth century there were schools of +poisoners both in Venice and Rome. The Venetian poisoners who first came +into notoriety began their operations early in the sixteenth century. At +that period the mania for poisoning had risen to such a degree that the +governments of the States were formally recognizing secret assassination +by poison, and considering the removal of emperors, princes and powerful +nobles by this method. This is not a myth, as record of the notorious +Council of Ten, which met to consider such plans, and an account of +their proceedings still exists. It gives the number of those who voted +for and who voted against the proposed removal of certain persons, the +reasons for their assassination and the sums paid for their execution. +Thus these conspirators quietly and secretly arranged to take the lives +of many prominent individuals who displeased them. When the deed was +executed it was registered on the margin of their official record by the +significant word “Factum.” + +On December 15, 1543, John of Ragusa, a Franciscan brother, offered the +Council a selection of poisons, and declared himself ready to remove any +person whom they deemed objectionable out of the way. He openly stated +his terms, which for the first successful case were to be a pension of +1,500 ducats a year, to be increased on the execution of future +services. The Presidents, Guolando Duoda and Pietro Guiarini, placed +this matter before the Council on January 4, 1544, and on a division it +was resolved to accept this patriotic offer, and to experiment first on +the Emperor Maximilian. John, who had evidently reduced poisoning to a +fine art, submitted afterwards a regular graduated tariff to the +Council, which reads as follows:— + +For the great Sultan, 500 ducats. + +For the King of Spain, 150 ducats, including the expenses of the +journey, etc. + +For the Duke of Milan, 60 ducats. + +For the Marquis of Mantua, 50 ducats. + +For the Pope, 100 ducats. + +He further adds at the foot of the document, “The farther the journey, +the more eminent the man, the more it is necessary to reward the toil +and hardships undertaken, and the heavier must be the payment.” + +What may be called the Roman school of poisoners became prominent in the +early sixteenth century, and their operations continued until the early +part of the eighteenth century. During this period the magnitude and +daring of their crimes struck terror into the hearts of the chief nobles +and rulers of the country. The books on what were called “secrets,” +published in Italy about this time, which contain formulæ of various +descriptions, contain many allusions to poisons. Stories are told of +poisons supposed to be unknown, whose secrets died with their +originators. + +The mania for poisoning appears to have seized on all classes from the +highest to the lowest, and no one who made an enemy was safe. Baptiste +Porta, who wrote a book on the subject in 1589, made a careful study of +the subject, and describes methods which were no doubt used in his time. +He mentions various means for drugging wine, a favourite medium for +administering poison. For this purpose belladonna root, nux vomica, +aconite and hellebore were employed, all of which are very deadly in +their effects. He gives a formula for compounding what he calls a very +strong poison named “Venenum Lupinum,” which was composed of aconite, +taxus baccata, caustic lime, arsenic, bitter almonds and powdered glass. +These substances were to be mixed with honey into a stiff paste and made +into pills the size of hazel nut. His method of poisoning a sleeping +person was to make a mixture of hemlock juice, bruised stramonium, +belladonna and opium, which was to be placed in a leaden box with a +perfectly fitting lid, and allowed to ferment for several days. When +this was done it was to be uncovered and placed under the nose of the +intended victim while asleep. So long as the individual only smelt and +did not swallow the compound, it could not have done him much harm. + +During the early part of the seventeenth century the southern parts of +Italy, including Sicily, also appear to have been infested by +unscrupulous practitioners in the use of poison, and Naples became a +centre for this nefarious trade. The most notorious of these criminals +whose name has been left on record is the woman named Toffana, who, +there is little doubt, was responsible indirectly for the deaths of +hundreds of people. About 1650, when she was little more than a girl, +she began her evil career in Palermo, but in 1659, during the +pontificate of Alexander VII, she removed to Naples and made it the +centre of her operations. Whether she herself devised the poison which +is associated with her name, or whether she obtained the knowledge from +a confederate, is not known, but her method was to prepare the solution +and bottle it in special phials bearing the representation of some +saint, generally Saint Nicholas of Bari, who was connected with a +medicinal spring, the water of which had a reputation for healing. +Sometimes she used other names for her poisonous solution, such as +“Aquetta di Napoli,” “Manna of St. Nicholas di Bari,” or gave her own +name to it, “Aqua Toffana.” These bottles of poison were freely sold, +especially to women, reputedly as a cosmetic for application to the skin +to improve the complexion, for which purpose, owing to its active +constituent being arsenic, it probably proved effective. Anyone in the +secret could buy the poison for its supposed external application, and +Toffana took care only to deal with individuals after due safeguards had +been built up. She changed her abode so frequently, and adopted so many +disguises, that even when suspicion actually fell upon her after many +mysterious deaths, detection was rendered very difficult. She cunningly +worked on the minds of her clients who were susceptible to religious or +superstitious influences, and those who were unaware of the origin of +her deadly solution were told it was a certain miraculous fluid supposed +to ooze from the tomb of St. Nicholas, a saint of healing. + +[Illustration: + + [_Copyright._ + + A BOTTLE WITH REPRESENTATION OF ST. NICHOLAS OF BARI SAID TO HAVE BEEN + USED FOR AQUA TOFFANA. +] + +Her preparations were doubtless bought by many in good faith in the +belief that the liquid had miraculous properties, but those who knew the +secret, especially women, often used it for criminal purposes, and it is +estimated that over six hundred persons were poisoned by her +preparations in Naples and Rome. Two Popes and other Church dignitaries +are said to have fallen victims to the poison, and it was not until +after a long career, and when Toffana had reached the age of seventy, +that she was found to be the originator of these wholesale crimes. In a +letter addressed to Hoffman[7] by Garcelli, physician to the Emperor +Charles VI of Austria, he informed him that being Governor of Naples at +the time, he knew that the Aquetta di Napoli was the dread of every +noble family in the city, and that the subject was investigated legally. +He thus had the opportunity of examining all the documents, and found +the poison to consist of a solution of arsenic, which was of such +strength that from four to six drops in water or wine was said to kill +an adult, and that it was colourless, transparent and tasteless. + +Footnote 7: + + _Medicinia Rationalis Systematica_, i. 198. + +When the manufacture and sale of the poison was at last traced to +Toffana, she took refuge in a convent, where, under the privileges of +the place, she bade defiance for some time to the officers of justice, +and continued to vend her solution from the very bosom of the Church +until the scandal became at length too great to be tolerated. She was +then dragged from her refuge and thrown into prison. A great outcry was +raised by the clergy at this violation of their privileges, and the +people, unwilling to be defrauded of their right to use the poison, +joined in the clamour of the priests. It was only by circulating a +report that she had poisoned the wells in the city, that the current of +public sentiment could be turned against her. Being put to the rack she +confessed her crimes, and named those who had afforded her protection. +They were immediately arrested in various churches and monasteries. It +was stated that the day before her last flight from justice, she had +sent two boxes of her “manna” to Rome. They were found in the +custom-house in that city. The archbishop still murmured at her being +torn from a privileged asylum and accordingly the authorities contrived +to have her strangled and thrown into the courtyard of the convent from +which she had been taken in 1709. Her practices, however, did not cease +at her death, and, according to Keysler, who travelled in Southern Italy +in the early part of the eighteenth century, the _aquetta_ continued to +be prepared in great quantities for some time afterwards. + +There was naturally much mystery at the time as to the composition of +Aqua Toffana and the most extraordinary properties were attributed to +it. Its alleged effects are described by Behrens, a contemporary writer, +who states that on taking it, + + +“a certain indescribable change is felt in the whole body, which leads +the person to complain to his physician. The physician examines and +reflects, but finds no symptoms either external or internal, no +vomiting, no inflammation, no fever. In short, he can only advise +patience, strict regimen, and laxatives. The malady, however, creeps on, +and the physician is again sent for. Still he cannot detect any symptoms +of note. Meanwhile the poison takes firmer hold of the system; languor, +wearisomeness, and loathing of food continue; the nobler organs +gradually become torpid, and the lungs in particular at length begin to +suffer. In a word, the malady, from the first is incurable; the unhappy +victim pines away insensibly even in the hands of the physician, and +thus he is brought to a miserable end through months or years, according +to his enemy’s desire.” + + +Father Labat, in his _Travels in Italy_, observes that the association +of the name of St. Nicholas of Bari with Aqua Toffana was a great +advantage to her, as there was such a preparation in reality, a sacred +water, and Toffana’s solution, under the name “Manna of St. Nicholas di +Bari,” was able to pass the Custom-house with little scrutiny. + +Toffana had many imitators, who continued to practise for some time +after her death. A similar scheme was attempted with a poisonous +preparation which was sold for cosmetic purposes, called “Aquetta di +Perugia.” It is said to have been prepared by killing a hog, disjointing +it, and strewing the pieces with white arsenic, which was well rubbed +in, and finally collecting the juice which dropped from the meat itself. + +This preparation was supposed to be a much stronger and powerful poison +than arsenic, and was more rapid in its action. + +Some idea of the extent to which criminal poisoning was carried in Italy +may be gathered from an account of a secret society of women that was +formed in Rome in 1659. Many of the members were young married women +belonging to some of the best and wealthiest families of that city. They +apparently met together with the chief object of plotting to destroy the +lives of their husbands or members of families connected with them. They +gathered at regular intervals at the house of a woman called Hieronyma +Spara, who was reputed to be a sorceress. She provided the members of +the Society with the poison necessary for their purposes, and planned +and instructed them how to use it. + +Operations had been carried on for some time before the existence of the +Society was discovered, “and,” says a contemporary writer, “the hardened +old hag passed the ordeal of the rack without confession, but another +woman divulged the secrets of the sisterhood, and La Spara, together +with twelve other women implicated, were hanged.” Many others were +publicly whipped through the streets of the city. + +A curious story is told of D’Annunzio, the Italian poet, who became +prominent in 1921 in the seizure of Fiume, which he held as dictator for +some time. It is stated that when serving in the Italian Air Force, +which he did with distinction during the war, it was his custom to carry +a small bottle of a very powerful poison in his pocket which he used to +allude to invariably as “My Pharmic Liberator.” This poison he is said +to have had concocted for him in Venice, and it was made from a mediæval +recipe only known to the Venetian poisoners. It is said that when he was +performing his memorable raid over Vienna the engines of his aeroplane +stopped and restarted thrice over, and feeling certain that a descent +over enemy territory was inevitable, he got his phial ready in order +that the Austrians should not capture him alive. At that very moment he +is said to have seen an apparition of his mother, who had died two years +beforehand, who bade him cast away all fears and he would get through. +He is said also to have kept his phial of poison close at his hand +during the bombardment of Fiume, and his friends had to keep perpetual +watch upon him during those critical hours. + + + + + CHAPTER XII + THE MYSTERY OF THE BORGIAS + + +Considerable mystery has ever enveloped the history of the Borgia +family, whose name historians have linked with some of the most morbid +stories of crime and secret poisoning during the Middle Ages. A great +deal that has been written concerning their crimes is doubtless pure +fiction, and it is only within recent years that owing to the discovery +of certain contemporary documents some light has been thrown upon the +darksome deeds they are said to have perpetrated. From an examination of +these records, on the one hand it would appear that certain members of +the family were not so black as tradition has painted them, and on the +other there seems little doubt that some of the Borgias were guilty of +terrible and sinister deeds, which were only too common in the times in +which they lived. + +The Borgias, who were of Spanish origin, migrated to Italy and came into +notoriety in the time of Pope Calixtus III, about the year 1455. The +first member to come into prominence was Rodrigo, who was born in 1431, +and who began life as a soldier. Afterwards, through the influence of +Calixtus he entered the priesthood, and finally rose to be the head of +the Church under the title of Pope Alexander VI. He is said to have had +five children by his mistress Vanozza de Cattanei, viz.: Pier Luigi, who +died in infancy, Giovanni Duke of Gandia, Giffredo Count of Cariati, +Cesare, afterwards Duke of Valentinois, and Lucrezia, who eventually +became Duchess of Ferrara. + +Alexander himself is described by contemporary writers as “a handsome +man of majestic and kingly bearing,” and is said to have looked “more +like a Cæsar returned to life than a Vicar of Christ.” + +[Illustration: + + POPE ALEXANDER VI. + + (_From the painting by Pinturicchio in the Vatican._) +] + +As his children grew up he loaded them with titles and honours. When he +came to the papal chair Cesare was about twenty-two years of age and +Lucrezia between thirteen and fourteen. He recognized all of them in +special Bulls, except Cesare, from whom (in order to bestow the purple +on him) he wished to remove the stigma of his origin, and declared him +to be the son of Vanozza and Domenico d’Arignano. This is proclaimed in +a Bull dated October 17, 1480. + +In the early part of 1498 a youth was introduced to the household called +Romano, who the Pope declared was the son of Cesare and created him Duke +of Nepi, and presented him with large estates. According to documents +discovered by Gregorovius, dated September 1, 1501, the Pope himself was +the real father, and the maternity of this boy involves one of the most +obscure mysteries of the history of the Borgias. + +Before Alexander obtained the pontificate, he had betrothed Lucrezia to +a Spanish gentleman, but he broke off the engagement with the evident +object of marrying his daughter to a man of higher rank, and on June 12, +1493, Lucrezia was espoused to Giovanni Sforza, Lord of Pesaro. The +marriage was not by any means a happy one, and at the end of four years +was dissolved by the Pope, who had other motives in view, for he soon +arranged a fresh alliance between Lucrezia and Alfonso Duke of +Bisceglie, the natural son of Alfonso II, King of Naples. The marriage +took place, but soon after the birth of their first child, the Duke was +attacked by several men and severely wounded. The story is thus told by +a chronicler:— + + +“On the night of July 15 (1500) on which solemn ceremonies were taking +place to celebrate the jubilee of the Pope, a young man staggered +headlong into the pontifical apartments, endeavouring to stem with his +hands a stream of blood which gushed from a large wound in his chest. It +was the Duke of Bisceglie, Alfonso of Aragon, Lucrezia’s second husband. +Consternation was caused when it was spread abroad that a band of +assassins in the pay of Cesare had attempted to assassinate him near the +steps of St. Peter’s when on his way to the celebration. The young man, +who is said to have been of a kind and gentle nature, fell unconscious +at the feet of the Pope. Lucrezia and his sister Sancia, who were +standing by, both fainted away and were carried into a room of the tower +behind the Pope’s chambers. He is said to have been nursed by the two +women and to have nearly recovered, when one night in Lucrezia’s absence +he was strangled with a cord in bed under the eyes of Cesare.” + + +Lucrezia then retired for a time to the estate of Nepi. On her return to +Rome, she appears to have acted as a kind of secretary to her father the +Pope, and in about twelve months her betrothal to Alfonso d’Este, the +eldest son of the Duke of Ferrara, was announced, and the marriage took +place by proxy on December 20, 1502. Shortly afterwards she left Rome to +take up her residence in Ferrara. + +From father to children, who apparently put no restraint on their +criminal and sensual instincts, it was not long before the most +extraordinary stories were circulated about the Borgias. Cesare, in +particular, appears to have been a degenerate of the worst possible +type. He was first made bishop of Pampeluna and afterwards Cardinal of +Valenza, and appears to have been even a worse character than his +father. Tragedies in the family began in 1497 when Giovanni Duke of +Gandia, the second son, was found in the Tiber, his body being pierced +with ten wounds from a dagger. According to Scalona, suspicion rested on +Sforza Count of Pesaro. + +Cesare conceived a violent jealousy of an attendant in his sister’s +household, named Pedro Calderon, who was probably a Spaniard. In a fit +of passion he is said to have pursued the man with a dagger right into +the pontifical apartments and assassinated him in the presence of the +Pope, “even so,” says the chronicler, “that the pontifical garments were +splashed with blood.” According to Capello, “four hired ruffians carried +his body to the Tiber, tied a large stone to his neck and threw him into +the river.” + +Public feeling now began to be aroused against the Borgias, but +Alexander kept on his way serenely, in spite of the wave of contumely +which seethed round the papal throne in Rome. Sannazaro’s couplets, +Pontano’s epigrams, and the reports let drop by the Mantuan and Venetian +ambassadors of the grave rumours but whispered in Rome, were followed by +the accusations of bishops and even of some cardinals, but nothing was +done. + +In justice to the Borgias one must try to visualize the condition of the +people in Rome at this period. Poison may be said to have become a +common weapon in the social and political life of the country. For the +politician it was a weapon which procured him office, for the theologian +a secret method of removing an enemy from his path, and so on throughout +the whole social strata. Superstitions were rampant, and according to a +writer of the time, even the worst criminals would make the sign of the +Cross on passing before a church and supplicate the Madonna to give them +help and profit in their crimes. Scarcely any value was attached to +human life, and those in prominent positions lived in a constant state +of insecurity. No wonder that vendors of amulets, talismans and +antidotes to poison flourished everywhere. + +Apollinaire paints a lurid picture of the Borgias in his account of a +fête held in the vineyard of St. Peter-in-Chains, in the following +words:— + + +“La Vanozza de Cattanei receives the cardinals and the ambassadors, and +after being introduced to one another, the guests disperse about the +vineyard and exchange conversation and courtesies. Later she disappears +and joins Cesare in a room on the first floor of the building. She finds +him with his sleeves rolled up, bent over a kneading trough, and +absorbed in his task. This room was reserved for Vanozza and Cesare; +only the Pope shared with them the right of entry, no one else was +allowed to cross the threshold. On the floor lay several large shallow +copper dishes, some of which were entirely covered with verdigris, and +from which a colourless-looking liquid was being evaporated. One of +these dishes was always placed near the fire in order that the heat +might hasten the evaporation. + +“As La Vanozza enters Cesare remarks: ‘Yet I forbade you to make a +fire.’ + +“‘I only put a few live coals to hasten the result,’ she replies. ‘I did +not make enough for it to be possible for the powder to scorch; if I had +not done it we should not have had the powder to-day!’ + +“‘It is not so much for fear of its scorching, but because of the +cinders which mix with the powder and render it less fine,’ said Cesare. +‘Happily Cardinal di Riaro is short-sighted. This is quite enough for +him in any case, but for others, hand me the tart dish,’ he continues. +‘It should be dry by now.’ + +“La Vanozza lifts the heavy red copper dish by the two handles, and on +it may be noticed a mouldiness, or greenish spots caused by a settling +deposit. With a hare’s paw Cesare collects this powder, then with an +ivory knife he carefully scrapes the copper, and mixes the residue in a +marble mortar. From it he takes in small pinches some of the powder and +places it in another mortar of agate, and reduces it with a pestle to an +impalpable dust until it is like a morsel of polished silver. + +“‘Give me the “manna,”’ says Cesare. La Vanozza hands him the arsenic +which he calls by that name, and he mixes some with the powder in the +mortar, passing the mixture again under the pestle until thoroughly +incorporated, and then, his task completed, he stands erect and +exclaims, ‘God said “Let there be light” and there was light. We Borgias +are able to say “Let it be night,” and night it shall be.’ He then +remarks to Vanozza, ‘It is time for luncheon.’ La Vanozza leaves him and +retraces her way; when she is gone, the copper dish being empty, he +pours urine in it in order to replace that which has evaporated, the +salts of which he had just utilised. The salt which resulted, combined +with the verdigris were then mixed with arsenic and this formed the +famous poison which the Borgias called ‘La Cantarella.’ ‘That which the +Borgias utilized in conjunction with arsenic without knowing it,’ says +Apollinaire, ‘was phosphorus, a secret which had been divulged to the +Borgias by a Spanish monk, who also knew the antidote for it, as well as +an antidote for arsenic; one sees, therefore, that they were well +armed.’” + + +There is no evidence to prove the truth of Apollinaire’s statements, and +he may only have recorded the reports common at the time. These records +are, however, useful to compare with the statements made by other +contemporary historians. + + +[Illustration: + + “A CUP OF WINE WITH CESARE BORGIA.” + + (_From a painting by the Hon. John Collier._) +] + +An astrologer is said to have predicted to Alexander that he would never +die so long as he carried on his person a box containing the Blessed +Sacrament. This gold box is stated to have never left his person. On a +certain day he is said to have invited those who had been nominated as +cardinals to supper with him. Suspicious of their host the commanded +guests were doubtful of acceptance, and only agreed to come on condition +that the supper took place at the house of the Cardinal de Corneto. +Alexander and his son Cesare are stated to have bribed the chief +attendant of the Cardinal for a large sum and pledged him to serve +certain wine at dinner to which they had added poison. The evening +arrived, and Alexander, as he entered the room, remembered he had +forgotten the box containing the Blessed Sacrament. He at once ordered +Monsignor Caraffa to fetch it; Apollinaire, who records the story, says, +“While Caraffa obeyed, the Pope irritated by his forgetfulness, asked +that a drink should be brought to him before seating himself at the +table. The chamberlain in attendance said he would see the order was +carried out, but it happened that the chief attendant whom the Pope had +bribed was absent at the moment, and the chamberlain who came for the +wine was served by an underling who was in ignorance of the plot. A +goblet was filled from the poisoned caraffe which had been prepared by +Cesare and taken to the Pope. Directly after Caraffa arrived, bringing +with him the missing box. It was, however, too late; the Pope had drunk +some of the wine and was already feeling the effects of the poison. +Cardinal Valentinois himself lay convulsed upon the ground, surrounded +by the others kneeling round in absorbed awe and murmuring Pater +Nosters. Alexander appeared to suffer greater agonies than the rest. +Surgeons were called in and bled him without any effect, and he +succumbed on the eighth day afterwards.” + +Sanuto gives another account of Alexander’s death. + + +“The death of Pope Alexander VI,” he states, “occurred in the following +manner. The Cardinal Datary Arian de Corneto having one morning received +a message from the Pontiff stating that he intended in company with his +son Cesare, the Duke of Valentinois, that evening to pay the Cardinal a +visit and to sup with him, and that they would bring their supper with +them, was terrified at the intelligence, being fully impressed with the +conviction that His Holiness or his son intended poisoning him to +possess his treasure, the said Cardinal being very rich. Thinking +rapidly over the matter he saw but one means of saving his life. He +immediately sent to the head carver of the Pope requesting he would +oblige him by visiting him as soon as possible. The carver obeyed the +request and the Cardinal having conducted him to a private room placed +in his hand ten golden ducats which he requested the said carver to +accept as a proof of the love he bore him. After many objections and +simulated repugnance the carver accepted the gift, stating that he did +so from obedience to the orders of his Eminence. The Cardinal then +finding the carver willing to lend a ready ear to anything he might say, +addressed him in the following manner: ‘You perfectly well know the +intentions of the Pope and that he and his son have determined that I +shall die by poison, which will be administered to me this evening and I +now humbly beg of you to spare my life.’ + +“After some demur the carver told him the manner in which it had been +agreed between them that the poison should be administered. After supper +was over he had been ordered to place on the table three boxes of +confectionery one of which was to be placed before the Pope, another +before the Cardinal, and the third before the Duke of Valentinois, +taking care to place the one containing the poison before his +Excellency. The Cardinal begged and implored the said carver to change +the manner in which the confectionaries were to be placed on the table +so that the one containing the poison should be put before the Pope, +that he might eat of it and die. The carver at first was horrified at +the suggestion, but on the Cardinal offering him 10,000 ducats in gold +as a reward he relented and agreed that the box of poisoned sweetmeats +should be placed before the Pope. + +“In the evening of the same day the Pope accompanied by the Duke arrived +at the palace of his Eminence, who as soon as his Holiness had seated +himself flung himself on the ground before him and kissed his feet. Then +with most affectionate words he begged his Holiness would grant him a +favour saying he would never rise from his knees should his Holiness +refuse to oblige him. Surprised at the extreme earnestness of the +Cardinal, the Pope asked him to rise from his knees and explain his +request. The Cardinal however persisting, the Pope was surprised at the +perseverance of his Eminence and promised to grant him any request he +might make. The Cardinal then rose from his knees and said, ‘It is not +respectful that when the lord honours his servant with a visit his +servant should eat at the same table with his lord and the favour I ask +of you is just and honest. It is that you will allow me during your +repast to wait on you as your servant.’ His Holiness to please the +Cardinal granted his request. After the supper was over, the Cardinal +placed on the table the boxes of sweetmeats, having first received +information from the carver which was the one containing the poison, and +that the Cardinal placed before the Pope, who under the impression that +the one before him did not contain the poisoned sweetmeats ate one of +them gaily, and of the other which he believed contained the poison, the +Pope pressed the Cardinal to eat, who obeyed him without hesitation. +Shortly after His Holiness had departed he fell ill and the next morning +died; while the Cardinal, who still having some fear that the sweetmeats +he had eaten might have been poisoned, took an emetic and thus escaped +the danger with which he had been threatened.” + + +Lecontour agrees with the account given by Apollinaire in the following +words: + + +“It should be called to your notice that this death has been the subject +of many discussions and that the documents transmitted differ very much. +Here are some opinions on the subject, and first of all there is the +description of the corpse of the Pope by the Marquis of Mantua, in a +letter written to his wife Isabella, and then the testimony of those who +approached the body and which is made to disquiet us. Here is one:— + +“Immediately after his death, the Pope became black and so deformed, so +prodigiously swollen that it was hardly possible to recognise him, +putrefied matter flowed from his nose, his mouth was open and in so +terrifying an attitude that one could not look at it without horror, nor +suffer the stench without fear of being infected.” + + +In a further letter written by the Marquis of Mantua at the time, he +says: + + +“His body has become putrefied, foam comes from the mouth as from a +saucepan on the fire. This has lasted as long as he has remained +unburied. He has swelled so enormously that he no longer has the form of +a human being, and it is impossible to distinguish between the length +and the breadth of the body. + +“No one would touch this mass of flesh and putrefaction. No one would +put it in the coffin. Those who approached it fell asphyxiated. + +“In the end two street porters were found who consented to drag it, by +means of cords which were attached to the legs of the death-bed, as far +as the vault where they let it drop. The flesh detached itself during +the transit, leaving a track of putrefying fragments.” + + +Portigliotti, writing of the death of Alexander VI, states: + + +“There was no religious rapture at his death-bed, no holy prayers beside +his corpse. As soon as he had breathed his last, Cesare, who was keeping +to his own rooms on pretence of illness, sent his trusted squires to +close all doors which gave access to the papal apartment. One of them +(says Burckhardt) drawing a dagger threatened Cardinal Casanova that he +would cut his throat and throw him out of the window if he did not give +him at once the keys of the pontifical treasury; the cardinal, +terrified, gave them to him. The strong-boxes soon yielded piles of +golden ducats, while the servants rifled the wardrobes and rooms, +leaving only a few cloth tapestries fastened on the walls. + +“The Pope’s body, washed and clothed, was placed in a room between two +wax candles. None went to recite over it the prayers for the dead, none +watched it that night. The next morning it was borne, uncovered +according to rite, into St. Peter’s Church. The cardinal who presided at +the function fearing that some one would gash it out of personal spite, +had it brought into a chapel behind a very high and resistent iron +grating. ‘Vultus erat sicut pannus vel morus nigerrimus,’ writes +Burckhardt, ‘livori totus plenus, os amplissimum, nasus plenus, lingua +duplex in ore, que labia tota implebat, os apertum ed adeo orribile quod +nemo videns unquam ad esse talem dixerit.’ The orator Costabili mentions +that evening in a despatch ‘the Pope’s body has been all day in St. +Peter’s, an ugly thing to see, black and swollen ... and many do not +doubt he has been poisoned.’” + + +To counteract the rumours of poisoning which the rapid decomposition of +the body was arousing, it was thought well to keep it covered by day and +only to leave it exposed in the evening. But at night, by the yellowish, +flickering and smoking light of the candles, Borgia appeared still more +horrible and terrifying: a repulsive fetor emanated from that black and +putrefying flesh. It was therefore decided to enclose it without more +ado in the bier. Two joiners and six porters “ludentes et blasfemantes +sive contra papam sive in spretum cadaveris,” “had no small difficulty +in pushing it into the coffin, which had become too narrow; and because +the stench and the heat were unbearable, they hastened their task +without any regard, and forced it in with hand and foot. No priest was +present at the funeral operation, not a candle was lit.” + +In the morning, there was found on the bier these couplets: + + “Quis jacet hic. Sextus—Quis funera plangit? Erymus. + Quis comes in tanto funere obit? Vitium. + Et quae causa necis? Virus pro homina, virus, + Humane generi vita salusque fuit.” + +The Venetian Giustinian who attended him in his last hours wrote the +significant words, “Very near the end of the tribulation of +Christendom,” and a Bolognese priest, noting the date of his death in +the margin of a document, says, “To-day he is descended to hell where he +was born.” + +On the other hand, Burckhardt, whose account is generally favoured, +states that the Pope was attacked by a fever on August 12, 1503, and on +the 16th he was bled, the disorder seeming to become a tertian. On the +17th he took medicine, but the following day he became so ill that his +life was despaired of. He then received the viaticum during mass, which +was celebrated in his chamber, at which five cardinals assisted. In the +evening extreme unction was administered to him, and a few minutes +afterwards he died. + +This account is corroborated by Muratori, who quotes many authorities to +show that the death of Alexander was not caused by poison, and the +balance of evidence certainly seems in favour of the theory that, +despite all his crimes, Alexander VI died from a natural cause, and that +probably a fever of virulent type. + +Thus ended Alexander VI, after a pontificate of eleven years, on August +18, 1503. + +According to a chronicler of the time: + + +“Cesare Borgia survived his father, and his life was saved because he +had himself plunged into the stomach of a living mule, but on his +recovery he lost both his power and his prestige. The Pope Julius II, +after the very short pontificate of Pius III, which only lasted +twenty-one days, ordered his arrest when he was the master of all +Central Italy, after having arrested Varano, Vitelli, the Orsini and the +Baglioni. Cesare resisted for a year, sustained by the unimpeachable +fidelity of his captains and soldiers. He yielded at last in 1504, was +liberated again, but fell into the hands of Gonzalo di Cordova, who sent +him to Spain. Having escaped, he took service again in the capacity of +commander under his father-in-law, the King of Navarre. He died in 1507 +in a fight, pierced by a javelin.” + + +Another historian gives the following account of the end of Cesare:— + + +“At the time of his father’s death Cesare Borgia was sick in bed, his +illness it is said being caused by swallowing a portion of the poisoned +sweetmeats which cost his father his life. Cesare it is related partook +of the poisoned sweetmeats in error and omitted to carry out the advice +of Macchiavelli always to carry an antidote with him.” + + +It is probable that he was suffering from an attack of the same fever +which his father had contracted. + +On hearing of the Pope’s death, although unable to leave his room, he at +once sent one of his emissaries with several armed attendants to take +possession of the palace and allow no one to enter until he had taken +away his father’s treasure. + +As time went on he became more and more unpopular, and public feeling +was very strong against him. After some time it was arranged that he +should be allowed to quit the Ecclesiastical States. Three days were +given him to leave the city, but after the election of Julius II he +again returned to Rome. Feeling was still strong against him, and he +decided to journey to France to seek the assistance of the King. The +King of Navarre gave him command of a troop of horse, and in a small +battle under the walls of the castle of Viana Cesare was killed. + +Remorsi says:— + + +“The Duke of Valentinois did not die, because God willed that as a +greater scourge this ambitious and cruel spirit should survive fortune +and grandeur and see his most down-trodden enemies in power, for the +strength of his temperament and of his youth overcame the poison, being +aided by good remedies which the doctors gave him. Some of them assert +that the most efficacious remedy employed was that of putting him +several times into the body of a bull or mule opened for the purpose, +like Ladislas, King of Naples, who was delivered in this manner from the +poison which was given to him in his youth. + +[Illustration: + + LUCREZIA BORGIA. + + (_From the painting by Pinturicchio in the Vatican._) +] + +“Others write of having heard the said Cardinal (di Corneto) say in the +villa where he took the poison, how he was plunged into a great vessel +of cold water, from which he was not taken until his skin had been +entirely removed in pieces, because his intestines were completely +burned. However his cure was effected, he remained extremely oppressed +by the illness for a long time and at a time when he had most need of +perfect health in order to remedy the revolution of his affairs. So that +he constantly had reason to complain of his reverses of fortune.” + + +Cesare’s death was lamented at least by one person, and that was his +sister Lucrezia, who at once set out for the Monastery of Corpo di +Christo to offer prayers for his soul, where she remained for two +nights. + +Some of the entries in the book of her household expenses are +interesting, and throw a light on the remuneration paid to a Court +physician of the time. + +In 1507 is an entry:— + + +“To Maestro Ludovico physician to Her Highness 110 lire for the balance +of his salary. + +“On the 31st December 240 lire as a year’s salary for her Highness’s +physician Maestro Ludovico at the rate of 20 lire a month.” + + +Patroness of poets and painters in her latter days, Lucrezia made +herself popular in Ferrara. In the Library of Modeno is a list of her +magnificent jewels which she sold to free her husband from the debts he +contracted during the wars in defence of his territories. Many of her +letters still extant show that during these troublous times the relief +of the poor, sick and needy was Lucrezia’s constant care. She died +during her confinement on June 21, 1519. The accouchement had been long +and difficult and the officers and servants of her household were +clustered at the foot of the grand staircase leading to her room. Great +fears were entertained of her recovery, and they waited in breathless +silence for every sound from the apartment. “At length,” says the +chronicler, “Maestro Alberti, the Court Apothecary, was seen descending +the staircase with an ewer in his hand. All pressed forward to ask him +where he was going. He replied significantly, ‘To get some rose water to +wash the body of the duchess.’” + +Thus ended Lucrezia Borgia, Duchess of Ferrara, who, to quote a letter +written by a cousin of Federico Gonzaga who was present in Ferrara at +the time, was “one who appears to have been universally beloved not only +for the habitual piety of her life, but for her unbounded charity and +kindness of heart.” + +Lucrezia has been accused of being guilty of the worst possible crimes, +including that of poisoning, but there is practically no historic proof +of the truth of these stories. It is probable that many of the infamous +crimes of her brother Cesare were attributed erroneously to her. + +The composition of the so-called “Cantarella,” the poison said to have +been employed by the Borgias, has long been a subject of dispute. +According to Paolo Jovio, it was “a kind of whitish powder, that to a +certain extent resembled sugar, and which had been used on a great many +poor innocent people who died in a miserable state.” + +Carelli, physician to Charles VI, gives the following account of how it +was prepared. He states: “The abdominal viscera of a sow which had been +poisoned with arsenic were powdered with arsenious acid; they waited +until the putrefaction was complete and the liquids which flowed from it +were then concentrated by evaporation and constituted a white powder +which was called ‘La Cantarella.’” Apollinaire’s account of its +preparation has already been given, from which it may be concluded that +it consisted of a mixture of subacetate of copper and crude phosphorus. + +Several other contemporary writers claim to give the true method of its +preparation. One states that a bear was killed, then cut open and +treated in a similar manner and the liquid that dripped from it formed +the poison. + +It is evident that this method of preparing a venom was employed by some +of the Italian poisoners and was known at the period. The combination of +the animal poison contained in the products of putrefaction, together +with arsenic, would no doubt furnish a poisonous substance of a very +powerful nature, but whether the Borgias ever used such a preparation +there is no evidence to prove. + +[Illustration: + + CESARE BORGIA. + + (_From a painting ascribed to Raphael._) +] + +Baron Corvo, in his _Chronicles of the Borgias_, scouts the idea that +the family possessed any such secret, and denies that the venom ever +existed. The probability is, that when the Borgias found it necessary to +use a poison for nefarious purposes they employed arsenic, which was so +commonly used in Italy at that period. The fact that Cesare Borgia’s +signet ring contained a secret receptacle which might easily have been +used to carry arsenic, goes a long way to substantiate this conjecture, +and is the strongest evidence we have that he at least used a very +powerful poison to carry out his evil designs. + +In connection with the Borgia poison there is an interesting story that +the secret of its preparation perished with the Duc Riaro-Sforza, who +died in Paris about the middle of the nineteenth century. Before his +death, one evening at the opera the Duke is said to have confided to a +distinguished critic, who occupied the neighbouring stall, that he still +possessed the secret of the famous poison, although for centuries it had +lain idle in the family archives. Its composition was, he added, simpler +than generally supposed, and not long afterwards he told his friends +that, feeling age advancing and having no direct heirs, he had thought +it best to burn the recipe lest it might fall into bad hands. + + + + + CHAPTER XIII + POISON MYSTERIES IN EARLY SCOTTISH HISTORY + + +According to ancient historical records Scotland had its poison +mysteries in early times. + +In the year 1332 Thomas Randolph, Earl of Moray, who on the death of +Robert Bruce was appointed Regent during the minority of the young King +David the Second, is said to have been a victim to poison. + +Hector Boece, in his _Cronikles of Scotland_, boldly attributes his +death to the malice of Edward III, King of England, who, he states, “tuk +purpos to sla him be venome.” The fatal draught is said to have been +administered to the Earl by a monk who had been sent by the English King +as a physician, with the result that the unfortunate Moray found +“certaine dolouris ilk day mair increasing in his wame,” and died very +suddenly. + +The Duke of Albany, younger son of James III, according to a chronicler, +was also “posonit in oure Souverane lordis presens and palas,” which +caused “a sclandir and murmur rising in the cuntre,” but by whom it was +administered it is not known. + +In 1497 Margaret Drummond, mistress of James the Fourth, is said to have +been poisoned, with her two sisters, at the instigation of the nobles +who wished the king to marry. + +In 1536 Jean Douglas, Lady Glamis, grand-daughter of “Bell-the-Cat,” was +tried for having removed her husband some years before _per +intoxicationem_, and for having conspired to dispose in the same way of +King James the Fifth, who had put the whole Douglas family under ban. +She was _convicta de arte et parte proditorie conspirationis et +imaginationis interfectionis sive destructionis nobilissime personne +serenissimi domini nostri Regis per pessimum venenum lie poysone_, and +condemned to “be had to Castell hill of Edinburghe and their Brynt in +ane fyre to the deid, as ane Traytour.” + +Another case of alleged poisoning famous in Scottish history is that of +the Earl of Atholl, Treasurer of the Kingdom, who died suddenly after a +reconciliation feast given by the Regent, Morton. Atholl, a near kinsman +of the King, was a Catholic; Morton “a licentious man, but a fervent +Protestant”: the two men were, besides, rivals in the State. It was +generally believed at the time that Atholl was poisoned by Morton, and +so clamorous did the popular indignation become, that by order of the +Privy Council an inquest was held in the presence of the King and his +Councillors. Six surgeons were appointed to make a post-mortem +examination. James Owhegarty, “Ireland man born leiche that ministratis +medicine in the mouth and curis outward be herbis,” testified that the +cause of death was “rank venom” introduced by the mouth. The testimony +of Alexander Prestoun, “Doctour in Medicine,” and George Boswell, +“Mediciner and Chirurgiane in Perty,” was to the same effect. Gilbert +Moncrieff gave a more guarded opinion; he considered the humour in the +stomach to be venomous, but was unable to say whether it was exterior or +interior grown within the body. David Rattray, “Chirurgiane in Conpare,” +gave it as his opinion, that death was caused by “ane extraordinarie +poyson,” adding that “ane spune put in the humour change it in the +cullour of brass.” R. Craig, “Burgess of Edinburgh, chirurgiane,” +cautiously opined that the Earl “to all appearance” had died of poison. +A non-medical witness thought that a red matter shown to him by Dr. +Prestoun was “a cauld poyson.” Several ministers also gave testimony, +one of them stating that he saw “strange and unnatural tokens in the +stomach, black and red, as it were the dregs of bread and wine mixed, +and that he had heard the dead man say that he had got offence, and God +forgive them that had done it.” Bernardino de Mendoza, the Spanish +Ambassador, writing to his King, gives the following description of the +inquest:— + + +They had opened the body in the presence of five doctors, three of whom +said he had been poisoned, and two that he had not. One of the latter, +to assure them that he was right, by proof, took some of the contents of +the stomach on his finger, and put it into his mouth. The effect was +that in a few hours he was thought to be dying. It is not known whether +the order to poison him came from Morton or some private person. + + +In the end “the physicians did upon their oath declare that his death +was not caused by any extraordinary means.” The result of the inquest +did not, however, allay the general suspicion, and Morton thought it +necessary, when he was about to die on the scaffold in 1581, to make a +solemn declaration, that he “would not for the Earldom of Atholl have +either ministered poison unto him or caused it to be ministered unto +him.” + +Shortly after the death of Robert Stewart, Earl of Orkney, who was an +illegitimate brother of Queen Mary, a quarrel arose between his eldest +son Patrick and his young brothers, John, James, and William Stewart. +Eventually the latter were suspected of conspiring to poison their +brother, who had succeeded to the title, and in 1596 we find the three +brothers, John, James and William, were brought to trial and accused of +having “conspyrit and dewysit how to murthour the said Patrick Erl of +Orkney his brother, be poysoning or utherwayes be craft and guylt +dealing,” in November, 1593. + +The Earl, it appears, captured his brother’s servant, who confessed he +was hired to do the deed. This confession, however, was only extorted +from him after being tortured eleven days and nights in the +“cashie-lawis,” put in the “buitis” twice a day, and “skargeit with +towis.” + +Tried on the charge of plotting to murder the Earl at a banquet in the +house of David Moncriefis of Kirkwell in Orkney, John was acquitted. + +Another Scottish noble, George Home, Earl of Dunbar, is said to have +been poisoned by “tablets of Sugar given him for expelling the cold” by +Secretary Cecil in 1611. A post-mortem examination was made by one +Martin Souqir, a doctor, who is said to have tried the poison by laying +his finger on the subject’s heart and touching it with his tongue (a +curious clinical test for poison on which apparently great reliance was +placed at that period), with the result that he died within a few days +thereafter. + + + + + CHAPTER XIV + HISTORIC POISON CASES IN FRANCE + + +In the latter part of the sixteenth century the mania for criminal +poisoning spread from Italy to France. The practice increased with great +rapidity, and poisons appear to have been commonly employed by those of +the highest to the lowest classes of society, to get rid of enemies and +undesirable persons. It is stated that the Prior of Cluny and his valet +Saint-Barthélemy, with grim humour, even poisoned their physicians in +order to avoid paying them. It may be said of the many stories of poison +mysteries in France that have come down to us from the seventeenth +century, that though their truth may be doubtful they are not without +romantic interest. + +Jeanne d’Albret, mother of Henry IV, who died of a fever after four +days’ illness, was generally believed to have met her death by wearing +poisoned gloves. So great was the credibility of the stories spread +abroad after the sudden death of many distinguished persons, that in +this case it was believed that the gloves were placed in a box with a +double bottom, beneath which was placed a mixture of opium, belladonna, +hyoscyamus, and other poisons. These were supposed not only to have +impregnated the gloves but to have been administered to the victim while +asleep, the box being exposed under her nostrils. + +Francis II, the first husband of Mary Queen of Scots, who died in 1560, +was supposed to have succumbed to poison, and Beaucaire de Péguillon +goes so far as to charge Ambroise Paré, the great military surgeon, with +having been the cause of the crime. As a matter of fact, it was proved +from an investigation by Courladon a few years ago, that Francis, who +was born with an obstruction of the nose and mouth, probably due to +adenoids, died from chronic suppurative otitis. + +The Duc d’Albe asserts that Mary Stuart was the cause of his death, but +John Knox was nearer the mark when he wrote on hearing of it: “The +potent hand of God from above sent unto us a wonderful and most joyful +deliverance; for unhappy Francis, husband to our Sovereign, suddenly +perisheth of a rotten ear ... that deaf ear that never would hear the +truth of God.” + +A curious method of introducing poison is recorded in the story of the +Cardinal of Lorraine, uncle of Mary Queen of Scots, who is said to have +died after touching poisoned gold coins. As a matter of fact, there is +evidence to show that his death was due to pleurisy caused by a cold +caught in walking barefooted at the head of a procession at Avignon. +Catherine de’ Medici was credited with having poisoned her three sons, +Charles IX, the Duc d’Anjou and Francis II, but the story has apparently +no foundation. + +Towards the end of the sixteenth century a romantic case connected with +poison, which caused great consternation in Paris, was that of the death +of Gabrielle d’Astrées. The divorce proceedings between Henry IV and +Marguerite de Valois were almost complete, when all preparations for the +marriage of the King to Madame d’Astrées were brought to a sudden end in +Holy Week, 1599, by her mysterious death. A post-mortem examination made +by the doctors threw no light on the cause of death, and hints began to +be spread abroad that she had been secretly poisoned by the Grand Duke +of Tuscany. According to the story, she had arrived in Paris on Tuesday, +April 6, and on the following Thursday, while in the Church of +Saint-Antoine, she was taken ill with headache and vertigo and had to +leave before the end of the service. Severe convulsive attacks followed, +which increased in violence and frequency, until she lost consciousness +and died during the night of April 10. The cause of her death remains a +mystery. + +The seventeenth century saw a still greater increase in the mysterious +deaths in France attributed to poison. On June 30, 1670, Henrietta Anne +of England, Duchess of Orléans and sister of King Charles II, died +suddenly in Paris. It appears that after drinking a glass of cold water +in her apartment at St. Cloud, she was said to have been seized with a +fit of shivering, followed by acute fever, which caused her great +agonies. Consternation was caused when she declared to her ladies that +she had been poisoned, and physicians were sent for in hot haste. On +their arrival they were struck with her livid appearance, and, +acknowledging their helplessness in giving her relief, advised her to +receive the Last Sacraments of the Church without delay. The Duchess, on +hearing of this, desired that Bossuet, who had attended her mother the +Queen-Dowager of England, should be called in, and three couriers were +immediately dispatched to bring him. Before he arrived at St. Cloud +between eleven and twelve at night, she had received the Sacrament from +the hands of the Abbé Feuillet, who appears to have treated her with +considerable harshness. Between her shrieks caused by the violent pain, +he told her that her sins were not punished as they deserved. On the +arrival of Bossuet, the Duchess entreated him to promise not to leave +until she breathed her last; he fell on his knees by her bedside, +holding a crucifix in his hand, and with tremulous voice invited her to +join him in devotion. She remembered that the crucifix which he held in +his hands towards her was the same which he had given to her mother the +Queen-Dowager, to hold in her agony. She took it in her hand and held it +in hers till she breathed her last. Before she died she spoke to Madame +de Lafayette in English, expressing her gratitude for the assistance she +had received from Bossuet, and requested that an old emerald ring set +with diamonds of great value might be presented to him. The Duchess died +at three o’clock in the morning, and the news being conveyed to the +King, he sent for Bossuet and gave him the emerald ring, placing it on +his finger, and desiring him to wear it for the rest of his life. + +We owe this description to Butler, who edited the life of Bossuet. The +Duchess undoubtedly believed herself to have been poisoned, and the same +belief appears to have been held by the English ambassador, the Court +and the people of the city of Paris. It is even said that one of her +household gave the name of her poisoner to Voltaire, and the medium was +stated to be diamond dust strewn on strawberries with sugar. Another +rumour was that she died in consequence of drinking a glass of succory +water which had been poisoned, but according to Voltaire she died a +natural death. This is most probable, as she had suffered from a chronic +disease of the liver for some time; diamond dust, it may be said, is +without any poisonous properties, and could only act as a mechanical +irritant in the stomach. + +About this time a German apothecary and alchemist named Glaser settled +in Paris and, together with Exali and another Italian, began work in a +laboratory they started, reputedly with the object of searching for the +philosophers’ stone. Having come to the end of their resources in a very +short time in the pursuit of this chimera, they commenced the secret +sale of poisons. Through the confessional their nefarious trade became +known to the Grand Penitentiary of Paris. This dignitary gave +information to the Government, and the two suspected chemists were +promptly sent to the Bastille, where one of them died. Exali, however, +while still in prison, managed to carry on his business and found ready +purchasers for his secrets. Catherine de’ Medici was said to have been +instrumental in introducing the Italian methods into France, and deaths +in Paris attributed to poisons now increased to an alarming extent. +Florentine perfumers were supposed to have been adepts in mixing the +poisons with sweetmeats and articles of food. + +From the highest to the lowest all seem to have had the dread of meeting +death in this way, and it is said that Henry IV, when a guest at the +Louvre, ate only eggs which he cooked himself and drank only water which +he drew from the Seine. + +In 1682 it was thought necessary to devise some more drastic method of +dealing with the secret sale of poisons, and a decree was issued by +Louis XIV, forbidding apothecaries to sell arsenic, sublimate, or any +drug reputed to be a poison except to persons known to them. It further +required, that the purchaser should sign a register declaring the +purpose for which he was buying the poison. A similar condition had been +imposed by the local authorities in Montpellier about twenty years +previously, but Louis applied it to the whole country. + +The priests of Notre-Dame at length became appalled at the number of +self-accusations of murder by poison made to them in the confessional, +and conveyed an intimation of the fact without names to Colbert and +Louvois, then Ministers of State. The authorities were placed on the +alert, and by means of a clue obtained from an intercepted letter, they +arrested the Chevalier de Vanens and the Count de Bachimont, who were +found to be secret purveyors of poisons. On private examination, they +implicated a large number of persons, insomuch that a judicial +commission was appointed by Louis XIV, by which strict justice was done, +without distinction of person, condition or sex. It sat for three years +and was known as the Chambre Ardente, or Chamber of Poisons, and was +established at the Arsenal near the Bastille. + +The stir and mystery made by the examinations of this Court apparently +drew more attention to the study of poisons than before, and many began +to learn how to employ them, with the object of succeeding to heritages +or of ridding themselves of persons they disliked. + +Among those arrested and brought before the Court were members of some +of the noblest families of France, together with magistrates, priests +and a number of women, who had practised as witches, fortune-tellers, +_sages-femmes_ and poisoners. Confessions which were extracted from +these people by torture showed that systematic poisoning had for some +time been carried out by the ladies of the court of the _Grand +Monarque_. One of the dealers in poisons, named La Voisin, is said to +have amassed in a few years a sum of money equivalent to £20,000. +Another is said to have earned £1,600 a year, which is hardly to be +wondered at, when it was revealed that Madame de Montespan had paid +fifty crowns for a love-philtre, and another lady one hundred louis d’or +for a powder to administer to her husband. La Voisin and her accomplices +were eventually condemned and burned at the stake, which seemed to check +for a time the series of terrible crimes which spread through France +during the eighteenth century. + +Shortly before this the whole of the country had been aroused by the +remarkable case of the Marquise de Brinvilliers, who confessed to having +poisoned her father, two brothers and a sister, together with a number +of people whose existence she found inconvenient, or who simply bored +her. Apparently when she had no serious business on hand, she practised +her art on the patients in the hospitals which she visited under the +pretence of charity. This woman, who stands in history as the most +infamous of all poisoners of whom we have record, was named Marie +Madeleine D’Aubray, the daughter of a magistrate named Dreux D’Aubray. +She was born on July 22, 1630, and was the eldest of five children, all +of whom came to occupy positions of importance. She received a better +education than most women of her time, but her religious instruction +appears to have been wholly neglected. According to the priest who +ministered to her before she paid the penalty of her crimes, she was +destitute of even a rudimentary knowledge of religion, and she appeared +to have had no moral training whatever. Of a passionate temperament and +extraordinary energy in anything that might serve for the gratification +of her desires, she had a most complex nature, which was at once +sensitive to anything that touched her vanity or self-love. + +In 1651, at the age of twenty-one, she married Antoine Gobelin, the +Marquis de Brinvilliers, a lineal descendant of the founder of the +famous tapestry manufactory. He is said to have had an income of 30,000 +livres a year, and his wife brought him another 200,000 as a dowry. + +The marquise at that time is said to have been a particularly beautiful +woman, and both she and her husband began their married life with every +prospect of happiness. In 1659 they made the acquaintance of a Captain +Sainte-Croix, a young man of good family and who was an officer in a +cavalry regiment. He became a constant visitor to the house, and so +ingratiated himself with both the marquise and her husband that he +eventually took up his residence with them. + +At the time that Sainte-Croix came to live with the Brinvilliers there +were several children in the house under the care of a tutor, named +Briancourt, who also was said to be one of the many lovers of the +marquise. The marquis himself seems to have developed a distrust of his +wife, and was ever on the watch; whether he had gleaned some knowledge +of her enthusiasm in the study of poisons or not, it is difficult to +say, but it is stated that at dinner he always took care that +Sainte-Croix sat on the lady’s right, while he occupied a place near the +sideboard. He was waited on by a servant particularly attached to his +person, whom he instructed never to change his glass, and to rinse it +out whenever he served him with wine. + +Although suspicious that his wife was making attempts to poison him—and +there is little doubt she was attempting to do so—the marquis was not +without medical care. She would occasionally call in a Dr. Brayer, one +of the most famous physicians in Paris of the day. According to Madame +de Sévigné, Brinvilliers owed his life on these occasions not so much to +his wife as to the fear of her lover, who did not relish the idea of +marrying her. She states that “while the marquise gave her husband +poison Sainte-Croix gave him antidotes, so that after being tossed like +a ball from one to the other in this way five or six times, now +poisoned, now restored, he remained alive.” + +As a result of these experiences the marquis suffered from chronic +weakness in the lungs. He always carried about with him a box of the +theriaca or treacle of Andromachus, which was supposed to be a powerful +antidote against poison. This he not only took frequently himself, but +also gave it to his servants. + +Sainte-Croix soon became notorious as the lover of the marquise, and her +father, on hearing of this, obtained a _lettre de cachet_ and had him +arrested and imprisoned in the Bastille. Now it so happened that the two +Italians, Exali and his confrère, were confined in the Bastille at the +same time under the charge of secret dealing in poisons. As already +stated, they had professed to be working in Paris in conjunction with +Glaser, a German apothecary. Another account states that there is every +reason to believe that long before Sainte-Croix was committed to the +Bastille, he had studied the art of poisoning from this Christopher +Glaser, who was Apothecary in Ordinary to the King, and author of a +treatise on chemistry which had some reputation. Glaser now not only +instructed Sainte-Croix but supplied him with poisons which he passed on +to the marquise. On the death of the marquis, whose property had +practically all vanished owing to the extravagance and dissipation of +his wife, Sainte-Croix, who had by that time been released from prison, +renewed his intrigue with the marquise, who, eager for revenge on her +father for having him imprisoned, and probably impatient to gain +possession of the money she would inherit at his death, conceived the +idea of using poison for the purpose of destroying his life. + +One historian states that after Sainte-Croix had acquired his knowledge +of poisons from Glaser, he confided it to the marquise, while others say +that she got into direct touch with Glaser, who gave her the necessary +poison which she had made up her mind to test for herself by experiment. +This she did with great cunning, assuming the character of one of the +Sisters of Charity, who visited the hospitals to relieve the sick and +suffering and bring them cakes, wine and other luxuries. The recipients +of her gifts generally soon died in great suffering, but the +significance of this apparently passed unnoticed until some time +afterwards. She also found subjects for her experiments among her +servants, one of whom, Roussel, gave evidence at her trial at a later +date and declared that her mistress had one day given her some +gooseberry jam on the point of a knife and that it made her ill. She +also affirmed that the marquise had given her some ham “which gave her +great pain, and she felt as if she had been pricked in the heart, after +which she was ill for three years.” + +When the marquise had satisfied herself that her method of +administration was not likely to be easily discovered, she turned her +attention to its use for her own purposes, and her first victim was her +father. Apparently she administered poison to him in repeated doses, and +it was not until eight months had passed that D’Aubray died in great +agony. After his death she lived still more riotously and with the +greatest extravagance, contracting very heavy debts until she ran +through all the money she had obtained. + +It is stated at this time that the marquise developed “a demoniac temper +and inhuman cunning, such as perhaps no mortal ever exhibited.” + +She next began to plot to get rid of her two brothers, with the result +that one of them died after three months of great suffering, and the +other a few months later. She then tried to poison her sister in the +same manner, but suspicion being aroused, she gave up the attempt. On +the death of her second brother, the medical attendants insisted on +examining the body after death, and declared that he had been poisoned; +so little, however, was his sister suspected, that the actual murderer, +a servant named La Chaussée whom the marquise bribed and introduced into +her brother’s house for the purpose of administering the poison, had a +legacy left to him by his victim for his _devoted services_. At length +suspicion appears to have fallen on the marquise and Sainte-Croix, owing +to an accident which happened to him after his reimprisonment. It is +stated that when engaged in preparing his poisons he was accustomed to +wear a mask, presumably to prevent him inhaling the fumes of the +chemicals which he was using. While thus engaged, he was found one day +in a state of unconsciousness in his cell and never recovered. The +authorities, on examining his effects, came across a small box to which +a paper was attached which contained a request that after his death it +should be delivered to the “Marquise de Brinvilliers who resides at the +rue Neuve Saint Paul.” The paper was signed and dated by Sainte-Croix, +May 25, 1672, and on the box being opened it was found to contain a +number of poisons of different kinds with labels attached. It is also +said that he kept in this box a number of compromising letters which he +had received from her, together with bonds for large sums which she had +given him as hush-money in the matter of her brother’s murder. + +According to another account, as no relations of his were known, the +authorities proceeded to put seals upon his property. When the inventory +was taken a casket was found, which was opened, and the first article +discovered in it was a written document, which ran thus:— + + +“I humbly entreat those into whose hands this casket shall fall to do me +the favour to place it in the very hands of Madame de Brinvilliers, who +resides in the Rue Neuve Saint Paul, the contents appertaining to her +and to her only, and being moreover of no use to any one else in the +world. In the event of her death taking place before mine, it is my +desire that the casket and all its contents be burned, unopened and +undisturbed; and that none may plead ignorance, I swear by God whom I +adore, and by everything that is most sacred, that nothing is here said +save what is most true; and if, by any chance, my request be +contravened, just and proper as they are in this point, I charge such +contravention upon their conscience, both in this world and in the next, +in discharge of mine own conscience. And this I say and sign as my last +will. + + “Signed, DE SAINTE-CROIX. + +“Done at Paris, this afternoon of the 25th day of May, 1672.” + + +Underneath were added the following words:— + + +“There is one single packet, addressed to M. Penautier, which must be +restored to him.” + + +“Precautions too elaborate frequently produce an effect the opposite of +that intended,” says the historian. “If in this casket, which was +securely locked up, there had been the mere words, ‘This casket belongs +to Madame de Brinvilliers,’ it is probable that it would have been +forwarded to her unopened, but the very style of the injunction was +calculated to arouse suspicion. The casket was opened, and an inventory +made of its contents, and the following is the description of this +deposit which was so solemnly placed under the safeguard of God and of +all things sacred”:— + +1. A packet, sealed with eight seals of various armorial bearings, and +endorsed: “Papers to be burned in the case of my death, they being of no +value to any one. I most humbly entreat that they be burned by +whomsoever may find them. I even charge it upon their conscience to do +this, and to do it without opening the packet.” In this packet was +enclosed another, which contained sublimate. + +2. Another packet, secured by six seals of various armorial bearings, +similarly endorsed, and enclosing another packet, consisting of a pound +and a half of sublimate. + +3. Another packet, secured by six seals of different armorial bearings, +in which were three other packets, one containing half an ounce of +sublimate, a second containing two ounces of Roman vitriol, and the +third calcined and prepared vitriol. + +4. A large square phial full of a clear light liquid, the quality of +which could not at the moment be ascertained. + +5. Another phial of light-coloured liquid, at the bottom of which was a +whitish sediment. + +6. A small earthenware jar, in which was a quantity of prepared opium. + +7. A folded paper, in which were two drachms of corrosive sublimate, in +powder. + +8. A small box containing “Infernal Stone.” + +9. A paper containing an ounce of opium. + +10. A piece of regulus of antimony, weighing three ounces. + +11. A packet of powder marked.... + +12. A packet secured by six seals, superscribed like those already +described. This packet contained twenty-seven pieces of paper, on each +of which were the words, “several curious secrets.” + +The first care of the civil authorities was directed to a careful +examination of these substances, to have them analysed, and to +experiment with them upon animals. + +The result of that examination and those experiments was very curious, +and the following is the report which was made by the chemists and men +of science to whom the examination was entrusted. + + +“This artful poison” [it runs] “defies the researches attempted to be +made into its nature; it is so disguised that it cannot be detected—so +subtle that it defies all the science and ability of the doctors. Upon +this poison all experiments blunder, all rules are false, and all +aphorisms absurd. + +“The most certain and usual experiments are made by means of the +elements, or upon the bodies of animals. In water the weight of the +poison precipitates; it is the superior must needs be precipitated. No +less sure is the action of fire; it evaporates, it dissipates, it +consumes all that is innocent and all that is impure, with the exception +of a sharp and acrid substance which alone can resist its effects. Upon +animals the effect of poison is even more obvious; it carries malignity +into every part which it touches, vitiating, burning, and withering up +the whole internal economy as with a strange fire. + +“The poison of Sainte-Croix has been subjected to all trials; it defies +all the skill and science of the doctors, and mocks and baffles all +experiments. This poison swims in water instead of sinking, and it +escapes from the test of fire, leaving behind only a mild and innocent +substance. In animals it so completely hides itself that it cannot be +detected; all the parts of the poisoned animal remain living and sound +even while it is shedding death all around it. + +“All sorts of experiments have been tried upon this poison. In the first +instance some drops of a liquor contained in one of the phials were +poured into oil of tartar and water. No precipitate was formed in the +vessel. + +“In the second experiment some of the same liquid was poured into a +sanded vessel, the sand retained no acridly tasting substance. The third +experiment was made upon a turkey hen, a pigeon, and a dog; they died in +a brief space, and on their being opened on the following day, only some +coagulated blood was found in the ventricles of the heart. + +“Another experiment was made with some white powder, which was given, +with some mutton, to a cat. The cat vomited for half an hour, and on the +following day was found dead; it was opened, and no interior part showed +marks of the action of the poison. A second trial of the same poison was +made upon a pigeon, which died in a short time. When opened the bird had +only some red liquid in its stomach.” + + +“Such,” according to the historian, “was the dying present of +Sainte-Croix to his mistress. His past crimes being insufficient to +gratify his malignity, he was fain to be the accomplice of future +crime.” + +According to Dr. Nass, Sainte-Croix died a natural death after an +illness of several months. To continue the story, when the marquise +heard of his death and the discovery of the box, she at once made every +effort to obtain it by bribing the officials, but failing in this she +fled to England, and after much negotiation between Louis XIV and +Charles II as to her extradition, she escaped to Holland, where she took +refuge in various convents, until at last she was arrested at Liège. She +attempted to commit suicide by swallowing fragments of broken glass and +pins, and other methods, which are described by Madame de Sévigné. + +A romantic story is told of her arrest, which was made by an officer +called Des Grais, who was sent from Paris to apprehend her. Finding he +was unable to remove her forcibly from the convent, he disguised himself +in the dress of an abbé and so found access and the means of making her +acquaintance. Assuming the character of a lover he induced her in this +way to accompany him on a pleasure excursion, but once outside the +building he arrested her and conveyed her to Paris. + +[Illustration: + + MARGUERITE D’AUBRAY, MARQUISE DE BRINVILLIERS. + + (_By Lebrun._) + + Drawn from life at the time of her being taken to execution. +] + +After the marquise had fled, La Chaussée, the servant whom she used as +her tool, fell under suspicion, was arrested, brought to trial, and, +after confessing to being the instrument of several murders, was broken +alive on the wheel in 1673. The discovery of these terrible crimes +attributed to Brinvilliers, and the revelations made in documents which +had come into the possession of the authorities amounting to a +confession of her numerous murders, caused a great sensation, not only +in Paris but throughout the whole of France. + +The scene at her trial was intensely dramatic, and even the judges were +greatly moved. The marquise herself kept up a bold front and showed the +greatest resolution, in spite of the evidence stoutly denying all the +charges brought against her. She was confronted with her former lover +Briancourt, the tutor, to whom it is said she confided all the secrets +of her crimes. The evidence was for the most part unquestioned, and she +was found guilty and sentenced on July 16, 1676. It is recorded as +follows:— + + +“The Court has declared and declares the said D’Aubray de Brinvilliers +duly attainted and convicted of having procured the poisoning of M. +Dreux D’Aubray, her father, and the said Messrs. D’Aubray, Civil +Lieutenant and Councillor in the said Court, her two brothers, and +attempted the life of the late Teresa D’Aubray, her sister, and by way +of reparation has condemned and condemns the said D’Aubray de +Brinvilliers to make public apology in front of the principal door of +the Church of Paris, whither she will be taken in a cart, with bare feet +and a rope round her neck, holding in her hands a lighted torch of two +pounds weight, and there on her knees to say and declare that wickedly, +and in order to possess their goods, she procured the poisoning of her +father and her two brothers, and attempted the life of her deceased +sister, of which she repents and asks pardon of God, the King, and the +law: this done, taken and conveyed in the same cart to the Place de +Grève of this city, to have her head cut off there on a scaffold to be +erected for the purpose in the said place; her body burnt, and the ashes +thrown to the winds. She is first to be put to the question, ordinary +and extraordinary, in order to obtain a disclosure of her accomplices.” + + +She heard the sentence with courage, and during the time previous to its +being carried out was visited by a Jesuit priest named Pirot, who was a +doctor of the Sorbonne and a man of great intelligence. It was his hope +to induce her to reveal the names of her accomplices, the compositions +of the poisons she used and the antidotes that would nullify their +effects. She accepted his ministrations with graceful courtesy and is +said to have convinced him of her penitence and made a full confession +of the crimes she had committed. According to her account, the only +poisonous substances she ever used were arsenic, vitriol and toad venom. + +At first she said, “I do not know exactly what they were,” but shortly +before her death she remarked, “I should like to know the composition of +the poisons which I used and which were used at my direction, but all I +know about them is that there was toad’s venom and that there were some +that consisted of rarefied arsenic.” + +It is quite possible that she may not have known of the composition of +some of them, as they were probably originally compounded by Glaser, who +was a skilled chemist and well versed in the science of his time. + +The only antidote she stated that she knew was milk, and her only +accomplices Sainte-Croix and certain lackeys. + +On July 16, 1676, when she was taken to the scene of execution, an +enormous crowd had assembled. “Never,” says Madame de Sévigné, “had any +seen such a crowd, or Paris so excited or so interested.” The marquise +drew herself to her feet in the cart with her eyes flashing and cried +out in a loud voice charged with contempt, “You have come to see a fine +spectacle.” + +Such is the tragic story of Marie Madeleine de Brinvilliers. She is +described by contemporary writers as with the face that one might +expect, “degraded by excesses, and distorted by evil passions, but with +features extremely regular, with a rounded face that was full and +beautiful and a certain look which seemed to breathe goodness.” + +A great deal has been written in France about her supposed knowledge of +poisons, and her great skill in using them for criminal purposes; in +reality, she was but a murderess of the common type, in whom sensuality, +cunning and vice were combined. + +The execution of the Marquise de Brinvilliers did not, however, put a +stop to the extraordinary wave of criminal poisoning that passed over +France towards the end of the seventeenth century. During the reign of +the _Grand Monarque_, brilliant and glittering though it was, the vices +of avarice and jealousy led many to unscrupulous practices and crime. In +this state of society it was little to be wondered at that Paris swarmed +with fortune-tellers, astrologers, sorcerers and others of their kind +who made enormous sums of money out of their dupes. Many of these +combined the sale of poisons with actual practice, and claimed to be +able to accomplish almost any crime, from the removal of an inconvenient +husband to anyone who stood in the way to an inheritance. + +The papers of one of these Italian adventurers, named Primi Visconti, +were discovered and translated a few years ago, and throw some light on +the methods of these parasites of society. Visconti, who had obtained +entry to the French court by his professed skill in palmistry and +chiromancy and had become somewhat popular with the courtiers, relates +that it had come to the King’s knowledge that the infamous Sainte-Croix +had sought to obtain the position of _maître d’hôtel_ in the palace of +Versailles, and had been recommended to the position by a wealthy and +avaricious person named Penaultier, Receiver-General of the Clergy, who +was also suspected of being concerned in the recent crimes. + +About 1677 the Ministers of the State awoke to the fact that it was time +something was done to put a stop to these practices. Colbert and Louvois +issued instructions to the police to keep a sharp look-out for cases of +poisoning. An official record states that some years before 1677 and up +to the end of 1678 the judges and magistrates of the city of Paris and +its neighbourhood, as well as the Secretary of State, had noticed that +of the number of criminals and malefactors whom they had caused to be +arrested for ordinary offences, the greater number were charged by +declarations, death-bed depositions or information given to the +Government “with complicity in, or knowledge of different poisonings +carried out on different persons of all sorts and conditions, who had in +consequence died.” + +The _Chambre de Poisons_ or _Chambre Ardente_ previously referred to, +sat in all 210 times until July 21, 1682, and during that period dealt +with charges against 442 persons, and ordered the arrest of 367; 218 +were kept prisoners, 36 were executed, 2 died in prison, 5 were sent to +the gallows, and 23 were banished. + +In spite of this it is said that the worst criminals escaped, owing to +influence that they brought to bear in their favour. “The chief +culprits,” says Ravaisson, “belonged to the nobility or the law, and +almost all of them had amongst the members of the court friends, clients +or relatives.” The King had set a bad example by allowing some +individuals who were compromised to go free. The judges had not the +courage to be more severe, and the weight of the condemnations fell +almost entirely on the miserable creatures who sold the poisons and not +on those who bought and used them. + +An example of the class alluded to were two women called La Vigoureux +and La Voisin and a priest named Le Sage who were first arrested and +then tried for carrying on a trade in poisons. They made themselves out +to be practitioners in necromancy, claiming to raise the spirits of the +departed for those who wished and to supply love-philtres to those who +desired them. Their rooms were constantly visited by people of position +and others, many probably out of curiosity, as has been the case with +fashionable fortune-tellers of a later date. La Voisin, however, kept a +list of her clients, and on her arrest, when this was discovered, they +were also arrested and brought to private trial before the Chambre. The +list contained such names as the two nieces of Cardinal Mazarin, the +Duchesse de Bouillon and the Comtesse de Soissons. + +At the trial of the Duchess nothing could be proved beyond her statement +that she had resorted to Le Sage to consult him as a fortune-teller. He +also claimed to be able to show her even the Devil himself. La Reiné, +one of the judges of the court, was indiscreet enough to ask the Duchess +if this had taken place and if she had ever seen the Devil? The lady +quickly replied that she saw him at that very moment, that he was +extremely ugly and very hideous, and appeared to her in the guise of her +questioner. + +The charge brought against the Comtesse de Soissons and the Marshal de +Luxembourg was more serious. The three criminals claimed to know the +secret of a particularly poisonous powder which they prepared, and to +which they gave the name of the _poudre de succession_, so called from +the real or supposed frequency with which it had been used to hasten or +change the succession in the families of the rich. The names of those +who obtained possession of it had been reported to the Government. It is +said that the King intimated to the countess that if she was guilty she +had better escape by flight. Although she declared her innocence, she +said she could not endure the scandal of a public trial and fled to +Brussels, where she died in 1708. + +With respect to the marshal, his explanation of his connection with the +infamous trio was that he had consulted them in order to recover some +lost papers of value. He had done this through the medium of a man named +Bonard; Le Sage swore, however, that the marshal had applied to him to +poison a woman who had possession of the papers and refused to give them +up. His accomplices testified that they had accordingly poisoned her and +disposed of the body into the river at the instigation of the marshal. +The marshal was imprisoned and placed in a dungeon six and a half feet +long, where he fell sick and remained five weeks before being brought to +trial. The trial of the marshal was prolonged fourteen months, when he +was finally released without being condemned or acquitted. La Voisin, La +Vigoureux, together with Le Sage, the priest, were eventually convicted +and burned alive in Paris. + +The _Chambre Ardente_ came to an end after being criticized as a +political tribunal which did little to effect the purpose for which it +was designed. + +According to later writers, the famous _poudre de succession_, consisted +of arsenic, sometimes mixed with vegetable poisons such as aconite, +belladonna and opium. + +Among the substances believed to be deadly was powdered diamond, for +which powdered glass was probably substituted. Another writer states +that _poudre de succession_ appears to have been composed of sugar of +lead. Nail-parings and powdered lobster claws were used for a similar +purpose. Vegetable poisons—opium, hemlock, belladonna, euphorbium, and +many other poisonous plants—are also mentioned, and one enterprising +Frenchwoman, who had been to the West Indies, appears to have had the +idea of importing curare taken from poisoned arrows. + +There seems little doubt that in the eighteenth century, when the +practice became almost a cult, poison was sometimes secretly +administered by means of a clyster, the use of which was so common at +the time. Arsenic, corrosive sublimate, cantharides and opium are said +to have been given in this way. + +Louis XVIII of France is said to have narrowly escaped death by poison +in 1804. At that time he was living under the name of the Comte de Lille +near Warsaw, and had in his household a servant named Coulon, a French +adventurer, who had been a prisoner of war at Portsmouth and arrived in +the Polish city in 1803. He declared that he was approached in July, +1804, by two emissaries “charged to poison Louis XVIII, his wife, and +also the Duke and Duchess d’Angoulême,” who were living with the royal +couple. The emissaries offered him four hundred louis d’or if he would +place in the soup served to the King and his family some hollow carrots +filled with poison. A postchaise would await Coulon to carry him at once +to France, where the regicide would be asked no questions so long as his +victim was a Bourbon. Coulon accepted the carrots, but denounced the +couple. Part of Poland was then subject to Prussia, and the Prussian +police appear to have been singularly averse to taking action in the +matter, and allowed the two emissaries to escape. This circumstance, +coupled with the fact that Napoleon was all-powerful at the period, and +the supposition that the man who ordered the Duc d’Enghien to be shot +was capable of compassing the death of other Bourbons, gave rise to the +suspicion that the plot was really set on foot by Napoleon’s police. +Louis XVIII requested that Coulon might be arrested and the carrots +officially analysed, but the Prussian authorities refused to act. + + +“Seeing that it was impossible to rely either upon the law or the +Prussian police,” the narrator continues, “d’Avray went with Dr. +Lefèvre, the King’s physician, to call upon Dr. Gazatkiewick, one of the +most celebrated practitioners of Warsaw. Here, in the presence of a +second physician, Dr. Bagenzorve, and of M. Guidal, a local pharmacist, +the seals placed by the Archbishop on Coulon’s packet were broken. The +three carrots therein contained were opened and found to be filled with +a sort of paste formed of three arsenics, yellow, white and red.” + + +A report was drawn up and handed to M. de Tilly, head of the city +police, but he declined to take any notice, saying the affair was +outside his province. + +The question of the various poisons used during this period in France +for criminal purposes has been ably discussed by Dr. Lucien Nass, who +has had access to the documents relating to the various important trials +that took place. He says, that according to police inventories of +articles found in the domiciliary visits made by them in the course of +their inquiries into these poisoning cases, many substances were +employed. If one failed another was tried. The method of administration +was varied with considerable ingenuity, and arsenic, opium, cantharides +and lead acetate were the substances mostly employed. + + + + + CHAPTER XV + THE MYSTERY OF AMY ROBSART’S DEATH + + +The mystery attending the death of Amy Robsart, the wife of Robert +Dudley, who eventually became Earl of Leicester, is one which, owing to +the lack of detailed documentary evidence, is never likely to be +entirely solved. So much has been written concerning the troubled life +of this unfortunate lady and its sad ending, that a brief outline of her +story, which has been gathered from the most reliable sources, is all +that is necessary here. + +She was born about the year 1532 and was the daughter of Sir John +Robsart of Sidestern in Norfolk, whose wife was the widow of one Roger +Appleyard. + +Where she first met Robert Dudley is not known, but they were married at +Sheen (Richmond) on June 4, 1550. The wedding is recorded by Edward VI +(who was present at the ceremony) in his journal. Dudley was master of +the King’s buckhounds and was knighted by him. At the time of her +marriage Amy Robsart was probably eighteen, while Dudley is said to have +been about the same age. + +Of the first ten years of their married life little is known, but on +Elizabeth’s accession Sir Robert Dudley, who was on terms of close +friendship with the young queen, suddenly became a personage of +importance and received his title from her. As the special favourite of +his sovereign his position at Court speedily became one of envy, to +which was added the jealousy of his rivals. It was freely rumoured that +but for the fact that he was already married, he stood a good chance of +becoming the royal consort. + +The close intimacy of Queen Elizabeth and Dudley soon became a public +scandal, and during this time nothing is heard of his wife, until the +spring of 1560, when it was announced that she had gone to reside at +Cumnor Place, a house situated a few miles from Abingdon. Neglected and +slighted by her husband, whom she saw had been weaned from her, the +unhappy woman no doubt fell in readily with Dudley’s suggestion that she +should take up her residence in this lonely country house. + +Cumnor Place was a stone-built residence of fair size, and had formerly +belonged to Doctor George Owen, who was physician to Henry VIII. On his +death he bequeathed the estate to his son William, who had let it to one +Anthony Foster, a country squire who appears to have been well known to +Dudley. + +At the time when Lady Amy Dudley took up her residence at Cumnor, there +were living in the house besides Foster and his wife, a Mrs. Odingselle, +his sister-in-law, and Mrs. Owen, who, according to Adlard, was the +widow of Dr. George Owen, the physician, and original owner of the +property. + +It is a noteworthy fact that very shortly after Lady Amy’s arrival +rumours became current that her life was in danger. It was also reported +that she was ill, a story which was probably spread abroad with an +object. + +De Quadra, the Spanish Ambassador to the Court at the time, in an +extraordinary letter written from Windsor to King Philip on September +11, 1560, bears evidence to these rumours in the following words: “He +[Cecil] ended by saying that Robert [Dudley] was thinking of killing his +wife, who was publicly announced to be ill, although she was quite well, +and would take every care they did not poison her. The next day the +Queen told me as she returned from hunting that Lord Robert’s wife was +dead, or nearly so, and begged me to say nothing about it.” + +“Since writing the above,” he continues, “I hear the Queen has published +the death of Robert’s wife and said in Italian, ‘She broke her neck.’” + +One must assume from this letter, which was written only three days +after Lady Amy’s death, that she had been aware that an attempt had been +made to poison her. + +To return to the story. On Sunday, September 8, a fair was being held at +Abingdon, and according to the statement of Dudley’s own kinsman Thomas +Blount, Lady Amy insisted on her servants, who were much attached to +her, going to the fair. Of the tragic events that followed, very little +is known. Amy dined alone that day with Mrs. Owen; Foster, his wife and +sister-in-law being, it is presumed, in the house. When the servants +returned to Cumnor late that night, they found their mistress lying dead +at the foot of a short staircase that led from her bedchamber to the +ground floor. It was announced the next day that the unfortunate lady +had fallen down the stairs and broken her neck. + +The news was at once sent to Dudley at Windsor, who made no attempt to +go to Cumnor himself, but wrote to his relative Thomas Blount, +requesting him to go and investigate the matter and instructing him to +see that the coroner made a searching inquiry as to the cause of his +wife’s death. + +He also notified Amy’s half-brother, John Appleyard, and asked him to +proceed to Cumnor to assist Blount. + +All that is known of the inquiry that followed is told in two letters +written by Blount to Dudley. + +In one of these he suggests that Lady Amy had become insane, “for,” he +says, “the tales I do heare of her make me to think she had a strange +minde.” He further informs Dudley that he had met several of the jury +who had been chosen for the inquest, and that “they be verie secrete and +yet do I heare a whysperinge that they can find no presumpcions of +evill.” + +In a letter written by Dudley to Blount, he mentions having + + +“received a letter from one Smythe, one that seamethe to be foreman of +the jurye. I perseve by his letter that he and the rest hath and do +travill verie diligentlie and circumspectlie for the tryall of that +matter whiche they have charge of; and for anything I hear, that by any +serche or examinacione they can make in the world hitherto, it doth +plainlie appeare he saith, a verie mysfortune, which for my own parte, +cousin Blount, dothe much satisfie and quiet me.” + + +From this it would appear that the foreman of the jury was in +communication with Dudley and even foreshadowed their verdict, which +appears to have been that Lady Amy Dudley had met her death by accident. + +She was buried with considerable ceremony at the University Church of +St. Mary at Oxford on September 22, 1560. + +The inquest probably lasted several days, but no report of the +proceedings or of the actual verdict of the jury is to be found. There +must have been such a report, as it is recorded that a copy was made for +and received by John Appleyard, Amy Dudley’s half-brother, who on June +4, 1567, wrote to the Council that he had read, and on June 3 had +returned the document. In which verdict he not only finds such proofs +testified under the oath of fifteen persons how his late sister “_by +misfortune_ happened of death.” + +Reports that Dudley was responsible for his wife’s death were soon +spread abroad and discussed throughout the country, and even in France +public feeling was strong against him. + +At a meeting of the Privy Council in April, 1566, called to consider the +propriety of giving sanction to the marriage between the Queen and +Dudley (then Earl of Leicester) it was urged against the proposal that +Leicester was “infamed by the deth of his wife.” + +Anthony Wood, who visited Cumnor a century after the tragedy, records +the local tradition that, “those who plotted against Amy Dudley’s life +took advantage to convey her to another chamber where her bed’s head +should stand against a door which she did not know of. In the middle of +the night came a man with a spitt in his hand, open the privy door and +run ye spitt into her head and tumbled her downstairs.” + +This story is most unlikely, as evidence of foul play would have been at +once noticed, and the coroner at the inquest apparently failed to +discover any trace of a blow or external injury. + +John Aubrey, who next described the event after Wood, states, “she was +either stiffled or strangled before being thrown downstairs,” which is a +more probable theory. + +Camden’s story of the event is as follows:— + + +“She was prevailed upon to visit Cumnor-house, the seat of Antony +Foster, one of Leicester’s creatures. There the unfortunate lady became +ill,—the consequence of the infernal practices upon her,—which however +produced their effect too slowly to answer the desired end. She was +importuned by Foster and his tool Varney, to take medicine for her +disorder. They, seeing her sad and heavy, as one that well knew by her +other handling, that her death was not far off, began to persuade her, +that her present disease was melancholy, and other humours, and would +needs counsel her to take some potion. This she absolutely refusing to +do (as suspecting the worst), they sent a messenger for Dr. Bayly, +professor of Physic, in Oxford University, and entreated him to persuade +her to take some little potion, by his direction. They would fetch the +same at Oxford, _meaning to have added something of their own for her +comfort_, as the doctor, upon just cause and consideration did suspect, +seeing their great importunity, and the small need the lady had of +physic, and therefore he peremptorily denied their request.” + + +Before considering the probable cause of Lady Amy Dudley’s tragic death +according to the present available evidence, several curious and +significant events that followed must be mentioned. Antony Foster, who +held Cumnor Place on lease at the time, about twelve months after the +tragedy, became the proprietor of the estate, and on his death +bequeathed it to Dudley, then Earl of Leicester. In 1567 Appleyard, Amy +Dudley’s half-brother, who was sent by Dudley with Blount to be present +at the inquest, confessed that certain of the jury had been bribed. He +bore a very indifferent character. + +It is also another notable fact that the Privy Council books of this +period and the report of the Coroner’s inquest and verdict are missing, +and have never been discovered. + +Dudley’s relations with the Queen formed a powerful motive for a man of +his unscrupulous character to compass his wife’s life. There were strong +suspicions against him of having been concerned in the poisoning of +several persons who he thought had stood in his path. He carefully +refrained from going to Cumnor in person and also from attending the +funeral of his wife. + +In reviewing the fragmentary story of the events at Cumnor, the tragedy +must have occurred between dinner time and midnight, when the servants +probably returned from the fair and found the lifeless body of their +mistress with her neck broken lying at the foot of the staircase. This +staircase is said to have been a short winding stone flight connecting +the first floor with the hall. Although her neck was broken, it was +remarked, curiously enough, that a hood or cap she wore on her head was +not disarranged. This fact is mentioned in a letter printed in 1584, now +in the Bodleian library, entitled, “The Copie of a leter wryten by a +master of arte of Cambridge to his friende in London”; in it is stated, +“She had the chaunce to fal from a paire of stares and so to break her +neck, but yet without hurting of her hoode that stoode upon her heade.” + +Presumably there were in the house on the fatal Sunday night, Foster and +his wife, Mrs. Odingselle, Mrs. Owen and Foster’s servants, yet we must +assume that if, as alleged, the unfortunate lady did accidentally fall +down the staircase, none of these people were aware of it. It was left +for her own servants to find her body on their return from Abingdon, +probably late at night. It is hardly conceivable that she could have +fallen without noise of any kind. + +She was evidently aware that attempts had been made to poison her, but +we know not whom she specially suspected or how these attempts were +made. + +Apparently she did not suspect Mrs. Owen, with whom she dined alone on +the fatal night, yet Mrs. Owen had been the wife of a physician and +doubtless had some knowledge of drugs, and like other ladies of the time +doubtless knew also how to prepare them. + +Although the report of the inquest is missing and we are ignorant of the +proceedings and evidence given, even if this interesting document were +discovered it would not prove conclusively how Lady Amy Dudley came by +her death. + +We do not know if any medical evidence was called at the inquest or if +an autopsy was made to discover the cause of death. There was probably +no post-mortem, as the broken neck would doubtless be considered +sufficient evidence as to the cause of death, and at that period only +cases of sudden death without external signs of disease or violence were +attributed to poison. There are records that post-mortem examinations +were sometimes made in the sixteenth century on the bodies of those who +were suspected of having been poisoned, and a description of two such +cases is given in a previous chapter. + +But although rough clinical tests are said to have been attempted in +those cases, no chemical tests were known at that period capable of +proving the presence of many poisons. Supposing opium had been given to +Amy Dudley, an autopsy, therefore, would have been of no avail, and in +the absence of direct evidence the poisoner would go undetected. + +Taking all the circumstances of the case into consideration, in +conjunction with the meagre details of the tragedy that have come down +to us, it certainly does not appear probable that Lady Amy’s death was +purely accidental. + +Her husband’s unscrupulous character was known. She alone stood in the +way of the realization of his great ambition to marry the Queen. +Elizabeth’s words, that “none of his were at the attempt at his wife’s +home,” also add to the strong suspicion that Dudley was the instigator +of a plot against his wife’s life. + +Let us suppose that previous attempts to administer poison had been +frustrated by the unfortunate lady’s watchfulness, as she was apparently +aware of the designs against her life, the opportunity suddenly afforded +by the absence of all her personal attendants from the house might have +been seized upon to make another and a surer attempt. It would be easy +to have introduced some narcotic such as opium or belladonna into her +wine at dinner, and after the opiate had taken effect, it would be a +still easier matter to precipitate her body down the staircase, thereby +causing an injury sufficient to give colour to the statement that she +had met her death by accident. + +After all, proof in this case is practically impossible, and whether +Lady Amy Dudley was murdered or not, is a question that will probably +never be conclusively answered. + + + + + CHAPTER XVI + A POISON MYSTERY OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY + + + The Strange Case of Sir Euseby Andrew + +A long-forgotten mystery which comes down to us tinged with the romance +of past centuries is that surrounding the death of Sir Euseby Andrew. +This worthy baronet, whose family seat was at Charwelton in +Northamptonshire, was descended from an ancient stock well known in that +county. His father, when sheriff of the county, had attended on Mary +Queen of Scots at her execution at Fotheringay Castle. The interesting +story of the strange circumstances which attended Sir Euseby’s death are +recorded by Dr. John Cotta, a physician, who practised in Northampton in +the early part of the seventeenth century, and who committed it to +writing at the time. + +It is evident from the account given by Doctor Cotta that the baronet +had been ailing for some time and that rumours of foul play were abroad +when he was summoned to attend him. We give the narrative in the quaint +phraseology of the period as penned by the physician in his manuscript. + + +“I was sent for by Sir Euseby Andrew,” he states, “in his last +extremities whereof he died, twice. First, by his apothecary Nicholas +Rawlings upon the Sunday before his death. Secondly by his servant +Euseby Barbon upon the Tuesday before he died. I came then unto him +altogether ignorant of any project matter or mention of Poyson. After my +coming he tolde me as he was able in weake manner of fainting speach +that I was welcome and that he desired to speake with me before he died. +After these words I left him a while and went downe to seeke my servant. +When I returned, he asked me whether I had ever seene him sicke formerly +in that strange manner and torment wherein nowe he was. My answer was +that I had never seene him in that manner. He then tolde me that he had +been tormented in that manner ever since he had taken a broth or gellie. + +“I demanded who gave him that gellie, whether his Physition. He answered +No, but said there was fault therein and further at that time did not +proceede his strength sences and speech so farr faylinge that no life +was expected a great space. + +“Upon certain cordials administered, he, beyond all expectation both of +myself and all present obtained unexpected ease and remission of his +extremities a large time though not freed from them. Upon this hope by +him conceived of his recovery, the next day he abruptly uttered unto me +these words, videlicet, Doctor, how am I beholding unto you, I hope now +I shall live. If I live I will discover the strangest practise or wonder +that was ever heard of in Northamptonshire, but if I die God will +revenge it and I hope my brothers will call my wrong into question— + +“Hereto I answered nothing that day or the next; he relapsed againe and +then uttered these words unto me, videlicet, Good Doctor lett me goe +with you into Northampton, I objected, his weakness for such a journey +and his unfittness; he said he might be carried in his Coatch with a bed +therein. And the journey being objected as too much for him he then +desired he might go into Daventry being neare hand, wherein I seemed no +forward to satisfie him, he burst out into these speeches, ‘I am not +safe, I am not secure in my owne house, I would I were a poore sheppard +that I might lie in the fieldes.’ After the passions uttered (the +distance of time I do not remember) the Ladie Andrew his wife came unto +him, and had some speeche with him (but what it was I do not now +remember) but his reply was ‘It is enough for you that I have desired +it, but since you brave me in my owne house and in this poore distresse +wherein I am, get you from me and come no more at me untill I sende for +you. You make her (quoth he) your bedfellow your companion, I wot she is +no companion for you; at another time Sir Euseby fallinge into a new +passion because Mistress Moyle was not removed out of his house the Lady +Andrew intreated me to tell him that Mistress Moyle was gone, which I +was loth to say because I knew the contrary, I notwithstanding to +quallifie his discontented moans and complaints did tell him, that I did +heare that she was gone, which my Ladye confirming likewise unto him, he +suddenly and briskly looked up and said ‘you lie you know she shall not +goe.’ About the same time or before, I do not well remember, it was +bruted by some in the house that Sir Euseby did talke idly which he +understanding by whom or what means (I know not) he did call me unto him +and wishing some that stoode near to stand apart, he uttered these +words, videlicet, ‘Doctor, they would make you believe that I do talke +idly but because you shall know that I do not talke idly I will give you +my reasons why I suspect Mistress Moyle.’ He then related that Jaquinto +had told him of a bason stained with gellie wherinto Mistress Moyle had +cast salte, that Jaquinto told him she was a bad woman and meant him no +good, and warned Mistress Francis his daughter to take heede that +Mistress Moyle came not neare her father’s brothes or gellies. He +further said, that she was too officious aboute him to rise at 3 or 2 a +clock to give him gellie or broth. He said further that after his taking +of a gellie he immediately did fall into vomiting and purging 20 times a +day, 3 dayes together, and into those torments of his stomache sides and +gutes which I did then see. + +“He farther saide that Mistress Moyle had given forth that he would not +live past Tuesday, which daye (saide he) I had died in my owne feeling +and in all others expectation, that were present, if your coming into +Charleston that night had not by your Cordialls revived and kept me +alive. He saide farther, that Mistress Moyle did talke of burying him +the next day. He added farther, that Mistress Moyle when he was in a +sounding fitt did take the pillows and bolster from under his head which +afterward reviving he did misse and call for as he saide. These things +as his reasons of suspecting Mistress Moyle he did deliver unto me, +while I replied that I was sorry that his minde was troubled with such +things and wondered that a stranger who seemed unto me a sober and +modest gentlewoman should intende any such mischief, he thereto answered +‘Good Doctor, be not led by them. You are an honest man,’ said he, ‘they +are too subtle for you.’ Thus we brake of conference for that time. Some +hours before his death he called for his clothes and said he could arise +and die in his clothes and not in his bed. In the mean season some +gentlemen did offer him a writing or instrument to seal which he then +refused, saying, ‘I am now distracted and troubled bring it again anone. +I doubt the parson will controvert some part of it.’ After his clothes +were put on he did point and was ledd unto a chair near his bed, where +he did sit down and called for the formerly mentioned writing and viewed +it, sett his hand unto it, sealed and delivered it. He then called for +his will which he untied and brake the seal and taking a pen begann to +rase something therein, but Mr. Thomas Andrews stayed his hand saying, +‘Good brother don’t alter your will, I hope she will prove a good mother +unto her children,’ by which Sir Euseby not seeming much moved, another +gentleman upon his knees thus spake unto him, ‘Good Sir, remember that +you have almost been married together these 20 years and you have had +many sweet children together and as you met in love so part in love.’ +Hereunto Sir Euseby answered, ‘I am contented,’ and threw the pen from +him and delivered the will back again. + +“Then he required to be laid upon his bed in his clothes and called for +the preachers to pray with him, which they did until his strength and +speech and senses failed him, and he drew his wind very short and from +that shortness of breath did fall and lie gaping and now and then did +take a gasp. + +“After we nerby now supposed him dead he again revived and feeling for +his pocket did draw there out a seal and offered it, saying, ‘the boy, +the boy.’ He was demanded whether he meant his eldest son—he answered +‘Yea,’ and putting again his hand into his pocket he drew out a key, and +added it unto the seal. He then relapsed again a short time unto drawing +his wind short and gasping and then reviving again said, ‘My brothers, +my brothers,’ Who being called unto him said ‘Norton, Norton, I would +have an honest use made thereof and no more but an honest use.’ This +said, he then relapsed again so long a space that I supposed him passed +reviving any more and I went down into the Court. There after I had +stayed some space and was called up again unto him. When he did see me +he said, ‘O Doctor, I cannot die,’ ‘Do you know the cause.’ I answered, +‘No.’ He said, ‘I will tell you. The angels have been about me this hour +and will not suffer me to die until I have made known that Mistress +Moyle is the cause of my death.’ I did answer that I was sorry to hear +him so say for that it may now be deemed he died not in charity for that +he did not forget and forgive. He hereto replied, I do forgive her, but +God commanded the Angels and they would not suffer me to die until I had +thus spoken and now I shall die.’ Upon these words a Knight standing by +said unto one Mr. Harrison a preacher, ‘By God you Divines are +flatterers you should now tell him that these angels are Devils.’ +Hereunto I answered I did not take those words fitting but if Mr. +Harrison, said I, you will tell Sir Euseby that those his wordes may be +deemed to proceed from a sick brain or unto such purpose you may do very +well. + +“Then Mr. Harrison said, ‘Sir I beseech you remember yourself, you speak +such things as may breed much trouble and you know you are going out of +the world I pray you take heed what you say.’ + +“Sir Euseby looking upon him shaking his head and gently moving his hand +towards him said, ‘This is no time to lie now.’ And then did relapse +again and never did look up nor speake any more until he died.” + + +That Mistress Moyle was charged with poisoning Sir Euseby Andrew may be +surmised from the concluding portion of Doctor Cotta’s manuscript, in +which he relates his “evidence given in open Court at the Assizes at +Northampton three several times upon commande.” + +He states: “My first reason that bredd suspition was for that Sir Euseby +Andrew did not seeme to me to die of that disease whereof he had so long +before languished, but of another kinde. + +“That he died of another kind is manifest. First, for that the last +disease whereof he died was an acute sharpe and swift disease. The first +disease whereof he had so long before languished, was a chronicke +ling’ring disease into which two kinds Phisitions do divide all +diseases. + +“That the last disease was an acute disease is manifest, for that as is +the manner of an acute disease it was in his motion swift and in his +accidents and qualitie sharpe. This was planely seene, for that +immediately after the approach of this latter disease Sir Euseby Andrew +was driven to keepe his chambre, was unable to stand upon his leggs, to +sett up in his bed whereby a general extreame anxietie and distresse of +all his body by continual vehement faintings and soundings, by extreme +torment of his stomache sides and gutes, he was in a few days compelled +to yield up the ghost. + +“That the latter disease was of another kind different from the first, +is yet farther manifest, namely, for that it had accidents which were +not in the first, that is a blackness of the tongue, soreness and +rawness of the throate and a frank excoriation in the stomake found +after his decease. + +“If he died of a new disease that was a new cause and that remaineth to +be inquired into, whether poyson yea or noe, which in my opinion may too +justly be doubted for three reasons following. + +“1. The first reason is, for that in the stomake of Sir Euseby Andrew +after his decease was found an usual effect of a corroding fretting +poyson namely an excoriation in the stomake before mentioned without any +probable or manifest cause thereof within the body. That there was no +manifest or probable cause thereof within the body doth seeme to me. As +there was nether staine nor substance of any inbred humour, so of some +outward corroding matter there were manye presumptions in court deposed, +namely, a bason and porringers stained, the bason staininge gellie in +the takinge disliked, distasted after the takinge, within short time +cast up againe, and after it following extreme purginge, vomiting, +torments of stomake sides and gutts, continuing untill death wherof were +many witnesses of note and worth. + +“2. The second reason is, for that the excoriation found in the stomake +had so suspitious a proportion with the suspected gellie which was +deposed in Court to staine the Bason and porringers and speedily after +the taking to cause Sir Euseby Andrew to grow sick, to purge, to vomit, +to be extremely tormented in stomake, sides and gutts. The first liquor +of the suspected gellie was all cast away and fresh liquor was added +unto the same ingredients both which were in Court deposed. + +“That Sir Euseby Andrew his tonge was black and his throate sore and raw +was partly complained by himself while he lived and partly seen by +others, and as I conceive is not denied by any— + +“In Sir Euseby Andrew as also seene staines or spotts upon his liver, +and in his mouth, but whether without probable cause thereof within the +body I referr unto the consideration of the number and weyht of the +signes of poyson from without. + +“There were many signes of some corrodinge matter or poyson taken from +without in or about Sir Euseby Andrew. The signes deposed were these. + +“First, a bason and Porringers stained with a gellie. + +“Secondly, Sir Euseby Andrew his distate of that gellie as soone as it +was in his mouthe. + +“Thirdly, his growing extreme sicke immediately after it was swallowed +downe. + +“Fourthly, after his growing sicke a vehement purging and vomiting, a +fainting, and sounding and extreme torments of his stomake sides and +gutts, from which accidents in that intense and vehement degree he was +formerly free, as was deposed in Court by a Physition whom he had +formerly used and who did see him in his last extremes likewise and as I +myselfe do know. + +“Thus all signes of poison taken from without concurring, and so many +circumstances consenting in one and the selfe same kinde and +affirmative. I suppose I have sufficiently made good my opinion. + +“Therefor, Sir Euseby Andrew his disease accompanied with all those +signes concurring did arise from poyson taken from without and not bredd +within—And I take it the office of every honest physition to speake the +truth in the behalfe of his distrissed patient espetially by himselfe +when dying therto required. This I hope will satisfie all intelligent +ingenuous minds. + + “JOHN COTTA.” + + +Whether Mistress Moyle was found guilty of the crime or not, the worthy +physician does not say. Certainly his evidence goes to prove that a +crime had been committed, but by whom, he gives us no indication, and +the strange death of Sir Euseby Andrew still remains among the mysteries +which have never been solved. + + + + + CHAPTER XVII + A MYSTERY OF THE AUSTRIAN COURT IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY + + +In the spring of the year 1670, Leopold I, Emperor of Austria, was +seized with a mysterious illness which greatly puzzled his physicians. A +staunch and fervent Roman Catholic he was completely dominated by the +Jesuit party, who dubbed him “Leopold the Great,” and received in return +for their commendation many tokens of his favour. In spite of this +friendship, however, seeing that the house of Austria was tottering, for +Leopold had no male descendants, the fathers were engaged in secretly +fomenting an insurrection in Hungary which was supported by Louis XIV. + +It was darkly hinted by some that the Emperor was being poisoned by the +Hungarian malcontents. One day the papal nuncio was in conference with +the sick monarch in his cabinet concerning the insurrection which had +just broken out, and while they were in consultation a fresh despatch +arrived, which contained a long list of the persons implicated. In this +list appeared the name of Francis Borri. As the name was read out by the +secretary, the nuncio started. + +“Borri!” he exclaimed. “Have him arrested at once, your Majesty. He is a +most dangerous man and has contrived to escape from the avenging arm of +the Holy Office.” Within a few hours afterwards, a Captain Scotti, of +the Austrian Life Guards, was despatched on a special mission to +Goldingen to arrest him. + +Giuseppe Francesco Borri was a remarkable man. Born in Milan in 1627, he +left that city early in life for Rome, where he studied medicine and +alchemy. His scientific studies did not, however, prevent him from +taking a deep interest in other subjects, and among these theology +claimed a place. His researches led him to doubt the supremacy of the +Pope, and he began to deliver lectures claiming that the mysteries of +the faith were derived from the principles of chemistry. + +The Jesuits at once obtained an order for his arrest through the +Inquisition, and the Pope offered a reward of 35,000 francs to anyone +who would deliver him up; but Borri was on the alert, and fled to +Strasburg. His enemies in Rome, balked of their prey, meanwhile had his +name publicly exposed on the gallows and his picture was burnt by the +hangman. From Strasburg he journeyed to Amsterdam, and there became very +popular as a physician, being besieged by patients who offered him large +fees for his services. He professed to be an adept in toxicology and was +learned in poisons and their antidotes. Leaving Amsterdam, he proceeded +to Hamburg, where he made the acquaintance of Queen Christina and +acquired a great reputation for his skill in ophthalmic diseases. For a +few months he lived at the court of Copenhagen, but desire coming over +him to go to a warmer climate he left the north with the object of +settling in Stamboul. + +On April 10, 1670, he arrived at Goldingen on the Silesian border. But +his enemies the Jesuits had not lost sight of him. They played a waiting +game, which proved successful in the end, for the landlord of the house +in which Borri lodged communicated his guest’s identity to the Jesuits +at Vienna, and he was arrested as a suspect by Captain Scotti on April +22. Travelling in a carriage surrounded by an escort of cavalry they at +once set out for the capital. The captain happened himself to be an +Italian and treated his prisoner with every consideration. He told him +he was suspected of being concerned in a conspiracy, and that he had the +papal nuncio among his opponents. “Then I realize the real cause of my +arrest,” replied Borri. + +Scotti also told him, in conversation, of the Emperor’s mysterious +illness, which had baffled his physicians and which was now supposed to +be due to secret poisoning. Borri expressed the opinion that if this was +the case he could readily discover the presence of a poison if one +existed. He implored the captain to inform the Emperor that if he really +suspected he was being poisoned he could free him from it, and was +incapable of taking any revenge for the insult done by arresting him. +The captain promised to comply with his request. + +On their arrival in Vienna on April 28, 1670, Borri was taken to the +Swan Inn and there lodged in a room which was guarded by soldiers. + +Weary and tired by his journey he at once threw himself on the bed and +fell asleep, but he was aroused during the night by the door being +opened. A man entered, wrapped in a cloak and bearing a dark lantern. +When he lighted the room he saw it was Captain Scotti. + +“Make haste and get ready,” said the captain. “The Emperor wishes to +speak with you, for your reputation as a physician is known to him. I +mentioned your proposal to him and his Majesty trusts you, but was +obliged to wait till night as he does not wish this visit to be known.” + +Borri thanked the captain and in a few minutes they were walking through +the dark and silent streets to the palace. When they arrived, Scotti +handed his prisoner over to a chamberlain, who at once conducted him to +the Imperial antechamber and bade him be seated. + +In about a quarter of an hour a gentleman of the bedchamber came in and +made Borri a sign to follow him. They passed through several apartments +until they came to a velvet-covered door which the conductor opened, +and, drawing back a heavy _portière_, beckoned Borri to enter. + +He found himself in the Emperor’s cabinet, a gloomy room lighted by a +few candles which shed but a dim light. Pictures of a religious +character covered the walls, and by the side of a small work-table stood +a lofty _prie-Dieu_, over which hung a finely carved crucifix. By the +dim light Borri at length discerned a little man seated in an armchair +near the table, making impatient movements. He wore a green silk +dressing-gown and a cap with a shade for his eyes. His feet were wrapped +up, his face was livid and his cheeks sunken. + +Borri advanced and bowed. + +“Are you the Milanese cavalier?” the Emperor asked in a trembling voice. + +“At your Majesty’s service,” replied Borri. + +“I am sorry to see you here as a prisoner, but you are not one at +present,” said the Emperor. + +“Had I not been arrested I should not have had the happiness of seeing +your Majesty,” rejoined the physician. + +“I hear much that is satisfactory about your learning, although in +another respect you are said to be a dangerous man. Why do you trouble +yourself with religious affairs? Leave them to the clergy,” said the +Emperor, who continued to interrogate him at some length on religious +subjects. At last he said, “Now I hear that you devote yourself to +medicine. What have you heard about my condition?” + +“Nothing beyond the supposition that your Majesty has been poisoned,” +replied Borri. “But that I may be able to express my views on the +subject your Majesty’s physician-in-ordinary must bring the symptoms +before me, and then I shall be able to speak with certainty,” he +continued. + +A messenger was at once sent for the physician. Meanwhile, Borri noted +the Emperor’s wasted and grey looks. Then, rising, he took a survey of +the room, examining every ornament and object and sniffed suspiciously. +The Emperor followed his movements with inquiring eyes. + +“Well, Borri,” he sighed at length. “What do you think?” + +“I think almost certainly,” remarked the physician decisively, “that +your Majesty has been poisoned.” + +“Holy Mother, have mercy on me!” cried the Emperor. + +“I must, as I said, speak with your physician-in-ordinary,” continued +Borri, “but I can also promise your Majesty’s recovery with equal +certainty, for there is still time.” + +“And how do you come to this conclusion of poison? My friends dine with +me out of the same dish. Do you notice anything on my body?” + +“Your Majesty, it is not so much your body,” replied Borri, “but the +atmosphere of your room that is poisoned.” + +“How can you tell, when I feel nothing of it?” + +“Your Majesty is too accustomed to the poisonous exhalation to notice +it.” + +“And where does the exhalation come from?” + +Borri rose, and, followed by the wondering eyes of the Emperor, lifted +each candelabrum and placed it on the table, before the monarch, and so +bringing twelve lighted candles together. + +“See the exhalation that rises from the candles,” he exclaimed. “Do you +not notice the peculiar colour of the flame?” + +At this moment the chamberlain entered the room. + +“The light is vivid,” remarked the Emperor, “but does not seem to me to +be extraordinary.” + +“Do you not see a fine white mist arising which is not found in ordinary +candles?” continued Borri. + +The Emperor appealed to the chamberlain and asked if he noticed the +mist, and he replied that he did. Just then the Emperor’s +physician-in-ordinary entered the cabinet. + +“You have come at the right moment,” exclaimed the Emperor. This +cavalier asserts that the air of my room is poisoned. “Have you the +diagnosis with you?” + +“It is here, your Majesty, where it has been kept since your illness,” +replied the physician. + +The report was handed to Borri, who quickly glanced at it and nodded his +head. + +“Do you perceive the curious smell in the room and the fine, quickly +ascending vapour?” asked Borri, as he pointed out the candles to the +doctor. “Look also at the crust which the vapour has deposited on the +ceiling.” + +“I see it all and bow to your sharpness, cavalier,” said the physician. + +“Does your Majesty burn these candles everywhere?” Borri asked. “It +would be interesting to know if they are used in the Empress’s +apartments?” + +The chamberlain at once went and brought two lighted candles from the +Empress’s chamber, and placed them on the table near the suspected ones. +The former burned clear and quietly, while the latter burned with a +ruddy flame, emitting a thin vapour while repeated sparks with a +crackling noise flashed from the wick. + +“There is the cause of your sickness,” exclaimed Borri, as he laid his +hand on the Emperor’s candelabra. “Shall I now prove to your Majesty +that these are impregnated with a subtle poison?” + +“At once,” replied the Emperor. + +Borri immediately closed the door of the apartment and extinguished the +suspected candles. With the physician’s assistance he then commenced to +remove all the wax from the wick. Meanwhile the chamberlain was summoned +and commanded to bring all the candles he had into the Emperor’s +cabinet. The entire stock, amounting to thirty-five pounds, was brought +from a cupboard in the ante-room where they had been stored and laid +before Borri. + +On examining them he called the Emperor’s attention to the peculiar fact +that each candle was specially marked with a gold fillet round the top +as if to prevent any mistake. Further questioning revealed the fact that +no other candles but these had been used in the Emperor’s apartments +since Candlemas. Borri next shredded the candle wick and calling for a +small dish of meat carefully mixed the candle wick with it. A turnspit +dog was then sent for, and was shut up in the cupboard with the dish of +meat. + +Meanwhile the Emperor was removed to another apartment, and Borri and +the physician proceeded to the palace pharmacy to prepare an antidote +for him. Here Borri tested the suspected candle wick and found, as he +thought, it was impregnated with arsenic. He had left instructions that +he was to be called as soon as the dog got restless, but the animal was +found to be dead by the time he returned to the Emperor’s cabinet. + +The antidote prepared by Borri soon produced a beneficial effect on the +Emperor, and his health improved so rapidly that within three weeks he +was able to go out again. + +An interesting record of Borri’s examination of the poisoned articles +shows his remarkable knowledge of chemistry. Of the whole of the +suspected candles brought to him he kept back two as evidence and used +the remainder in his analysis. The weight of the candles was twenty-four +pounds, and the impregnated wicks three and a half pounds, from which +Borri concluded that nearly two and three-quarters pounds of arsenic had +been employed. + +Immediately Borri reported the result of his investigation to the +Emperor he gave orders that the person who supplied the candles should +be arrested at once. + +It was found that they had been supplied by the procurator of the +Jesuits, who was, however, no longer in Vienna and was not to be found. +Being warned in time, this astute individual had made good his escape. + +The solution of the mystery as to how the candles became impregnated +with arsenic subsequently transpired. It was discovered that the +pater-procurator of the Jesuits, accompanied by a humble member of the +order, had personally delivered the prepared candles, which were packed +in two boxes, at the palace on March 2, 1670, at dark, with instructions +that they were to be delivered to the chamberlain and were to be treated +with the greatest care. + +“Your reverence,” said the steward who received them, “will greatly +oblige by telling me what the boxes contain, so that I may take due care +of them, until I hand them over to the chamberlain on duty?” + +“Learn, my friend,” replied the procurator, “that the boxes contain a +number of especially consecrated wax candles for use in the Imperial +apartments. His Majesty, you know, receives everything he requires +through the hands of us who have blessed it for his service. Inform the +servants who have charge of the Imperial apartments that his Majesty +gave his reverend confessor Father Muller to understand that he wished, +in addition to other consecrated objects, to have such candles burnt in +his rooms. They must be henceforth taken from this store.” + +The same evening the candles _consecrated_ by the Jesuit fathers were +lighted in the Imperial cabinet. + +For a short time the Emperor appears to have shown some gratitude to the +physician who had been instrumental in saving his life, and Borri dined +at the Imperial table, but the hatred of the clerical party increased +when they saw him thus favoured. + +On June 14, 1670, the Emperor, now quite restored to health, summoned +Borri to his cabinet and thanked him fervently for his services, but, he +added, he was sorry in the matter of religion Borri had gone astray and +that it was necessary to cure him of his errors. The Pope would appoint +a Commission. “I have obtained a guarantee from the papal nuncio,” +continued the Emperor, “that in no case shall anything be done against +your body or your life. So long as you live, two hundred ducats a year +shall be paid to you by myself or my heirs as a memorial of what you +have done for me.” + +On the following day Borri left under an escort for Rome. On his arrival +he was arrested and imprisoned in the castle of St. Angelo. Owing to the +good offices of the French Maréchal D’Estrées, whom he attended during a +serious illness, he was allowed a certain amount of liberty and could go +in and out of the castle. He was also allowed to fit up a small +laboratory, where he was able to carry on his work in chemistry. The +Jesuit general Pater Gonzalez is said to have had several interviews +with him while in St. Angelo, with the object of getting him to reveal +the secret of his poison antidote, but Borri always declined to reveal +it, and he eventually died in the castle of St. Angelo in the year 1695. + +Borri has been variously described by his biographers as an alchemist, +physician, quack or charlatan who amassed money by duping the wealthy +patients who consulted him, but, judging from the works he wrote, he was +probably no worse than many others who practised medicine in his day, +and certainly was before his time in his knowledge of chemistry. + +Although a fanatic on religious subjects, he appears to have had +considerably more knowledge of disease than many of his contemporaries, +and the stories of his successful treatment in many cases are probably +true. The story here related of his discovery of the causes of the +Emperor Leopold’s mysterious illness is related by Wraxall and vouched +for by Michiel and is believed to be founded on fact. + + + + + CHAPTER XVIII + POISON PLOTS + + +During the Middle Ages a strange dread of wholesale poisoning spread +throughout Europe and caused numerous panics. Some of these rumours may +probably have been circulated by unscrupulous traders who had articles +to sell, or some business interests to forward, but of this disturbing +fear authentic record still exists that it affected whole communities. + +England was probably freer from crimes of this kind than almost any +other country, but in 1530 a case occurred which aroused great public +indignation. Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, was accustomed to feed a +number of poor people daily from his table, and one day a large number +of his guests, together with some of the officers of the household, were +taken ill and died. After examination of the food had been made it was +declared that the yeast used in the bread had been poisoned. Parliament +took up the case and the bishop’s cook, one Roose, was found guilty. He +was tried and sentenced to be boiled alive as a terrible example to +others. This seems to have been a penalty for poisoners during the +Middle Ages, a fact which doubtless shows the great abhorrence in which +crimes of this kind were held. + +During the case of Sir Thomas Overbury, at which Lord Bacon performed +the duties of Attorney-General, he emphasized the enormity of the +offence of poisoning, although he maintained that poisoning was not a +crime to which English people were predisposed. “It is a crime,” he +stated, “the more to be dreaded because it is so easily committed and so +hard to be prevented and discovered.” + +As a result of the Rochester case a law was passed about 1531 making +murder by poison high treason, the punishment being death by boiling. +The wording of the act which recorded the story of the crime is worth +recapitulating at length. + + +“22 Henry VIII, c. 9. The Kynges royall majistie callyng to hys moste +blessed remembraunce that the makyng of good and holsome laws and due +execution of the same agaynste the offendours thereof is the only cause +that good obedyence and order hath ben preserved in this Realme, and his +Highnes havyng moste tender zeale to the same emonge other thynges +consyderyng that mannes lyfe above all thynges is chyefly to be +favoured, and voluntary murders moste highly to be detested and +abhorred, and specyally of all kyndes of murders, poysonynge, which in +this Realme hytherto our Lord be thanked hath ben moste rare and seldome +comytted or practysed; and now in the tyme of this presente parliamente, +that is to saye, in the xviij daye of Februarye in the xxijd yere of his +moste victorious reygn, one Richard Roose late of Rouchester in the +Countie of Kente, Coke, otherwyse called Richard Coke of his moste wyked +and damnable dysposicyon dyd caste a certeyne venym or poyson into a +vessel replenysshed with yeste or barme standyng in the Kechyn of the +Reverende Father in God John Bysshopp of Rochester at his place in +Lamehyth Marsshe wythe which yeste or Barme and other thynges +convenyent, porrage or gruell was forthwyth made for his famylye there +beyng wherby not only the nombre of xvij persons of his said famylie +which dyd eate of that porrage were mortally enfeebled and poysoned and +one of them, that is to say, Bennett Curwen gentylman thereof ys +decessed, but also certeyne pore people which resorted to the sayde +Bysshops place and were there charytably fedde wyth the remayne of the +sayde porrage and other vytayles, were in lyke wise infected, and one +pore Woman of them that is to saye Alyce Tryppytt wydowe is also thereof +nowe deceassed: our sayde sovereign Lorde the Kynge of hys blessed +disposicion inwardly abhorrying all such abhomynable offences, because +that in manner no person can lyve in suertye out of daunger of death by +that meane, yf practyse thereof shulde hot be exchued, hath ordeyned and +enacted by auctorytie of thys presente parlyament that the sayd +poysonyng be ajuged and demed as high treason. And that the sayde +Richarde for the sayde murder and poysonynge of the sayde two persones +as is aforesayde by auctoritye of thys presente parlyament, shall stande +and be attaynted of high treason: and by cause that detestable offence +nowe newly practysed and comytted requyreth condigne punysshmente for +the same; It is ordayned and enacted by auctoritie of this presente +parliamente that the said Richard Roose shal be therfore boyled to +deathe withoute havynge any advauntage of his clargie.” + + +Under this statute, according to Lord Coke, in his third institute, +Margaret Davy, a young woman, was attainted of high treason, for +poisoning her mistress, and some others were boiled to death in +Smithfield, the 17th of March, the same year, 1524. But this act, +continues his lordship, was too severe to live long, and was therefore +repealed by I Ed. VI, c. 12, and I Mar., c. 1. It is thought probable +that the proverbial expressions, to “keep out of hot water” and to “get +into hot water,” may have had their origin in the punishment attached to +this crime by the law of 22 Henry VIII. + +June 6 is still kept as a public holiday in Malta. Upon that day, over +two hundred years ago, while the island was still possessed by the +Knights of St. John, a Jew waited on the Grand Master and revealed to +him a plot that had been planned for exterminating the whole population +at one stroke. The man kept a coffee-house frequented by Turkish slaves, +and, understanding their language, the conversation of his customers had +aroused his suspicions. The Grand Master, believing the truth of the +man’s statement, took immediate action. The slaves were at once seized, +and, put to torture, they confessed a design of poisoning all the wells +and fountains on the island, and, to make the result surer, each of the +conspirators was to assassinate a Christian. One hundred and twenty-five +were found guilty; some were burned, some broken on the wheel, others +were ordered to have their arms and legs attached to two galleys, which, +being rowed apart, thus dismembered them. Whether these fearful +punishments were carried out it is impossible to say, but the fact +remains that the people of Malta still commemorate their escape from +poisoning on the sixth of June. + +Wholesale poisoning appears to have been frequent in Eastern countries, +especially in India and Persia. The wells or other water sources were +usually chosen as the media for disseminating the poison, and in this +way whole villages have often been destroyed by some miscreant. + +An extraordinary poison plot was discovered in Lima towards the close of +the eighteenth century. During the insurrection of 1781 a rich cacique, +who professed loyalty, went into a chemist’s shop and asked for two +hundred pounds of corrosive sublimate. He was willing to pay any price +for it. The chemist had nothing like that amount in stock, but, not +wishing to send away so good a customer, substituted two hundred pounds +of alum. On the following day all the water in the town was found to be +impregnated with alum, and on examination being made, the fence round +the reservoir was found to have been broken down, the banks strewn with +alum and the water rendered undrinkable. + +Although the use of poison for taking life was, according to Bacon, +abhorrent to the English character, in some of the Latin countries the +feeling was just the opposite, as evidenced by the following story:— + +The Duc de Guise in his memoirs relates, in a most matter-of-fact way, +how he requested the captain of his guard to poniard a troublesome +demagogue at Naples. The captain was shocked. He would poison anyone at +his grace’s command with pleasure, but the dagger was a vulgar +instrument. So the Duke bought some strong poison, the composition of +which he describes at length, and it was duly administered. But Gennaro, +the intended victim, had just eaten cabbage dressed in oil, which is +said to have acted as an antidote, and so he escaped the effects of the +dose. + +In the early part of 1917 an extraordinary plot to murder two of his +Majesty’s Ministers of State was brought to light, which suggests some +of the subtle methods employed in the Middle Ages. Three women named +Alice Wheeldon, Hetty Wheeldon and Winnie Mason—mother and daughters—and +a man named Alfred George Mason, husband of the latter, were charged +with conspiring to kill the then Prime Minister, Mr. Lloyd George, and +Mr. Arthur Henderson, his colleague on the War Council, by means of +strychnine or curare. + +The plot was discovered by two secret agents of the Government who were +employed for the purpose of obtaining information of the schemes of +persons desirous of evading military service or otherwise conspiring +against the country, and who had been directed to keep a watch upon this +particular family. They obtained an introduction to the Wheeldons, who +lived in Derby, by representing themselves as sympathizers and so won +their confidence. They succeeded so well in ingratiating themselves with +the family that not only was the plot revealed to them but they were +entrusted by Mrs. Wheeldon with the task of actually carrying out the +deed. + +The suspicions of the two men became aroused when they found that a +letter had been sent to Mason with the object of procuring some poisons. +The woman had previously shown one of the agents a stuffed skin of a +snake shaped in the form of a bracelet, stating that it was poisonous, +and remarked that she wished she had a hundred of them. The Wheeldons +always showed the greatest animosity to the Prime Minister and Mr. +Henderson, expressing the wish that they hoped they would soon be dead. +Mrs. Wheeldon also told him that the Suffragettes had spent £300 in +trying to poison Lloyd George, the plot being to get into an hotel where +he was staying and drive a nail which had been dipped in poison through +his boot; this, however, was frustrated by his going to France. She also +declared her intention of killing another Minister by inserting a +poisoned needle into his skull, and other schemes of an extraordinary +character were discussed. + +Before handing over the poison Mrs. Wheeldon was stated to have said to +one of the agents, “You know what you are doing! You will rid the world +of a bloody murderer and be a saviour of the country.” Asked how the +poison was used, she replied: “It is a crystal, and you drop two drops +of water on it, dip your article in, and when the water evaporates it +leaves the poison.” As the men were about to leave, Mrs. Wheeldon shook +hands with them, and said that when she handed the poison over to them +she washed her hands of it, and would deny on her word of honour that +she ever gave it to them. She assured them that the phial contained +enough to kill five hundred people. Walton Heath had been selected as +being the most likely spot to offer a suitable opportunity, an air-gun +being used as a medium. + +The agents at once informed their superior officer, who had the +prisoners arrested and the house searched. Among the objects found was a +small stuffed snake skin which was found to contain four glass phials +embedded in cottonwool. The accused were charged at Derby on February 4, +1917, and they were tried at the Old Bailey in London on March 7, a +month later. + +The accused were described by the Attorney-General as a very dangerous +and desperate type of people, who were habitually hostile to this +country. They were shelterers of refugees from the army and persons who +did their best to injure Great Britain in the war then proceeding. Mrs. +Wheeldon’s son William was himself a conscientious objector. + +At the trial a two-ounce tin tobacco box was produced containing four +phials sealed. Instructions were enclosed which had been copied by both +the agents and were as follows:— + +“Powder in tube ‘A’ is sufficient for two or even three doses to be +given by the mouth or in solution. + +“Powder ‘C’ to be injected either in solution or by a dart, which will +penetrate into the body and stop for a while. Rusted in solution or +fired from an air-gun, or a rusty needle if driven well in with powder +will do, but don’t advise unless in urgent dilemma. + +“Solution ‘B’—either by mouth or injection. + +“Solution ‘D’—injection only. + +“All are certain. + +“All four will probably leave a trace, but if the bloke wanted dies +suspect, it will be a job to prove it so long as you have a chance to +get at the dog, dead in twenty seconds. Powder ‘A’ on meal or bread is +O.K. If you care for microbe can supply needle thirty-six hours in +strong solution and allow to dry in air, dip again for ten seconds and +allow again to dry. Cover with ‘C’ powder.” + +Upon analysis the phials were found to contain:— + +“A,” 7½ grammes strychnine hydrochloride in crystals. + +“B,” 1½ drachms strychnine hydrochloride in solution. + +“C,” curare in powder. + +“D,” 1 drachm of curare in solution. + +The box containing the poison was sent to Mrs. Wheeldon by her +son-in-law, Alfred Mason, who was a lecturer on pharmacy at Southampton +University College and who was said to have made a special study of +curare. Only a few weeks before the preceding Christmas he had showed a +student in the college a specimen of it, and described its properties. +The tobacco box containing the phials and instructions are said to have +been despatched by him from Southampton to Derby at the request of Mrs. +Wheeldon. + +Mrs. Wheeldon volunteered to give evidence, in which she acknowledged +she had been active in helping men to escape from their military duties +ever since conscription had been introduced. There was no form of help +that she could give them that she had withheld. Her own son was a +conscientious objector. She was quite prepared in the circumstances to +violate what she knew to be the law and had no regard to consequences. +She expressed her bitter hatred of Mr. Lloyd George and was ready to do +him a mischief. + +At the examination of Alfred Mason, he said he had devoted some time to +the study of criminology in relation to poison, but _he did not know +that strychnine was used for poisoning_. If poison was to have been used +for a human being he would have definitely stated in his instructions +that it should be mixed with food. He said he had had experience in +destroying two thousand dogs, and that when his mother-in-law had +written she had said she wanted some poison for a dog, and that it was a +dangerous dog, and the impression left on his mind was that it was +difficult to get it. He treated the allusion to the microbe as a joke. + +Counsel on behalf of the prisoners denied the charges as a vindictive +prosecution of the worst of its kind that had ever taken place in +England. He submitted the curious suggestion that the proper trial of +this case would be by ordeal, on which the judge remarked, “I am afraid +that it has been abolished.” Counsel said he submitted it to the jury. +The judge asked him if he proposed that the prisoners should walk over +hot ploughshares or something of that kind, to which counsel replied: “I +do, in order to prove their innocence.” He threw ridicule on the idea +that Mr. Lloyd George could have been killed by poisoned darts or +arrows. + +Mr. Justice Low, in summing up, said that of all forms of murder, +poisoning was the most dastardly and the most dangerous, and conspiracy +to murder by poisoning was the worst of all. It was almost incredible +that these prisoners had by their own admission behaved as these people +had done. The jury having found the prisoners guilty, the elder woman, +Mrs. Wheeldon, was sentenced to ten years’ penal servitude, the man +Mason to seven years and his wife to five years; the girl Harriet +Wheeldon was found not guilty and discharged. + +In December, 1909, a sensation was caused throughout Austria owing to +the arrest of a young officer named Lieutenant Hofrichter of Linz, who +was charged with being concerned in a plot to poison a captain of the +Imperial General Staff and other highly-placed Imperial officers by +sending them poisoned samples of a new patent medicine. + +The alleged motive was said to be a desire to clear a path for promotion +by the removal of officers of higher rank. Suspicion was first directed +towards him by the statement of a brother officer at Linz where he was +stationed, who mentioned that he had received from the lieutenant a box +exactly similar to those in which the fatal powder had been sent. + +About a week before this, a Captain Mader, together with several +officers of the General Staff, had received by post a sample of a +supposed patent medicine, and on taking some of it he died shortly +afterwards. It was found that the medicine contained a large proportion +of potassium cyanide. + +On suspicion falling on Hofrichter, his quarters were searched and a +copying apparatus which apparently had been used for the circulars +accompanying the poisoned medicine was found, and he was also identified +as the purchaser of capsules, boxes and envelopes similar to those which +had been sent to the officers. Hofrichter was brought to Vienna for +trial by the military tribunal, from which the public were excluded. + +The first hearing of the case lasted seven hours, and in the course of +the investigation it was stated that four officers had fallen victims to +the effects of poison, the first being Captain Mader. In consequence of +the order of the military court, the dwellings of eighty officers were +searched in Vienna and the provinces and a series of extraordinary +tragedies followed. One of the officers who was engaged at the War +Office, felt the indignity to such an extent that he shot himself +immediately afterwards. Another victim was a brother-in-law of the +accused, who after devoting himself to collecting evidence and examining +possible witnesses, hoping to prove the innocence of Hofrichter, died +suddenly, the cause being said to have been hastened by his anxiety and +excitement over the case. A Lieutenant Schmidt, who had been summoned to +the military court in Vienna, also committed suicide. + +The tribunal then proceeded to inquire into Hofrichter’s previous +career, which brought to light the fact that, some years before, he was +engaged to be married to the daughter of a pastor in Bohemia, but the +engagement was broken off after he entered the Vienna Military Academy. +The girl, in despair, is stated to have poisoned herself with potassium +cyanide, and a letter from Hofrichter which arrived after her death was +buried unopened with her. + +It was rumoured that Hofrichter had sent the girl the poison. The +tribunal decided to have the body exhumed. This was carried out, and the +unopened letter that had been sent five years previously was discovered. +The remains of her body were subjected to analysis, but no trace of +poison was discovered. + +Meanwhile, the case was postponed for further investigation. This +finally revealed the fact that Hofrichter had been leading a double life +for a considerable time, and had done so with extraordinary cunning. In +the army he had been generally liked and esteemed as a hard worker and a +good officer, while under the name of Dr. Haller he carried on a +criminal career. + +Letters to his wife which were intercepted from the prison, revealed +that he intended to commit suicide, and in one of these he asked her to +conceal various poisons including atropine and hyoscyamine in a bunch of +flowers, which he had asked for to lay on an altar in his cell. At his +house in Linz a considerable quantity of poisons and drugs were +discovered. + +The long delays between the meetings of the military tribunal were very +trying to the accused man. For months he had faced the ordeal of a +severe cross-examination. He feigned insanity with great ability, and +the methods of the police inclined the public in his favour. At length, +after a trial lasting for four months, his defence broke down, and he +confessed. He was found guilty and sentenced to death by hanging. + +During the year 1921 several attempts were made on the lives of +well-known people, which appear to have had an influence on weak-minded +persons or those on the border line of insanity. Such cases are not +infrequent in the history of criminal poisoning, where attempts have +been made to take life without any apparent motive. + +Early that year it was reported that the Vice-Chancellor of Oxford had +received a box of chocolate creams by post, and being suspicious at the +receipt of such an anonymous gift he submitted them to one of his +colleagues, a professor of science. This gave rise to the rumours that +they contained something of a deleterious nature, such as powdered +glass, but the result of an analysis showed that the sweets were +innocuous. An undergraduate was reported to have confessed, and the +presumed plot against the Vice-Chancellor was declared to be a hoax. + +In November, 1922, a sensation was caused in London by an attempt to +poison the Chief Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police at Scotland +Yard. On November 9 it was reported in the newspapers that the Chief +Commissioner had been seized with an apparent heart attack in his office +at Scotland Yard, which came on while he was dressing before proceeding +to the Lord Mayor’s banquet. It was not till nine o’clock that night +that the doctors summoned to attend him knew definitely that it was a +case of poisoning by arsenic. + +It appeared that on November 3, six days previously, a package addressed +to the Assistant Commissioner, New Scotland Yard, Westminster, had been +delivered by parcel post. On being opened it was found to contain four +chocolate éclairs, wrapped in grease-proof paper. Enclosed with the +éclairs was a small white card three inches long by one and a half wide, +bearing upon it the following: “A good lunch and a hearty +appetite.—Molly.” The box had been posted in the Balham district. The +éclairs were sent to an analyst for further investigation, but before +the result had been received a second parcel arrived on November 9, +addressed to Brigadier-General Horwood, New Scotland Yard, Westminster, +S.W., and was opened by the Chief Commissioner himself. The box is +described as being of cardboard, 7½ by 1¾ inches, and was wrapped in a +piece of stiff white paper addressed in block letters and contained +whipped cream walnuts. The box was tied with string and was also posted +in the Balham district about 4 p.m., November 8. + +The morning that the box arrived Sir William had received a letter from +a relative who said that she was sending him a box of chocolates for his +birthday, and he accordingly opened the box unsuspectingly. He took one +of the chocolates and offered them to his secretary who was in the room. +She, however, only bit off a small piece of the outer covering of hers, +and remarking that it tasted bitter, threw it away and told the +Commissioner. He, still believing the package to have come from his +friend, suspected nothing, and though he noticed it burned his throat a +little, ate more later in the day. While dressing for dinner that +evening the Commissioner was seized with severe pain and showed symptoms +of having swallowed an irritant poison, and was removed to St. Thomas’s +Hospital next day. + +On the chocolates being carefully examined it was found that there was a +small square mark at the bottom of each as if a portion of the chocolate +coating had been removed, a poison mixed with the cream inside and the +square of chocolate afterwards replaced. On investigation it was found +that the poison employed was undoubtedly arsenic, which was plainly to +be seen and took the form of dark greenish-tinted matter. + +On November 10 another box was received at Scotland Yard. This was a +small cardboard box 2¼ by 1¾ inches by ¾ of an inch, greyish tint with +plain card pasted on lid, wrapped in light brown tissue paper, addressed +in block letters to The Commissioner of the Police, New Scotland Yard, +Westminster. The box contained two small tablets of Bournville chocolate +wrapped in white paper. The box was sealed with black sealing-wax, and +was posted in the Balham district about 3 p.m., on November 9. + +The Chief Commissioner, though for some days in a very critical +condition, ended in making a complete recovery. + +Only a few weeks afterwards a small cardboard box was received at the +Home Office addressed to “The Secretary for Home Affairs, Whitehall, +S.W.” It was taken to the registry and opened, and was found to contain +cream fondants. The parcel was obviously sent by the same person who +sent the poisoned chocolates to the Commissioner of Police. The sweets +had apparently been tampered with and were sent for analysis, but no +arsenic was found in them. The writing on the address was the same in +each case and the box had been posted in the same district of Balham. + +Previously to this the police authorities had issued a warning to +well-known people, putting them on their guard against similar attempts. + +Early in February, 1923, a man living at Balham was arrested by the +police at his residence, and was charged with attempting to murder the +Chief Commissioner and the two Assistant Commissioners of Police. He +made the following statement: “I sent the Commissioner chocolates. I +sent them for 5 analytical purposes. I have had no real rest since then; +I would not harm him for anything.” + +In the house where he lived a quantity of weed-killer was found coloured +in similar manner to that found in the chocolates. + +The analyst to the Home Office, who examined the chocolate éclairs sent +to the Commissioner, found that they each contained arsenic, the amount +estimated in one being 3¼ grains. The three whipped cream walnut +chocolates which were addressed to the Assistant Commissioners also +contained a considerable quantity of arsenic, the amount in one of them +which was tested being six grains. + +He also examined two Bournville chocolates which had been drilled with +holes and filled with arsenic. The quantity of arsenic in one of these +was ⅕ of a grain. In two Dairy Milk chocolates he examined, similar +holes had been drilled, which had been filled up with the same kind of +arsenic as that used in the weed-killer and was in the form of a blue +powder which was strongly alkaline. + +The prisoner was committed for trial, was found to be insane, and +ordered to be detained during the King’s pleasure. + + + + + CHAPTER XIX + CURIOUS METHODS EMPLOYED BY SECRET POISONERS + + +Of the various methods employed by criminal poisoners, administration +through the medium of food or drink has been more common than any other. +The poisoned cake or wine recurs with monotonous frequency in the +history of poisoning from the earliest times down to the present. Women +especially seem to have had a predilection for this method of +administering a lethal dose, a fact probably due to their control and +direction of domestic matters, which renders the introduction of a +poisonous substance into the food or drink an easy matter. + +In early times some fell victims to their own evil designs, as instanced +in the case of Rosamond, the wife of Alboin, King of Lombardy, in A.D. +573. It is stated that, wishing to rid herself of her husband, she gave +him a cup of poisoned wine when he was coming from his bath. The king +drank part, but suspecting its nature from the strange effect it +produced, wisely insisted that she should drink the remainder, with the +result that both died shortly afterwards. + +Reginald Scot, who wrote _The Discovery of Witchcraft_ in 1584, quaintly +states his belief that “women were the first inventors and the greatest +practisers of poysoning and more materially addicted and given thereunto +than men.” + +Throughout the history of criminal poisoning there has always been a +high percentage of women implicated and numerous cases could be cited of +female lunatics with whom the use of poison for criminal purposes +amounted to an obsession. With these types, not infrequently met with, +there is no suggestion of a motive, the object being apparently to +destroy life without any sane reason. + +Women of this kind have lived in various periods from the time of +Locusta to de Brinvilliers. There was also Van der Linden, a Dutch woman +who poisoned one hundred and two people, and Hélène Jegado, who +apparently regarded poisoning as a pastime and whose victims were +estimated to number twenty-six. + +Some poisoners, not content with introducing the substance into wine or +other drink, essayed to improve on this method by preparing a goblet or +cup in such a way that it would impregnate any liquid that was placed in +it. There is record of one François Belot, a Frenchman, who made a +speciality of this method, and, it is said, derived a considerable +income therefrom; but he fitly ended his days by being broken on the +wheel on June 10, 1679. + +According to a contemporary writer, Belot’s special method consisted in +cramming a toad with arsenic, placing it in a silver goblet, and after +pricking its head, crushing it in the vessel. Whilst this operation was +being performed he recited certain charms. According to his own account, +which is still on record, of treating a cup with a toad in this way, “I +know a secret,” he says, “such that, in doctoring a cup with a toad, and +what I put into it, if fifty persons chanced to drink from it +afterwards, even if it were washed and rinsed, they would all be done +for, and the cup could only be purified by throwing it into a hot fire. +After having thus poisoned the cup, I should not try it upon a human +being, but upon a dog, and I should entrust the cup to nobody.” Belot’s +statements were evidently believed in his time, and he enjoyed a +considerable reputation. + +Another individual named Blessis flourished about the same period, and +who, claiming to practise sorcery and magic, went so far as to declare +to the world that he had discovered a method of manipulating mirrors in +such a way that whoever looked into them would meet his death. + +According to tradition, boots, gloves and other articles of wearing +apparel have been utilized by poisoners for carrying out their evil +plans, and although many of these tales are purely legendary, it is +quite possible that others have some substratum of truth. Tissot states +that John, King of Castille, owed his death to wearing a pair of boots +which were supposed to have been impregnated with poison by a Turk. +Henry VI is said to have succumbed through wearing poisoned gloves, and +Louis XIV and Pope Clement VII through the fumes of a poisoned candle. + +The stories of the poisoned shirts which, if contemporary records are to +be believed, were not infrequently employed by poisoners in the +seventeenth century, are within the bounds of possibility. Apparently +corrosive sublimate, arsenic and cantharides were employed for this +purpose. The shirt is said to have been prepared by soaking it in a +strong solution of one of these poisons, the idea being to produce a +violent dermatitis with ulceration, which would force the victim to take +to his bed. The physician would then be sent for, and would probably +diagnose the case as due to syphilis, and prescribe mercury, with the +effect of killing the patient in the end. + +Such a case is recorded by Dr. Lucian Nass, who relates the story of +Madame de Poulaillon, the wife of a wealthy man who was a good deal her +senior. Desirous of ridding herself of her husband, she sought the +counsel of one Marie Bosse, who told Madame that she should try the +method of the poisoned shirt, which she herself would prepare. She then +took one of her husband’s shirts, together with a piece of arsenic “as +big as an egg,” to La Bosse. She first washed it and then soaked the +tail in a strong solution of arsenic, so that it only looked “a little +rusty,” as if it had been ill-washed, and was stiffer than usual. La +Bosse told her that only the lower part of the shirt had been thus +prepared, and the effect would be to produce violent inflammation and +intense pain. + +Madame de Poulaillon is said to have given La Bosse a sum of money, +equal to £800 at the present day, for her services. The husband was, +however, warned of the evil intended to him and had his wife arrested. +The lady is said to have so fascinated her judges that a contemporary +writer states “they were touched by her wit and by her grace and by the +tones in which she spoke of her misfortunes and her crime, and though +she confessed her guilt, and pronounced herself worthy of death, she was +acquitted with applause.” + +A few years ago, Dr. Nass, with a view to ascertaining the truth of the +assertions connected with the poisoned shirt, made some interesting +experiments on a guinea-pig. He carefully shaved a portion of the left +lumbar region and gently rubbed the skin with a paste containing arsenic +in the proportion of one in ten. He repeated the operation several times +during the day. Shortly afterwards the animal became prostrate, the eyes +became dull, it assumed a cholera-like aspect and in forty-eight hours +died. The skin on which the paste had been applied remained unchanged +and unbroken, and showed no sign of ulceration. On examining the +internal organs after death, fatty degeneration of the viscera was found +and several marked symptoms of arsenical poisoning. This experiment does +not, of course, prove the fact that a shirt impregnated with arsenic +worn in direct contact with the skin would prove fatal, but it shows +that arsenic may be introduced into the body simply by gentle friction +on an unbroken skin, and that the effect of the poisoned shirt was +possible. + +The Duke of Savoy is said to have been one of the last victims of this +method, and it is stated that when a shirt could not be procured a +slipper was used, although it did not prove so effective. Apparently the +primary object in this method was not to kill but to prostrate the +patient in bed where he could be despatched at leisure under pretence of +treatment. + +Similar to the method of treating the shirt there is a legendary story +in India of the Queen of Ganore, who is said to have killed Rajah Bukht +by impregnating his marriage robes with poison. Chevers, who relates the +story,[8] affirms that this form of poisoning is possible. “Anyone,” he +writes, “who has noticed how freely a robust person in India perspires +through a thin garment, can understand that if the cloth were thoroughly +impregnated with the cantharadine of that very powerful vesicant, the +Telini, the result would be as dangerous as that of an extensive burn.” +He further states that Mr. Todd has published ample evidence in support +of the idea that the deaths of several historical personages in India +were caused by poisoned robes. + +Footnote 8: + + _Manual of Medical Jurisprudence in India._ Norman Chevers. + +A curious case in which the poisoner attempted to prove that the medical +treatment was responsible for the crime happened in France a few years +ago, when a woman was charged at the Paris Court of Assizes with +attempting to murder her husband. It was known that the couple had lived +unhappily together, and arrangements had been made for a divorce. + +One morning the husband complained of a severe headache and his wife +suggested a dose of antipyrine, which she gave him in some mineral +water. He remarked to her at the time that the draught had a peculiar +taste. Later in the day she administered sundry cups of coffee to him, +but he grew rapidly worse and at night a doctor was summoned. He failed +to diagnose the complaint, and called in other medical men, who were +equally puzzled. One thing which they all noticed, was a peculiar +dilatation of the pupils of the patient’s eyes. + +A consultation was held the next day, and shortly afterwards one of the +medical men received a note from the lady in which she stated that her +husband was “black.” “He was dead, more dead than any man I ever saw.” + +The doctor at once went to see the patient, and found him in a state of +collapse. He bled him twice and injected caffeine, but he still remained +motionless. After a time it occurred to the doctor that the patient’s +symptoms resembled those of atropine poisoning, and, resorting to other +measures, he eventually brought him round. Then he remembered that the +lady had previously asked him for some morphine for herself, and when he +had refused it she requested some atropine for her dog’s eyes. He wrote +her a prescription for a solution of atropine, containing ten per cent. +of the drug, and took it to the chemist himself. On further inquiries it +was proved that the lady had procured atropine upon various other +occasions by copying the doctor’s prescription and forging his +signature. + +At the trial the medical evidence was very conflicting, but the +consensus of opinion was in favour of the theory that atropine had been +administered in small, repeated doses. The accused woman declared in her +defence that atropine had been put into the medicine for her husband in +mistake by the chemist who had dispensed it. There was no evidence to +support this theory, and she was found guilty and sentenced to five +years’ penal servitude. + +A modern instance of the poisoned boot came to light a few years ago in +a case of death by the absorption of a poisonous boot-blacking. The +victim, a young man, had been to a dance, and shortly afterwards became +unconscious and died in four hours. For some time the cause of his death +was a complete mystery, when a few days later a bottle of blacking was +found in his room, with which it was discovered he had blacked his shoes +on the evening of his death. The colouring had penetrated his socks and +stained his feet and ankles. On analysis the solvent in the blacking was +found to consist of nitro-benzene, an extremely poisonous liquid, +largely used in the manufacture of the cheap, strong-smelling perfumes +and soaps so frequently used. This was no doubt rapidly absorbed by his +feet when dancing, and so caused his death. + +A great deal of fiction has been written concerning the so-called poison +rings of the sixteenth and seventeenth century, which are generally +taken to mean a finger ring containing a secret receptacle for carrying +some poisonous substance. In the majority of cases it has been found +that these receptacles were originally intended for hair kept as a +“memento mori” or for fragments of religious relics. + +Rings have been described as being fitted with a tiny envenomed spike by +means of which the wearer could inoculate his victim by a grasp of the +hand, as described in the following story published a few years ago in a +Paris journal. + +It stated that when examining an ancient ring he had picked up in the +shop of an antiquity dealer in the Rue St. Honoré, a customer scratched +his hand with the sharp part of it. While still talking to the dealer, +in a few moments he suddenly felt an indescribable feeling, as if his +whole body were paralysed to the finger-tips, and he became so ill that +it was found necessary to send for a medical man. The doctor diagnosed +it as a case of poisoning and after the prompt administration of an +emetic the patient recovered. The medical man is then said to have +examined the ring and found attached to it inside, two lions’ claws made +of sharp steel, with grooves in them which contained the poison. Having +long resided in Venice, he recognized it as being what was formerly +called the “annelo della morte,” or “death ring,” often used by Italians +in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. + +Outside the realm of romance, however, there is little doubt that rings +were used in ancient times as a medium for carrying poisons. This was +originally done for the purpose of self-destruction, or at a later +period may have been found useful as a lethal weapon against an enemy. +There are several specimens of these rings with traditions attached to +them which bear the evidence of authenticity. + +In the troublous times of the Roman Emperors, when those who took a +prominent part in public affairs were liable to be suddenly thrown into +prison at the word of a capricious monarch, rings containing receptacles +for poison are said to have been often worn, so that the contents could +be swallowed to save their wearer from torture, imprisonment or an +ignominious death. + +Rings of the Roman period are always wrought with the hammer, and never +cast; they were thus hollow and would easily afford a convenient +receptacle for poison. Pliny records that when Marcus Crassus robbed the +Capitol of the gold deposited there by Camillus, the custodian who was +responsible for its safety “broke the stone of his ring” and died +shortly afterwards. + +An interesting Roman gem which might have been used for this purpose is +in a London museum. It is an onyx, upon which is engraved the head of a +horned fawn. The stone itself has been hollowed out, forming a cavity +sufficiently large to carry poison, to take which it would only be +necessary to bite through the thin shell of the onyx and swallow the +contents of the cavity. + +Further mention of these hollowed gems is made with reference to +Heliogabalus, to whom it was foretold that he should die a violent +death. It is said “he therefore prepared against such an emergency, +halters twined with silk, and poison enclosed in rubies, sapphires and +emeralds set in his rings to give him a choice of deaths.” It is said of +Demosthenes that having given up all hope of escaping from his enemies +the Macedonians, he swallowed a poison which he carried about with him +concealed in a stylus. + +Hannibal also is said to have taken his life in a similar manner, and +when hunted and in dread of being delivered into the hands of the Romans +by Prusias, King of Bithynia, took the poison which he always carried +with him concealed in the hollow of a ring. Juvenal thus alludes to it +in his Tenth Satire: + + “Nor swords, nor spears, nor stones from engines hurl’d, + Shall quell the man whose frown alarm’d the world; + The vengeance due to Cannæ’s fatal field, + And floods of human gore—a ring shall yield.” + +Although these stories describe what happened so long ago, it is curious +to note how history repeats itself, when we recall the tragic conclusion +to the trial of Whittaker Wright in London a few years ago. Immediately, +when found guilty of the charges brought against him, either as he was +listening to the judge’s closing words or as he was leaving the scene of +the trial, he swallowed, unobserved, some tablets of potassium cyanide +which he had secreted about him, and died shortly afterwards within the +precincts of the court. + +Another instance of a similar refuge from persecuting fate is that of +Condorcet, who was secretary to the Academy of Sciences of France, and +who was proscribed by the Convention at the time of the Revolution in +1792. He took refuge in the house of a Madame Vernet in Paris, but +fearing to compromise his protectress by a longer stay, he left his +asylum with the intention of taking refuge in the country house of an +old friend. Unfortunately, the friend was away and he wandered about +sleeping at night in some stone quarries, but was at length arrested and +taken to Bourg-la-Reine and lodged in prison. On the following morning, +March 28, 1794, he was found dead in his cell, having swallowed some +poison which he carried about in readiness for an emergency, concealed +in his ring. On investigation, the poison was found to consist of opium +and stramonium which he kept specially prepared. + +Motley records that in the conspiracies against the life of the Prince +of Orange about the year 1582, under the influence of the Court of +Spain, the young Lamoral Egmont, in return for the kindness shown to him +by the Prince, attempted to destroy him at his own table by means of +poison which he kept concealed in a ring. Philippe van Marnix, Lord of +Saint Aldegonde, was to have been treated in the same way, and a hollow +ring containing poison was said to have been found in Egmont’s lodgings. + +There are, however, rings of the sixteenth and seventeenth century of +Italian workmanship that have traditions from which there is little +doubt they were actually used for the purpose of carrying poisons. In +examining rings, claimed to have been used for the purpose, it is +necessary to note first that the poison must be accessible, and second, +that the receptacle must be so constructed that it could be used without +the ring being taken from the finger. Rings are often found with +cavities and receptacles on the inside of the bezel, and it is difficult +to believe that they could have been used for this purpose. There are +many ancient rings extant, often called poison rings, with small boxes +placed at the back of a stone, but these rings could only have been used +for containing a perfume or a small relic. The construction of a ring, +claimed to have been used for the purpose, must show reasonable grounds +that it could have been so employed. The most interesting ring of the +kind known, is one that was formerly in the possession of the late +Bishop of Ely. It passed from him to a clergyman in London, who was a +well-known antiquary. He claimed that it once belonged to Cæsar Borgia, +and from the workmanship there seems to be little doubt it belonged to +the period. Made of gold, slightly enamelled, it bears the date of 1503, +and round the inside are inscribed the words:—“FAYS CEQUE DOYS AVIEN QUE +POURRA.” The bezel forms a hollow receptacle and on the front is +engraved the name “Borgia,” and in letters reversed are the words “COR +UNUM UNA VIA.” At the side of the bezel is a secret slide, which on +being pushed reveals the cavity for holding the poison. + +Another gold ring of the late sixteenth century, in the possession of an +Italian nobleman, is said to have originally belonged to a member of the +family, who was a prince of the Church. The bezel is elaborately +wrought, and richly ornamented with dark blue enamel, picked out with +red and white. It is apparently made in one piece, but a small portion +in the centre has cunningly been made to open on a hinge, revealing a +secret receptacle capable of holding quite a sufficient quantity of +arsenic or corrosive sublimate to cause the death of two or three +people. + +Fairholt describes a jewelled ring of curious construction set with two +rubies and a pyramidal diamond. The gold setting was richly engraved, +and the collet securing the diamond opened with a spring, disclosing a +somewhat large receptacle for “such virulent poisons as were concocted +by Italian chemists in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.” + +One of the most curious rings of this kind was formerly in the +possession of an Italian cardinal. It is beautifully wrought in fine +gold and dates from the latter part of the sixteenth century. The shanks +are partly enamelled in black and the bezel is rectangular; at the side +of it is a very minute knob with a groove which could be easily turned +with the finger nail without removing the ring from the finger. On +turning the knob a cylindrical receptacle is revealed, which was most +likely used for carrying some poisonous substance. There is a story told +in connection with this ring that the secret receptacle was kept filled +with tiny granules prepared from a deadly fungus, specially prepared for +the owner. The secret receptacle of this ring is almost unnoticeable +even when it has been opened. + +In connection with the stories relating to a poisoned pin-prick, the +following account which appeared in a London morning daily some time +ago, is not without interest. The writer says: “The police are searching +for a man who is alleged to have poisoned a girl in London under +extraordinary circumstances. The girl, who was a typist employed in a +Fleet Street office, said that she was walking to her office when a +well-dressed man overtook her and grasped her by the wrist. Directly she +reached her office she was overcome by four fainting fits in succession. +When she recovered she showed a small punctured wound in her wrist and +the police were informed.” Then follows a lengthy description of the +wanted man. “In various parts of America,” adds the writer, “similar +reports of devices employed by persons connected with the White Slave +Traffic have been made known. When the victim faints in the street, the +assailant who then passes as a relative or friend, calls a cab and +drives off with the girl, the poison having been injected into the wrist +by pressure from a poison ring!” + +Probably one of the most curious receptacles ever used for carrying +poison was a wooden leg. Some years ago a man named Jasper Reed, who was +once a member of a gang of international thieves, lost his leg through +amputation while he was in prison for a theft of £480 from a bank in +Antwerp. After his release he was lost sight of for a long time, until +one day a wooden-legged cripple was arrested in the street in Antwerp in +connection with the theft of some bank-notes, and afterwards poisoned +himself while in prison. A post-mortem examination of the body showed +that he had killed himself with potassium cyanide, and a bottle +containing the poison was found concealed in a hollow receptacle in the +wooden leg he was wearing. + +There is a tradition that Pope Clement VII, one of the Medici, was +poisoned in 1534 by the fumes of a torch impregnated with arsenic +carried before him in a religious procession. This is quite within the +realm of possibility, especially if the torch or candle had been so +prepared that it would give off a certain amount of arseniuretted +hydrogen while being burnt in a confined space. + +The poisoned flowers of mediæval romance, although they have been +discredited in the light of modern science, must not be dismissed as +entirely improbable, as evidenced from the following curious case which +occurred in London a few years ago. A hawker with a barrow filled with +bunches of lavender, was noticed talking wildly in a street in +Stockwell. In a few minutes he was seen to fall insensible and was +removed to Lambeth Infirmary, where he died shortly afterwards. The +medical officer of the institution said he found the man was suffering +from nitro-benzene poisoning, and in his pockets were discovered +seventeen packets of lavender seeds and a bottle of oil of mirbane +(nitro-benzene) which he had evidently used to increase the perfume of +the lavender he sold. The doctor stated that in his opinion, the man had +been overcome by the vapour of the nitro-benzene he had inhaled from the +lavender on his barrow. + +Probably the most deadly poison known to science to-day exists in the +form of an innocent-looking white powder, which is highly dangerous even +to handle. It emits a slight vapour even when exposed to the air, which +if inhaled would cause instant death. It has been estimated that if +three grains were diffused in a roomful of people it would kill every +one present. It is hardly necessary to state that poisons of such great +virulence as those revealed by modern chemical research, were unknown to +the chemists of the Middle Ages, and it is equally certain that the +latter knew of few poisonous bodies that are not familiar to chemists of +the present day. + +In the military poison plot investigated in Austria in 1909, and +referred to in detail elsewhere, the gaol authorities were at a loss to +account for the prisoner’s constant demand for flowers for pious +purposes while he was on remand. It was only discovered by intercepted +letters that he wanted them in order to smuggle poison into his cell, +which he apparently succeeded in doing. He requested his wife to insert +the poison in flowers which he asked for so he could place them on the +altar which he had erected in his cell. The letter to his wife in which +this was discovered reads: “I should like to commit suicide, but will +not, as I must work for you and for the children. You can save me. Get +me flowers and have some atropine or hyoscyamine. Victor or —— will +obtain it for you, in liquid and solid. Put it carefully in a small +quill and seal it up with wax. Put this quill in a carnation, the calyx +will hold it well, then tie the calyx round with a thread as they do in +florists’ shops.” It appears that some poison actually reached him in +this ingenious manner. + +A curious case in which a poisoned bed played an important part came to +light in America a few years ago, when a woman named Mary Kelliher was +tried at Boston on charges of poisoning her husband, three children, a +sister and sister-in-law. These people mysteriously died during a period +of three years; but after the death of her daughter, in July 1908, +suspicion was aroused, and a post-mortem was held which disclosed the +presence of arsenic in the body. The bodies of the other five persons +were then exhumed, in all of which arsenic was found. There was, +however, no evidence connecting the woman with the administration of +poison to her victim until it occurred to the District Attorney to +examine some of the furniture in the bedroom. The mattress on which all +of those of the family who had died had lain was then cut open and +carefully examined. In the hair stuffing considerable quantities of +arsenic were discovered, which suggested it had been specially +impregnated, so the poison could be inhaled during sleep by the person +lying on the bed. Ingenious as this suggestion for the prosecution was, +as to how the poison came into the bodies of those who had died, Mrs. +Kelliher was acquitted after being fifteen months in prison on this +charge. + + + + + CHAPTER XX + LOVE-PHILTRES AND POISONS + + +The employment of certain substances in the form of charms or potions to +incite the amatory passion has been practised from a time of great +antiquity. The idea involved in the use of love-philtres, as they were +termed at a later period, was no doubt based to a certain extent on +physiological principles and was probably first suggested by observation +of the habits of the lower animals. The early Hebrews are said to have +employed the fruit of the mandrake, which were known by the suggestive +name of “love-apples,” for this purpose. + +The popularity of the _philtra_ or _pocula amatoria_ among the ancient +Greeks and Romans at a later period can readily be understood in an age +given to sensuality in its grossest forms. Medea was regarded as the +greatest adept in the art of preparing philtres, and hence the term +“Medei de herbae,” used by Horace and Ovid to designate the substances +generally used. Next in reputation came the Thessalian women, who were +supposed to have acquired the art from Medea, and who were said to be +versed in all the secrets relating to poison and sorcery. + +Lucretius, the great philosophical poet of the Ciceronian era, is said +to have written his poem entitled “On the Nature of Things” in the +intervals of delirium occasioned by a philtre which had been secretly +administered to him by his wife or his mistress, Lucilia, and it is +stated that Lucullus, the Roman general, died in a state of delirium +from a similar cause. Thus the effects of these potions were evidently +often more serious than was contemplated by those who used them. + +Ovid, the exponent of the amatory art, judging from some of his lines, +was evidently no believer in this method of procuring affection so much +practised by his contemporaries. He writes— + + “Who so doth run to Hæmon arts + I dub him for a dolt, + And giveth that which he doth pluck + From forehead of a colt. + Medea’s herbs will not procure + That love shall lasting give, + No slibbersawces given to maids + To make them pale and wan + Will help; such slibbersawces mar the minds of maid and man, + And have in them a furious force of phrensie now and then.” + +Cornelius Nepos, Plutarch and other early writers also state that the +love-philtre was often indeed but a poison cup, and the death of the +Emperor Lucius is quoted as having been due to a draught of this +description given to him at the instance of Calisthenes. + +That the effects of these philtres were often dangerous and sometimes +fatal is hardly to be wondered at, when we consider the extraordinary +nature of some of the substances used in their composition in ancient +times. They were generally compounded with much mystery by the old or +wise women, who had a reputation for sorcery, and they observed the +greatest secrecy as to their composition. + +According to the most authentic writers these ingredients were both +grotesque and filthy, such as “the hair that grew in the nether part of +a wolf’s tail, the penis of a wolf, the brain of a cat, the brain of a +newt, the brain of a lizard, a certain fish called ‘remora,’ and the +bones of a green frog which had been left bare by ants.” Young swallows +were buried in the earth and after a time disinterred. The bodies of +those that were found with open bills were believed to provoke love, +while those with closed beaks were given to produce the opposite effect. + +The testicles of certain animals were employed, selected doubtless for a +physiological reason, and the menstrual blood, especially that of a +red-haired woman, was highly esteemed and was believed to produce +powerful effects. + +Poisonous properties were attributed to the blood of both men and +animals by the ancients. + +Herodotus states, that Psammenitus, King of Egypt, was put to death by +Cambyses by means of a draught of bullock’s blood. Themistocles, who +wished to die rather than fight against his countrymen, is also said to +have drunk a goblet of the blood of a sacrificial ox and to have expired +shortly afterwards. Zacutus Lusitanus relates several instances of the +evil effects resulting from drinking blood and records the case of a +student to whom was given in joke two ounces of the blood of a +red-haired woman, mixed with sugar, with the result that he became +insane. + +In the Anglo-Saxon Leechdoms, an ointment composed of goat’s gall, +incense, goat’s dung and nettle seeds is recommended as an application +to promote passion. + +Another substance highly esteemed as an ingredient in love-philtres was +the mysterious hippomanes, which is described as “a growth found on the +forehead of a newly born foal,” to which Ovid alludes in the lines +previously quoted. + +Love-philtres and charms were also used by Eastern nations, and the +Hindus still employ mango, champac, jasmine, lotus and asoka for this +purpose. According to Albertus Magnus, the most powerful herb for +promoting love is the “Provinsa,” the secret of which, he says, has been +handed down from the Chaldeans. The Greeks called this plant Vorax. This +is probably the same plant now known to the Sicilians as “Pizzu’ngurdu,” +to which they attribute remarkable properties. They believe that if +given surreptitiously it will provoke an ardent passion in the heart of +the coldest and most chaste woman. The Sicilians have also great faith +in the power of hemp to secure the affection of those on whom they set +their hearts, and they gather this plant with certain ceremonies. + +“As touching this kind of witchcraft,” says a writer of the sixteenth +century, “the principall part thereof consisteth in certain confections +prepared by lewd people to procure love which indeed are mere poisons, +bereaving some of the benefit of the braine and some of the sense and +understanding of the minde.” Yet even such men as Van Helmont believed +in the efficacy of the love-philtre. Writing in the middle of the +seventeenth century, he says, “I know a plant of common occurrence which +if you rub and cherish it in the hand till it becomes warm, and take the +hand of another and hold it until it becomes warm, that person will +forthwith be stimulated with love for you and continue so for several +days.” Reginald Scot states wolf’s penis was an ingredient in the +love-philtre of his time, and Frommaun mentions human skull, coral, +verbena, urine and leopard’s dung. + +The mandrake root, which was a common ingredient in love-philtres in +ancient times, is still worn in some parts of France as a charm for that +purpose, and in Germany a belief in the power of endive seed to +influence the affections still exists. In Italy basil was used to +inflame the heart of the indifferent, and a young man who accepted a +sprig of this plant from the hand of a maiden was sure to be inspired +with love for her. Satyrion is another herb which is claimed to possess +amatory properties, while other species of orchis, when eaten fresh, was +believed to inspire pure love, and when dried was employed to check +illicit passion. + +Of other plants employed in the composition of love-philtres, mention +should be made of the cyclamen, carrot, purslane, cummin, maidenhair, +valerian, navelwort, wild poppy, anemone, crocus, periwinkle, pansy and +the root of the male fern, which has an ancient reputation for inspiring +the tender passion, although, curiously enough, its present use in +medicine is as a vermifuge. + +But superstition dies hard, and even at the present day the belief in +the efficacy of love charms is not yet dead in some parts of England. +Among the uneducated in some parts of the country “All Hallow Een” is +dedicated to the performance of certain love charms, in which the gum +resin called dragon’s-blood and quicksilver play an important part. +Quite recently a Russian Jewess in the East End of London was indicted +with having obtained money by false pretences from two women. From one, +whose husband had deserted her, she obtained money to purchase candles +into which she stuck pins which she said would attract the husband to +his home again. This charm, however, did not work satisfactorily, and +she insisted on having a nightdress, some sheets and pillow cases which +she said she could prepare with a secret process so that one night the +wife would wake up and find her husband beside her. He would be wearing +the nightdress, and the pillow cases she had treated with something +which would have the wonderful power of preventing her husband ever +again running away. + +But all those charms failed, and even the final effort, in which a magic +liquid was sprinkled about the room and the wearing of the clippings +from the back of a black cat, proved useless in restoring the missing +husband. + +To the other woman, who wished her intended husband to come from Russia, +this modern magician gave two curious powders, with instructions that +they were to be placed on the end of a hairpin and consumed in a flame +which would show the man’s love for her. + +This modern witch’s practice, which was said to be a large and lucrative +one, was suspended for nine months in gaol, to be followed by +deportation to her native land. + +Ginseng root, which has been used for centuries in China to promote +longevity, is also recommended as a love-charm. It is believed by the +Chinese also to have the power of rejuvenating the old and stimulating +the senses of the young. + +Among primitive peoples the love-philtre is still in vogue, and Mr. P. +A. Talbot found it generally used among the tribes in Southern Nigeria, +through which he travelled, especially among the mysterious race called +the Ibibios, who live in the Eket district of the country. “It is a +custom,” he states, “for a love-potion to be given by men and women to +gain the hearts of those whom they desire, or to wrest affection from +rivals.” + +A few years ago some extraordinary stories were revealed in the trial of +the wife of a wealthy man living at Lakewood, Ohio, who was believed to +have been murdered. It was stated during the trial that a spiritualistic +practitioner had been called in by the lady who had administered to her +husband a magic potion or philtre which contained arsenic; when this +failed, he is said to have been assassinated. + + + + + CHAPTER XXI + POISONS IN FOOD + + + Poison in Beer—Poison in Food—Poison in Honey—Poison in Cocoa and + Chocolate + +In the latter part of the year 1900 a fairly widespread epidemic of +peripheral neuritis of the extremities and its attendant symptoms was +noted by medical men in certain districts of Manchester. In addition, +many of the sufferers complained of swelling of the legs, weak +circulation, vomiting and pigmentation of the skin. It was noted by the +medical officers of the various hospitals who examined these patients +that in every case they were heavy beer drinkers, and patronized +public-houses supplied from certain breweries. + +The mysterious epidemic spread and cases were reported from different +parts of the north of England. In Manchester and Salford there were five +hundred and twenty-two cases, in Liverpool seventy-one, fifty at +Birkenhead and fifty at Stourbridge; at Darlaston, Staffordshire, there +were upwards of fifty cases, forty were reported from Chester, +thirty-two in Birmingham and thirty in Leeds and district. + +Many deaths ensued, and the whole train of symptoms and circumstances +were such that, had they happened two or three hundred years ago, they +would have created consternation. + +The beer was the clue, and scores of samples were purchased at +public-houses miles apart, and the ingredients used in the manufacture +of the beer in breweries spread over the North of England were carefully +examined. Dr. Hitchin, the Medical Officer of Health for Heywood, Lancs, +stated that two or three hundred persons were attacked, and he +discovered arsenic in stout as well as beer. + +The result of the analysis was startling, as in the majority of the +cases it led to the discovery of arsenic. This was first detected by Dr. +Reynolds, of Manchester, and at his instance the public were warned +against drinking cheap beer. + +Meanwhile, research into the whole mystery went on. That large +quantities of the beer were contaminated was certain, but how the +poisonous substance got into it was the question which had to be +determined. + +A clue was found when certain experts who were engaged in investigating +the materials used in the brewing of certain kinds of cheap beer, +discovered that in every instance glucose had been used in the +preparation, and on analysis of the glucose it was found to be +impregnated with arsenious acid. This was followed by still further +examination of the materials employed in making the glucose, and it was +found that the sulphuric acid used for this purpose was brown in colour +and contaminated with arsenic, showing that it had been made from iron +pyrites containing arsenic as an impurity, and thus the ring of evidence +was complete and successful. + +This opened up possibilities of even more widespread poisoning. Samples +of jams and golden syrup were obtained for analysis, but all gave +negative results when tested for arsenic. It appears that there are only +about a dozen manufacturers of glucose in England, a great deal of it +being imported from America. It was therefore concluded that the makers +of the contaminated glucose must be some particular firm who sold their +product to brewers only, and that within a certain area. Some samples of +glucose that were subjected to test showed in one instance a proportion +of arsenic that was absolutely deadly, and this was located to one firm. +They instantly sent out telegrams to their customers stopping the use of +this ingredient. Everything was done to prevent further mischief, and +the output of the poison-impregnated material was stopped. Heroic +measures were taken by one brewery, which placed an embargo on all the +beer in the cellars of their customers, until it was certified as pure +by analysts deputed to visit them in turn. Some brews were recalled +wholesale, and the loss to the firm amounted to several thousand pounds. + +The next thing was to discover how the arsenic got into the glucose +during the process of manufacture, and this was traced down to a Spanish +copper mine from whence pyrites was imported by a firm of manufacturing +chemists in a northern county for the purpose of making sulphuric acid. +The sulphuric acid in question was of the ordinary commercial variety, +generally used in works for dyeing and similar purposes. It was usually +of a brownish colour, and even though it was contaminated in any way for +the purpose of such manufacture, no harm could ensue. If, however, +without having it tested to see if it was free from deleterious matter, +the manufacturers should then use glucose containing this ordinary +commercial variety of sulphuric acid for their product, a considerable +amount of arsenic would remain in it. In this way it was sold to brewers +who used it in the manufacture of their beer, and this mineral poison +was thus carried on through the various processes till it reached the +consumer with the dire consequences already described. + +It is stated that brewers thought they could obtain a better-coloured +and more satisfactory beer by treating the malt with invert sugar and +glucose. Invert sugar is cane sugar boiled in solution with diluted +sulphuric acid, and glucose is starch boiled in a similar manner. It was +obvious therefore that the only ingredient which could have been +contaminated with arsenic was the sulphuric acid. + +The manufacturers of the glucose had, of course, not the faintest idea +that the mysterious poison which had caused so many deaths emanated from +them. Although it was said that the sulphuric acid was tested, curiously +enough it was admitted it was never tested for arsenic, and the +explanation was put forward that the pyrites sent from the mine in Spain +had been obtained from a new lode which was charged with an undue +proportion of arsenic. After a full investigation had been made, special +precautions were laid upon brewers to examine all ingredients used in +making the beer, and since this time no similar cases have been +recorded. + +The epidemic had developed into almost a panic in and around Manchester, +and several cases of ordinary illness were put down to arsenical +poisoning. The hospital wards were filled, but the prompt measures taken +had their effect. It was said by the Manchester coroner at one inquest +that the only pleasant feature of the epidemic was for the temperance +people. The consumption of fourpenny ale was not a fraction so great as +it was a fortnight previously. Arsenic had proved a temperance argument. + +Within the last few years many cases of food-poisoning of one kind or +another with fatal results have been reported. It is probable that in +spite of every precaution such cases will occasionally occur. Some may +have been due to the fact that bacteria were actually living in the food +at the time it was consumed, or as probably in the case of the Loch +Maree fatalities, it may have resulted from toxins left by bacteria +which once lived in the food. The former type of food-poisoning which is +most common in this country results from the eating of food which has +become contaminated by certain bacteria, whose presence may be due to +disease in the animal before it has been slaughtered, or if they have +gained access to the food in course of its preparation. + +The heat used in cooking is generally sufficient to kill such organisms, +and no doubt it often does so. Again, it may be introduced from the +outside, as in a recent case when the instrument of infection was found +to be a contaminated knife used in cutting ham for sandwiches. + +In cases of food-poisoning due to a toxin formed by organisms, these +probably being dead, the organism concerned is what is known as +_Bacillus botulinus_, so called from its having first been discovered in +German sausages. The bacteria thrive especially in a medium in the +absence of oxygen, and so breed with rapidity in air-tight tins or +inside sausage skins, and are to be found even in vegetable matter. They +form a very powerful poison, acting upon the nerve centres in the brain, +causing paralysis of the muscles which move the eye and eyelids and +those concerned in speaking and swallowing. The resulting disease known +as botulism has fortunately been rare in England, where there is not a +very large consumption of tinned meat or vegetables, but it has been +frequent in both America and Germany. + +Botulism and food-poisoning, therefore, must not be confused, as the +former is a poisoning by a specific toxin and the latter may be called +an infection. + +A very curious case of poisoning was brought to light some years ago at +an inquest held on a woman who had died with symptoms of poisoning after +attending a wedding breakfast. The guests, after regaling themselves +with wedding cake, had finished up with kippered herrings, and shortly +afterward one of them was taken ill with severe pain and died. + +During the inquest it was pointed out, that it was possible that some of +the ingredients used in curing the kippers, when brought into contact +with almond paste on the wedding cake, would possibly liberate prussic +acid, if the almond paste had been made with bitter almonds, in +sufficient quantity to cause death. + +The poisonous effects produced by honey gathered in certain districts +has been known for centuries, and the story of some of Xenophon’s +soldiers having been poisoned by this means more than two thousand years +ago is well known. This poisonous property was formerly attributed to +the bees having gathered the honey from the flowers of henbane and +hemlock, which grow largely in the neighbourhood of Trebizond, but it +has now been proved that the poisonous principles may be extracted by +the bees from other plants, according to the locality in which the honey +is found. Thus American honey has been found to contain poisonous +ingredients derived from gelsemium or golden seal. + +A serious case in which fourteen persons were poisoned from eating +honey, one of whom died, is reported from Princetown, N.S. The honey was +found to contain Andromedo-toxin, a poisonous principle obtained from +certain ericaceous flowers. + +There are other instances on record of poisoned honey which has been +contaminated by bees which have carried poison from certain flowers, but +cases in which poison has been introduced into honey for criminal +purposes are rare. + +Some years ago a young man was arrested at Coire, in Switzerland, on his +own confession of having murdered two young women, to whom he had been +engaged to be married, by introducing strychnine into the cells of some +honeycomb which he presented to his victims. In each case the girls died +in great agony on their wedding eve, after a visit from the man. One +victim had been buried two years, and the other some months, before +suspicion was aroused and the bodies exhumed for examination, and the +man was convicted of the crime. + +Within recent years the contamination of food substances with arsenic +has come into some prominence, not only in connection with certain cases +in which chocolate sweetmeats have been used as a medium for the +administration of arsenic, but also in substances in common use, such as +cocoa. Towards the end of November, 1922, the Public Analyst, acting for +the Reigate Town Council, reported on seven samples of cocoa that had +been taken under “The Sale of Foods and Drugs Act,” and he found that +one contained arsenic (arsenious oxide) to the extent of ¹⁄₇₅th grain to +the pound of cocoa. It was obvious that such a report could not be +allowed to remain unnoticed, as, according to the Royal Commission on +Arsenical Poisoning, it is illegal for an article of food to contain +¹⁄₁₀₀th of a grain or more of arsenic per pound. + +The matter was reported to the Minister of Health who took a serious +view of it, and it culminated in two summonses being issued by the +Surrey County Council against the vendor and the manufacturer, the +charge being that the cocoa was “adulterated with arsenic (arsenious +oxide) to the extent of ¹⁄₄₀th of a grain per pound.” + +The cocoa had been purchased at a shop in Richmond and was labelled +“Pure Cocoa Essence. Guaranteed absolutely pure Cocoa.” On analysis this +sample was found to contain ¹⁄₄₀th of a grain per pound, but on inquiry +from the manufacturers it appeared to be a mystery how the arsenic was +introduced into the cocoa. The investigation was rendered more difficult +when it was found that the actual sample purchased was a blend of seven +different cocoas; however, samples of these were taken, and one was +found to contain arsenic to the extent of ⅒th of a grain per pound. + +On tracing back the source of contamination it appears that an alkali +such as potassium carbonate is mixed with cocoa to render it more +soluble, and in this case the impurity was discovered in the potassium +carbonate, which was found to contain a substantial quantity of arsenic. +The manufacturers, on finding this out, sacrificed three hundred and +fifty tons of cocoa and did everything they could in the interests of +the public to stop the sale. The retail firm, directly they heard of the +impurity, also withdrew sixty-five tons from their shops and twenty-five +tons from their warehouses and had them destroyed. + +Although potassium carbonate is not used in the making of chocolate, +several cases have been reported of illness caused through eating sweets +in this form. + +About the same time a London lady was taken seriously ill after eating +some marzipan sweets which she purchased at a Church bazaar. It appears +she ate about half a dozen of them and became ill shortly afterwards, +the symptoms pointing to arsenical poisoning. + +Although powdered glass has been used for criminal purposes from time to +time, it is not generally known that glass itself may be contaminated +with arsenic. + +Some time ago it was found on making an analysis of a bottle that the +glass contained both arsenic and lead, insomuch that they probably +contaminated some potassium carbonate that had been kept in the bottle. + +The danger in careless packing and handling of arsenic imported to this +country has recently been commented on by the Medical Officer of Health +for the Port of London. He states in a report, that “a ship from Oporto +had aboard about fifty bags of shelled almonds. On the same deck were +twenty-two cases of white arsenic. + +“When examined by the inspector two of these cases of arsenic were +standing on end with their heads open, and one was leaking at its bilge +on to the deck. + +“Two of the bags of almonds which had become displaced showed arsenic on +their surfaces. Minute quantities of arsenic were found on almonds taken +from one of the bags.” + +In another case a ship had landed 160 cases of arsenious acid at the +King George V Dock. + +“The cases containing the arsenic were composed of old, dry wood, and +from some of them the poison was leaking on to the floor of the shed. +The possibility that some of it might find its way into any food handled +in the same shed cannot be overlooked.” + +That such carelessness might lead to very serious consequences is +obvious. + + + + + CHAPTER XXII + POISONS USED IN WARFARE + + +The use of poison as a weapon in warfare is not by any means a modern +practice. It may be traced back to the use of poisoned arrows and +spears, and from the time of the discovery of gunpowder, when surgeons +believed that a bullet formed a septic wound. + +François Bernier, who died in Paris in 1688, served in the capacity of +physician to Aurungzebe, the Grand Mogul. In describing a battle fought +at Agra against the Mogul, he states that the Rajputa, a hereditary race +of warriors, were great opium eaters and consumed it in large +quantities, and when going into battle they always doubled the dose to +their soldiers, which had the effect of rendering them insensible to +danger. “They threw themselves,” he states, “into combat like wild +beasts, knowing no retreat, and died at their Rajah’s feet if he would +keep his post.” + +It was on April 22, 1915, that the French and Canadian troops in the +front line in the neighbourhood of Langemarck saw what appeared to be a +wave of curious green mist approaching them which soon caused them to +choke and gasp and seemed to seize them in a deadly grip from which they +could not escape. A gap was made in the line in that sector, but the +results of this first use of poison gas in the Great War, although +serious, were not disastrous. + +A thrill of horror went up from the Allied nations against this fiendish +manœuvre, which was regarded as a crime against humanity and will never +be forgotten. The gas first used was chlorine, the effects of which are +well known, and was liberated by the enemy from cylinders concentrated +on a front of six hundred yards. The first attack was evidently made as +an experiment, and in the interval, owing to the activity of our +chemists, our men were supplied with a temporary respirator as a defence +from this new peril. + +During the following months of May and June, several other gas attacks +were made by the Germans, but not on a very large scale, as for some +time the prevailing winds had been in favour of the Allies, which would +be likely to blow the deadly cloud back into the enemy’s lines. + +On December 19, 1915, a much more important attack with poison gas was +made on the British front in the Ypres salient, on a front of three and +a half miles. Gas was released continuously for an hour, but thanks to +the protective measures which had been adopted by this time, although +25,000 troops are stated to have been in the area of attack, the +casualties were small. + +Disappointed in the effects of their first essay with this form of +weapon, the Germans next introduced phosgene, a very deadly vapour, and +one against which the respirators then used were no protection. A new +type of respirator, however, was speedily devised, and proved effective +against the danger. The gas helmet with its special filter, invented by +Lieut.-Colonel Harrison, came into use, and our men became very quick in +placing it in position. + +In August 1916 they launched a highly concentrated phosgene attack +against the Allied lines, on a hot and stifling day, the effects of +which were felt as far as nine miles behind the lines. + +The uncertainty of the atmospheric conditions led the Germans to adopt +later another vile method of disseminating poisonous vapours, and they +introduced the gas shell, of which numerous varieties were eventually +made. The contents of these shells were distinguished by the Germans by +special marks in the form of coloured bands on the shell cases; the +so-called “blue cross” contained diphenyl chlorasine, a substance which +when scattered as a fine powder caused intense sneezing to those in the +neighbourhood of it. Two-thirds of the shell were filled with high +explosive, and the intention was to produce uncontrollable sneezing, so +that the wearing of a respirator was made impossible. + +Other gas shells were filled with di-phosgene (trichlor methyl +chlorformate), which formed a vapour of a very deadly character +immediately the shell burst and produced most serious consequences. +Another type contained in addition to di-phosgene a quantity of +chlorpicrin, which was not only deadly, but produced extreme running at +the eyes and nose. + +These vapours, however, were succeeded in July 1917, in the +neighbourhood of Ypres, by the use of di-chlorethyl sulphide, called +“mustard gas.” Mustard gas is undoubtedly one of the most terrible and +deadly of the gas poisons used. It not only blistered the skin and +turned it brown, but caused intense inflammation, of the eyes and lids, +the throat and nose, often causing permanent blindness and loss of +voice, and eventually producing septic bronchopneumonia, frequently +ending in death. + +In the autumn of that year it was used on a large scale against the +Italians, and largely assisted the Austro-German armies in the +break-through at Caporetto. + +Clothing, boots, soil or other things which came in contact with it were +liable to affect seriously those brought near them, days after the +articles had been contaminated, but even against this terrible weapon +our gas masks were made effective, if put on with sufficient quickness +and the men could be warned in time. + +In spite, however, of this fiendish weapon, the Allies held their own, +and were enabled by scientific and other means to combat these attacks. +It is satisfactory to note that, however deadly were the gases employed, +some means was soon found to counteract them effectively. + +The use of poison as a lethal weapon in the Great War was by no means +confined to deadly gases. Numerous instances, many of which are +undoubtedly authentic, were recorded from 1914 to the time of the +Armistice of poisoned sweetmeats and disease organisms that were dropped +from enemy aeroplanes in France and other countries. + +On November 4, 1916, it was reported by cable that Prince Mercier, the +youngest child of King Ferdinand of Rumania, who was only five years +old, had died of typhoid. + +According to Helen Vacarescu, the Rumanian poetess, the Prince was the +victim of poisoned sweets which were dropped by German airmen into the +streets of Bukarest and other cities of Rumania. Some of these sweets +are said to have fallen into the garden of the Royal Palace, and the +little Prince while playing there took some up and ate them. According +to Miss Vacarescu, he fell sick almost immediately, and when he told +about the sweets he had eaten, a search was instituted, and some of them +were found in the garden. On a scientific investigation being made of +these, they were found to be impregnated with typhoid bacilli. According +to _Le Temps_ it is said that all the families who ate the sweets died. + +According to _The Times_ of October 31, 1916, an aeroplane coming from +Transylvania scattered about boxes of poisoned sweetmeats for the +purpose of murdering children, and this excited the greatest indignation +in the district. According to further reports, several of the sweets +contained the microorganisms of various infectious diseases. + +On October 12, 1916, a report was received from Petrograd of an enemy +air squadron which dropped bombs on Constanza, the Rumanian Black Sea +port, as well as darts and poisoned sweets saturated with cholera +bacilli. + +According to an official report, on October 9, 1916, a squadron of eight +German aeroplanes flew over Bukarest at eleven o’clock one morning and +dropped bombs in the neighbourhood of some linen warehouses. The damage +done was insignificant, but an investigation of the German Legation led +to the discovery of numerous cases of high explosive buried in the +garden, as well as phials labelled Virus Morbi Glanders, which are +supposed to have been sent to propagate an epidemic against cattle and +horses in the country. The discovery is vouched for by a representative +of the United States Legation. + +In May 1917 it was reported from Rome that during an Austrian air-raid +over Codigaro, near Ferrara, sweets were thrown out which were found to +contain cholera bacilli. The local authorities issued an order directing +that all wells thereafter should be kept covered. + +On December 17, 1917, an account is reported of an air-raid on Calais, +where the Germans dropped a number of small boxes bearing instructions +in English to the effect that they contained soup-powder. Directions +were given to dissolve the powder in water and to add to it a pint of +boiling liquid. Several deaths resulted from using these packets, and an +analysis proved that they contained an extremely virulent poison. + +On February 20, 1918, if was reported from Southend that when a raiding +Gotha passed over the town the previous Monday night, a curious patter +was heard on the roofs of some houses in the district. In the morning a +number of sweets about the size of small eggs were found in the roadway +and gardens, believed to have been dropped from the enemy aeroplane. +They were handed to the medical officer of health for Southend, who +reported that he had discovered traces of arsenic in the sweets found on +the public footpath. + +On July 29, 1917, a sensation was caused in America by an announcement +made by the Attorney-General, that expert examination had disclosed the +presence of tetanus germs in court plaster which was believed to have +been distributed by German agents, and he essayed to warn the public to +avoid using plaster of that description. The New York State Health +Department published a statement that specimens of such plaster sold by +pedlars had been sent to the State laboratory for examination. +Despatches had been received from Western and Southern areas of the +United States, reporting epidemics of anthrax in herds in the same +region, after the use of such plaster recommended for cuts and other +injuries to cattle. + +Poison was used extensively in various ways by the German forces, +although frequently where wells were said to have been poisoned, our men +drank from them freely without any bad results. On the other hand it was +not uncommon in some cases to find, left behind in trenches, large tins +of cocoa and other tempting commodities which on analysis proved to be +contaminated. + +The use of bacteriological methods was also not neglected by the enemy, +and it was stated in a despatch from Washington on July 9, 1917, that +the Germans, before evacuating the territory west of St. Quentin, +inoculated the French inhabitants, men, women and children, with +tuberculosis bacilli. The _New York World_ commissioned Dr. Theodore C. +Beebe, a pathologist, of Boston, in charge of the American Ambulance +Hospital at Neuilly, to make an independent investigation of this +matter. Dr. Beebe, in his report, states that while there was no way to +obtain indubitable proof of the allegation, the evidence pointed to the +belief that the Germans made a deliberate attempt to spread tuberculosis +throughout France under the pretence of vaccinating the inhabitants to +protect them from smallpox which they said was sweeping over the +country. Dr. Beebe pointed out that only those persons vaccinated +developed tuberculosis, while unvaccinated children and older persons, +although suffering from pneumonia and other diseases, showed no trace of +it. He found these inoculations were never made until a month or six +weeks before the Germans were evacuating the place; in other words, when +it became apparent to the Germans that they were forced to retreat. Of +course only an examination of the serum at the time of the inoculation +would determine whether it contained tuberculosis bacilli or not; that +of course was impossible, but the investigator concluded that the facts +he had ascertained led him to the belief that the charge brought against +Germany of having committed this most horrible crime was true. + +On March 30, 1917, it was reported that a discovery had been made of a +plot to kill the cavalry horses within the British lines. This was to +have been done by bacteriological cultures introduced into the food or +by making a wound inside the horse’s nostril with a contaminated wire. +This plot, which was discovered in time, was part of the German plan of +retirement, but was fortunately found out and frustrated before any +casualties occurred. + +In the latter part of June 1918 some sensation was caused in London by a +story that was circulated of a mysterious man who was distributing +chocolate sweets broadcast. At that time most of the conductors of +omnibuses were women. Suspicions were aroused when two of these women, +after accepting chocolates from a male passenger, who was said to have +been well dressed, became ill. Two omnibus girls and a tramway girl who +accepted some sweets in the same way, handed them over to the +Metropolitan Police, and the authorities were placed on the watch; in +almost every case the sweets were offered by the man when he was in the +act of descending. + +At Cedar’s Road, Clapham, the same man gave a tramway conductress a box +containing five chocolates. The man is reported to have said, “You won’t +taste any more like this for years to come.” The girl, having been +warned by a police notice posted in the tramway depot, did not eat any +of them. Several cases were reported from the East End, and several +chocolates were found on omnibus seats after passengers had left. The +object of the mysterious individual not having achieved its effect, his +operations eventually ceased, and nothing further was heard of the +matter. + +Probably the only case on record of the use of a poison gas in an +attempt to murder, was reported from Germany in November 1922, when two +men were charged at Leipzig with attempting to kill a man called +Scheidemann at Cassel on Whit-Sunday. They carefully charged glass +syringes with cyanogen gas, and secreting them in their pockets, they +awaited the coming of their victim, and discharged the poison gas in his +face. Scheidemann eventually recovered, and the two men were convicted +of an attempt to kill him. + +During the Napoleonic Wars the curious suggestion was made by Perceval +that the Allies could bring the French to their knees by prohibiting the +importation to the Continent of cinchona bark and other valuable drugs. +“The suggestion,” says a writer of the time, “is well worthy of the +statesman. To bring the French to reason by keeping them without +rhubarb, and exhibiting to mankind the awful spectacle of a nation +deprived of natural salts! Without castor oil they might for some months +be able to carry on a lingering war, but could they do without bark? +Will the people live under a Government where antimony cannot be +procured? Will they bear the loss of mercury? Depend upon it they will +soon be brought to their senses, and the cry of ‘Bourbon and Bolus’ be +raised from the Baltic to the Mediterranean!” + + + + + CHAPTER XXIII + CRIMINAL POISONING WITH BACTERIA + + +The exploitation of pathogenic bacteria for criminal purposes has not +been neglected by the poisoner, but owing to ignorance on the one hand, +and the difficulty of obtaining the material on the other, it has led to +failure even with the most cunning. The person with sufficient +scientific knowledge to prepare cultures is not as a rule one with +criminal instincts, and the clumsy handling of such deadly material +would lead to certain detection if used by one who did not understand +it. + +One of the most remarkable cases on record occurred in Petrograd in +1911, when a man named Patrick O’Brien de Lacy, said to have been a +lineal descendant of the Irish kings, was accused of having procured the +death of his brother-in-law, an official in the Ministry of the +Interior, his father-in-law, General Buturlin, and his mother-in-law, in +order to inherit a large amount of money of which rumour said they were +possessed. + +From his youth upwards O’Brian de Lacy is said to have been a +ne’er-do-well. Having left a Russian school without finishing his +education, he frequented the London Polytechnic, and also studied naval +architecture, but all the plans he founded upon his technical knowledge +were nullified by the defeat of the Russian navy at Tsushima and other +events. He first married a lady of excellent family, who, being herself +married, agreed to divorce her husband in order to espouse him. He then +entangled her in all his own financial difficulties, spent her money, +and obtained power of attorney to transact her business. Finally, making +the acquaintance of a Mdlle Buturlin, he divorced his first wife as she +divorced her first husband. Then he sought out a Dr. Panchenko and +conspired with him to poison the lady before pledging his troth to her +at the altar. After his second marriage, O’Brien is said to have laid +his plans to remove every human obstacle that stood between him and his +father-in-law’s wealth with extraordinary cunning, and these he +endeavoured to carry out by inoculating them with the germs of deadly +diseases which included cholera and diphtheria. He arranged his scheme +even to the smallest detail, and if there is such a thing as a genius in +crime, this most extraordinary man was typical of it. + +Having to employ a medical man to carry out his designs, like Romeo he +selected a needy practitioner named Panchenko, before whose eyes he +dangled a dazzling reward. Money was the magnet to attract Panchenko, +and O’Brien de Lacy offered him, it is said, 10,000 roubles to compass +the death of his brother-in-law, 50,000 roubles to dispose of his +father-in-law, and 500,000 roubles if he put a speedy end to his +mother-in-law, who was the richest of the family. + +In 1910 the younger Buturlin died at Petrograd after a week’s illness. +He was an employee of the Ministry of the Interior, and symptoms during +his illness or signs after death suggested foul play. Old General +Buturlin, who arrived from Vilna before the funeral, stopped the +interment of his son’s body and demanded a post-mortem. + +His widow endorsed this demand, both surmising neglect on the part of +the physician, but on investigation it was concluded that +blood-poisoning was the cause of death. + +By a curious coincidence, on the same day, a man named Bobroff called on +the Chief of the Secret Police. He told him he was a book-keeper and +that a comrade of his named Petropavlovsky possessed proofs that young +Buturlin’s death was caused by Dr. Panchenko, who had also designs on +the life of the General with a view to inheriting property. +Petropavlovsky’s story is a very curious one and may be given in his own +words:— + + +“A conscience is the only possession I can call my own, and it has +driven me here to denounce my unique benefactress. She is my landlady, +Madame Muraviova, who allows me a room in her flat, and has been very +kind to me. She is the mistress of Dr. Panchenko, with whom she has been +huggermuggering of late in suspicious ways. The door and walls being +thin, I have heard snatches of conversation, which I have pieced +together, and I find they point to Dr. Panchenko as the instrument of +young Buturlin’s death and O’Brien de Lacy as the employer of that +instrument. The penniless Dr. Panchenko often journeyed to Vilna, where +O’Brien de Lacy resides, and always returned with a fat purse and high +hopes. Madame Muraviova, too, babbled about her improving prospects, +saying she was shortly coming into 300,000 roubles. + +“One day in April, Dr. Panchenko left for Kronstadt, where +plague-stricken dogs are studied, and after his return he talked of +little else. Soon afterwards young Buturlin, Panchenko, and O’Brien de +Lacy went on the spree together. The next thing I noticed was that +Panchenko was weeping and sobbing. I entered the common sitting-room, +and found him beside himself with excitement while his paramour was +burning heaps of papers. She spoke first, saying that she had been +scolding him for visiting a diphtheria patient without disinfecting +himself. In an aside to Dr. Panchenko she asked, ‘Did you do it +properly?’ He answered, ‘Well, I squirted two full doses, although one +would have been enough.’” + + +After this revelation, Dr. Panchenko was interrogated by the police, and +he stated, that he treated the deceased for loss of energy and injected +a certain remedy, but knew nothing of the cause of death. He had made +O’Brien de Lacy’s acquaintance in the train, and subsequently had +business dealings with him. De Lacy was then asked for an explanation by +the police, and he stated that his relations with the doctor were purely +commercial, and he affirmed that he could not possibly benefit by young +Buturlin’s death. The police, however, attached so much importance to +the story of the informer that they arrested Panchenko and O’Brien de +Lacy. + +It was while in prison awaiting trial that Panchenko broke down and +revealed the full story in the following words:— + + +“Patients were brought to me occasionally by a friend named Raffoff, who +acted as a tout, receiving a share of the profits. One day he introduced +me to O’Brien de Lacy. We adjourned to a private room in a restaurant, +where, in Raffoff’s presence, he asked me if I would perform a certain +illegal operation for 1,500 roubles. I assented. O’Brien de Lacy seemed +pleased, and gave me 100 roubles. I asked him to visit me in my own +study. I was a physician of the St. Petersburg district of the Northern +Railway. + +“Subsequently O’Brien intimated that he would prefer to talk with me +without a witness. I acquiesced. He told me he had just become a +bridegroom, and the operation he really wanted was to have his future +brother-in-law made away with. For this service he would pay 10,000 +roubles. After that it would be necessary to remove the father-in-law. +For that riddance I would be paid 50,000 roubles, and lastly, the old +man’s divorced wife must be launched into eternity. For this job he +would not grudge 500,000 roubles. He impressed upon me the necessity of +extreme circumspection, and advised me to begin with young Buturlin, to +whom he proposed I should administer cholera germs on bread, buttered +and covered with caviare. Death by cholera, he explained, would evoke no +surprise at a moment when that epidemic was making havoc in Petrograd. +Therefore he had much to say in favour of cholera germs, and informed me +that young Buturlin was using anti-cholera subcutaneous injections. + +“By this time I had extracted 2,000 roubles from O’Brien de Lacy. At +last he introduced me to Buturlin, on the ground that we were interested +in founding a sanatorium, but I was to whet his curiosity about a +certain drug and get him as a patient. Then, instead of the drug, I was +to inject some poison or other, and having done the job, to abstain +sedulously from writing or telegraphing, as a kinsman of his, Count +Roniker, who had been charged with murder in Warsaw, had been tripped up +by a telegram. The plan was successful; I treated young Buturlin, +substituting diphtheria toxin for the other drug. + +“I received the germs from a chemist, who believed my story that it was +required for experiments on rabbits. I injected two large doses into the +victim’s thigh. Later, I learned he was very ill, and, being conscience +smitten, I wired for O’Brien de Lacy, who was furious that the telegram +should have been sent. He exclaimed, ‘You may as well give yourself up +now.’ I visited young Buturlin after this, and learned from his own lips +that he had had high fever and sharp pains, but was now much better. The +other physician who was called in did not diagnose the malady. Then I +read of Buturlin’s death in the papers. It occurred exactly as had been +calculated, seven days after the injection. When I read that the day of +the burial would be announced later, I knew it boded evil. + +“Meanwhile, General Buturlin arrived and demanded a post-mortem. O’Brien +de Lacy supported the demand, convinced that the examination would be +fruitless. I, too, was of the same opinion, because throats are never +analysed during such investigations, and few symptoms of diphtheria +infection would be visible in the throat.” + +That is Dr. Panchenko’s last definitive story, to which he added that +Muraviova was innocent, having had no inkling of his crime. Muraviova +herself asseverated her innocence, affirming that her relations with +Panchenko were pure. She accepted material help from him, but deprecated +the luxury in which he maintained her. He, however, assured her that he +would soon inherit a large sum. + + +The trial of the prisoners began in Petrograd at the end of January +1911, and excited intense public interest. Bobroff, the book-keeper, who +gave away the secret to the Chief of Police, was first examined and +adhered to his original story. A servant of the Buturlins related how +Dr. Panchenko visited Buturlin for the first time, saying, “Let’s get +the treatment over before your wife returns.” After that he came twice +daily until the fourth day, when the patient fell ill. When his +condition grew serious, Buturlin sent for the doctor, but Panchenko was +not to be found. A chance physician had to be summoned, but produced no +improvement. Nose-bleeding, vomiting, and sharp pains ushered in the +agony, during which the dying man said, “Three months long they were at +me to have the injections, but I refused as though I had a presentiment +of what was coming.” + +The Court asked the experts to answer the question, “What caused +Buturlin’s death?” and asked them to bear in mind Panchenko’s admission +that he had injected diphtheria toxin, when he made the following +statement:— + + +“On May 16 I visited Buturlin, and injected a pure drug from a phial. I +repeated the injection on the following day. Before my evening visit to +Buturlin on the same day I broke the necks of the two drug-phials in my +own lodging that nobody should notice it. Having emptied the contents, I +filled the phials with diphtheria poison by means of a paper funnel, +plugged them with wadding, and, putting them into my waistcoat-pocket, +set out for Buturlin’s. Before starting I gulped down vodka for courage. + +“I got to Buturlin’s about eight or nine in the evening, with trembling +in my legs and throbbing waves of darkness filling my eyes and fitfully +blotting out my sight. I had been wont to break off the necks of the +phials in Buturlin’s presence, first putting them in a handkerchief to +avoid cutting my fingers. That is why he could not notice that this time +the necks were already snapped off. I made two incisions in Buturlin’s +body, injecting each time the contents of one phial of the diphtheria +poison. Each vessel held about two cubic centimetres, but as the effects +of the diphtheria poison had not been tested on human beings, I injected +two phials full in order to be quite sure of a deadly issue. As soon as +I had finished the business my face was ghastly, and I quivered in every +limb. I was in dread that Buturlin might discern my state. Pulling +myself together, and mastering my failing voice, I asked him whether it +hurt. He answered, ‘Not at all.’ I then left for home, and threw the +phials into the street. The livelong night I could not close an eye. +Conscience-ache racked me ruthlessly.” + + +Panchenko’s career, as revealed at the trial, certainly shows him to be +one of the most diabolical characters ever connected with medicine and +possibly the worst ever known. + +He was sent by the Red Cross Society to Harbin during the War, and was +then dismissed for irregularities, after which he introduced himself to +the then Premier as a schoolmate of the Premier’s brother, and received +an appointment as physician to a railway company. + +One witness recounted how a certain banker resolved to poison his own +uncle, and had recourse to Panchenko, who initiated his friend Dreyden +in the scheme. The latter used the information as a lever to extort +blackmail, but the police, being hand in glove with the banker, sent +Dreyden away. + +Panchenko next edited a periodical entitled _Life’s Mysteries_, which +was suppressed. Despatched to Paris for the purpose of advertising a +certain drug, Panchenko met a Russian officer bound for Abyssinia, who +asked him for a potent poison for suicidal purposes in case he should be +taken prisoner there. For forty francs Panchenko furnished prussic acid, +and the officer swallowed it and died. Panchenko now assured the Court +that what he supplied was not poison, but only magnesia, and that in any +case he had confessed since to a Russian priest in Paris, who comforted +him by saying, “The officer would have committed suicide anyhow, my +son.” + +To another witness Panchenko propounded a plan for coming into a +heritage of two million roubles by “removing” two persons who stood in +the way. + +Circumstantial evidence was next offered by experts in the culture of +various toxins. Dr. Heinrich, assistant director of the laboratory of +plague cultures, spoke of Dr. Panchenko visiting the laboratories, +requesting cholera endotoxin, and excusing himself from the obligation +of writing his name in the visitors’ book on the ground of haste. Dr. +Panchenko received two tubes of endotoxin. One had a label that a dose +is mortal for certain animals. Some months later Dr. Panchenko revisited +the laboratory, and asked for more cholera endotoxin. Dr. Heinrich gave +it, but warned him of its deadly effects. + +Dr. Panchenko informed the Court that he gave this liquid to O’Brien de +Lacy for twenty-five roubles. + +Professor Zabolotny explained the nature of the effects of various +cultures, and deposed that he gave diphtheria toxin to Dr. Panchenko, +whose object was stated to be the study of its action on the nervous +system. + +A professor, named Zdrjekoffsky, of the Institute of Experimental +Medicine, deposed that Dr. Panchenko, early last year, had asked him for +diphtheria toxin. + +“I gave him, I forget whether one or two phials of diphtheria toxin, +each containing thirty or forty cubic centimetres. I explained to Dr. +Panchenko the action of this toxin and the minimum dose that would cause +death.” + +A criminal called Logatcheff, with whom Panchenko had shared a cell, and +who was escorted to court by two soldiers, deposed that Panchenko had +repeated to him in gaol the whole story of how he had poisoned Captain +Buturlin. He said De Lacy had offered him 550,000 roubles to poison +Captain Buturlin and the latter’s father, General Buturlin, and mother, +and told him he went to Kronstadt, to the Zabolotny Institute of +Experimental Medicine to obtain toxins. Panchenko had described +experiments which he had made on a guinea-pig at an hotel, adding that +he afterwards threw the body into the street. + +De Lacy, while denying that he married for money, made the following +statement: “It is true that at one time I was afraid that the general +would dispose of his fortune in his will in such a manner that my wife +would receive only a fourteenth part. I certainly thought this unjust, +but I reasoned as follows: The general is sure to live for a long time, +and three years will suffice for me to induce him to enter into all my +undertakings, including that of the steamboats. Then his whole capital +will be at my disposal.” + +Continuing, he said that he was not aware of the total amount, but he +knew that a sum of £300,000 was deposited in foreign banks. + +At the end of this remarkable case, after a trial which lasted nearly +three weeks, O’Brien de Lacy and Dr. Panchenko were found guilty, the +latter with extenuating circumstances. The woman Muraviova was +acquitted. De Lacy was sentenced to penal servitude for life and +Panchenko to fifteen years’ penal servitude. + +Another case of attempted murder with pathogenic organisms occurred +about ten years ago, when a Hungarian artist was tried with attempting +to murder his wife by means of typhoid and cholera germs. The cholera +medium in his possession was found to have lost all activity by having +been kept too long, while the typhoid culture, though quite a virulent +one, failed to kill the victim. The discovery of his crime was made +through his attempts to obtain cultures from a private laboratory and +demanding virulent strains, but so far, cases of this kind have been +extremely rare, and the risk of failure is so great that criminals so +inclined are likely to think twice before venturing to attempt life by +this method. + + + + + CHAPTER XXIV + POISON HABITS + + + Opium—Morphine—Chloroform—Ether—Chlorodyne—Cocaine + +There is a very peculiar property attached to certain poisons, +especially those possessing narcotic properties—that is, they are +capable of forming the most enslaving habits known to mankind. Thousands +of people to-day are enchained in the slavery of the poison habit in one +form or another and very few are ever successful in wresting themselves +free when once it has been contracted. The habit is often formed in a +most insidious manner. It is usually begun by taking some narcotic drug +to relieve pain or induce sleep. In a short time the original dose fails +to produce the desired effect, it has to be increased, and afterwards +still further increased, until the victim finds he cannot do without it, +and an intense craving for the drug is created. By and by the stupefying +action affects the brain, the moral character is sapped, and the +unfortunate being is at last ready to do anything to obtain a supply of +the drug that is now his master. + +This is not an overdrawn picture, but one of which instances are +constantly to be met with. The enslaving habit of alcohol, when once +contracted, is too well known to need description. Opium probably comes +next in the point of influence it exerts over its victims, and only a +very small percentage ever free themselves from the habit when it is +once contracted. In most instances, as stated, it is taken in the first +place to relieve some severe pain, as instanced in De Quincey’s case. He +says, in his _Confessions of an Opium-Eater_: “It was not for the +purpose of creating pleasure, but of mitigating pain in the severest +degree, that I first began to use opium as an article of daily diet.” +Like others, he was compelled to increase the dose gradually, until at +last he consumed the enormous quantity of 320 grains of the drug a day. +He graphically describes the struggle he first had to reduce the daily +dose, and found that to a certain point it could be reduced with ease, +but after that point, further reduction caused intense suffering. +However, a crisis arrived, and he writes, “I saw that I must die if I +continued the opium. I determined, therefore, if that should be +required, to die in throwing it off. I apprehend at this time I was +taking from 50 or 60 grains to 150 grains a day. My first task was to +reduce it to 40, to 30, and as fast as I could to 12 grains. I +triumphed; but think not my sufferings were ended. Think of me, as one, +even when four months had passed, still agitated, writhing, throbbing, +palpitating, shattered; and much perhaps in the situation of him who has +been racked.” + +Other cases are commonly met with in this country, where opium-eaters +take on an average from 60 to 80 grains of the drug a day. The smallest +quantity which has proved fatal in the adult is 4½ grains; in other +cases much larger quantities have been taken with impunity. Guy states +that recovery once took place after no less than eight ounces of solid +opium had been swallowed. + +Morphine, the chief alkaloid of opium, is also abused by many, and is +swallowed as well as used by hypodermic injection. Its action is very +similar to that of opium. It has been recently stated on good authority +that in Chicago—that city of hurrying men and restless women—over +thirty-five thousand persons habitually take subcutaneous injections of +morphine to save themselves from the pains and terrors of neuralgia, +insomnia, and nervousness. Dr. Van Dyke has recently stated that “no +country suffers more from the narcotic drug evil than the United States. +It is estimated that there are more than 1,500,000 addicts, many of them +boys and girls.” + +To a delicate woman one grain of this drug has proved fatal, yet, under +the influence of habit, a young woman has been known to take from 15 to +20 grains daily. A man in a good position, and head of a large +commercial house, contracted the habit of taking morphine from a +prescription that had been given to him containing four grains of the +drug. As the habit grew, he would have the medicine prepared by four +different chemists daily, and swallow the contents of each bottle for a +dose, until he took on an average over 24 grains a day. This being put a +stop to by his friends, he commenced to take chloroform, which he would +purchase in small quantities until he had collected a bottleful, and +then he would drink it, usually mixed with whisky. He eventually had to +be placed under restraint. + +A remarkable account of the sensations experienced when under the +influence of morphine was recorded by Dr. Albert Herschmann who, after +taking six grains of the drug, seated himself at his desk and wrote +notes of his sensations as death approached, which were found +afterwards. + + +“This morphine” he wrote, “has put me in a condition of absolute mental +painlessness. It is now 7.17 p.m. and if I did not know that I had taken +sufficient poison to warrant results, I could not notice it from my +condition. + +“Aside from fluttering heart action and contracted eye pupils, and +moderate drowsiness, I feel no results. + +“Still, I cannot make up my mind to swallow the cyanide, and have lit a +cigar, awaiting further increase of drowsiness, and hope to be soon able +to coax myself into the inevitable. + +“7.42 p.m.—I am here yet, hesitating to take this cyanide. My thoughts +become blurred from the morphine, and a sensation of supreme quietude +reigns in me. If it was not for my beloved wife, who has just ’phoned, I +would go on waiting, but I am afraid of too long a delay because a +lapsing into unconsciousness might result in my being saved by medical +assistance. Ten more minutes, and then the end by cyanide. + +“I am in no manner kept in suspense—just pleasantly and curiously +watching developments. Queerly enough, my only wish is that I had an +additional handkerchief, so that I could dispose of the surplus +perspiration, it being close and my skin clammy from the morphine +effects.” + +Then the signature, “Dr. A. J. H.” + + +Chloroform when swallowed is very similar in its effects to alcohol, +from which it is in fact prepared. It first excites and then causes a +condition of stupefaction, and although it does not injure the stomach +tissues and the liver to the same extent as alcohol, the taking of it +almost invariably ends in death. Some of its victims drink the liquid +diluted, and others inhale it. + +A case of a well-educated man is recorded who acquired the habit of +drinking chloroform. It was known to his friends, and he did not deny +it, but no one saw him take it, until it was eventually discovered that +he first secretly added it to his whisky bottle, then diluted this +mixture with a small quantity of water and swallowed it at a draught. +Its property seemed to accentuate the intoxicating power of the alcohol. +Every effort was made to break him of the habit, without success, +without avail, and he eventually poisoned himself. + +Another case of chloroform-drinking occurred in the East End of London. +The victim was a young chemist’s assistant, who had been in the habit of +taking the drug since he was fourteen years of age. According to his own +admission, he did not at first take it to alleviate pain, but began it +as an experiment before he had been in his first situation a month. He +got beyond the control of his parents, who notified the chemists in the +district, and when unable to obtain it there, he called on various +medical men and endeavoured to obtain chloroform by false pretences. He +was able to swallow considerable quantities, and it was stated that he +took enough in an hour to kill six people. + +One who was addicted to this terrible habit, states that he began by +“inhaling a small quantity, which was followed by a perfectly delicious +state of semi-unconsciousness in which one lost sight of all discomfort +and all things external. But this state is very transient and passes +rapidly. The quantity has to be increased and increased until existence +becomes a perfect misery. The whole moral fibre and character is swiftly +ruined. Nausea is constant, dyspepsia and kindred troubles follow; and +the victim becomes haggard and thin. For the two hours of +semi-unconsciousness induced in this way, twenty-two hours are spent in +unimaginable misery.” + +The quantity of chloroform used by those accustomed to it in this way is +said to be astonishing. One victim, a woman, is known to have bought +sixteen ounces a day, and inhaled it from a blanket. Such a story sounds +incredible, as a teaspoonful is sometimes sufficient to kill a strong +person. + +Some years ago the habit of taking ether became common, especially in +Ireland, Scotland and the eastern parts of England. Its action is +similar to chloroform, but it is slower in its effect. It first produces +exhilaration, and, as with chloroform, when swallowed mixed with whisky, +produces intense excitement, amounting almost to mania. The habit, when +formed, is almost more terrible than chloroform, and the victim has to +resort to several doses a day. + +Some years ago, in the North of Ireland, it was stated on good authority +that the population of one large district were almost entirely ether +drunkards. Its consumption has now greatly diminished, probably owing to +the increase in price which occurred at the time of the war, which would +put it out of the reach of many of its victims. + +Chlorodyne, which generally contains both morphine and prussic acid in +its composition, is also much abused, especially by women. Some women +have been known to consume as much as two ounces a week of this +preparation. + +During the past few years the increase in the taking of cocaine has +probably surpassed all other poison habits. Cocaine is an important +alkaloid, prepared from the dried leaves of the _Erythroxylon Coca_ and +other varieties of the coca plant that grow in the northern parts of +Peru and Bolivia. For a considerable period before the active principle +was discovered, the leaves of the plant were much used by natives of +these countries and travellers, who chewed them on account of their +stimulating effect, much the same as tobacco, but it was not until 1860 +that the active principle cocaine was discovered by Niemann. + +Its chief use in medicine is as a local anæsthetic, especially for the +eye. The discovery of this valuable property was due to Eckstein, who, +in 1870, pointed out that the most delicate operations could be +performed painlessly on the eye after its injection. + +The effect of cocaine taken by inhalation, injection or by the mouth +unfortunately became too well known. At one time it was largely used as +an ingredient in the preparations, used like snuff, commonly recommended +and sold for influenza colds. The habit, once induced, led to the use of +stronger preparations, until the victim found he had become enchained by +a habit that enslaved him to such an extent it would seem impossible to +break. More subtle than other poisons, cocaine appears to sap completely +the moral strength of its victims. Slowly and surely it deadens the +sensibilities until death is sought as a relief in the end. + +During the past few years, and since the beginning of the war, the +consumption of cocaine in one form or another has enormously increased +in both the Eastern and Western hemispheres. Recent cases that have been +brought to light in the police courts, show only too plainly the +terrible condition to which the victims of this habit are reduced. The +cocaine habit may be compared to a human being gradually enclosed in the +coils of a serpent, that slowly winds itself round the body with +increasing pressure, to the terror of its victim, until it reaches a +vital part, which ends in death. + +Rarely is there any permanent breaking of the coil when once it starts. +In most cases the simple inhalation is the beginning, and in the case of +this poison it is not used as much to relieve pain as for the +pleasurable sensation that is produced. From inhalation, the victim of +the habit, finding the effects weaken, passes to the hypodermic +injection, which is more rapid and more powerful in its action. As the +coils of the serpent tighten, all moral sense and character seem +gradually blotted out, and the whole individual physiologically is +altered. + +Fatalities have resulted from inhaling cocaine through the nose as well +as by injecting it under the skin, and when it is stated that +three-quarters of a grain has been known to cause death it can readily +be imagined how easily a lethal dose can be taken. + +The subtlety of the habit lies in its very simplicity. Exhilaration +follows much more rapidly than after alcohol and is followed just as +speedily by the deepest depression. + +To such an extent has the cocaine habit increased, that recently the +Government found it necessary to introduce fresh legislation dealing +with the traffic in poisonous narcotic drugs, and the “Dangerous Drugs +Act” was passed, and became law in 1920. Stringent though this statute +is, it has not stopped the traffic in cocaine and opium. A great amount +of smuggling and illicit traffic in the drug is carried on in the +underworld of London, Paris and New York, and though the drug is costly, +a ready market is found for it. This traffic has been found rife in +certain clubs of a low class, conducted by unscrupulous men whose +precautions as to secrecy have been ingeniously conceived. The greatest +cunning has been exercised in bringing it from the Continent, where it +is chiefly manufactured, into Great Britain. A hollow cane containing a +glass phial, which, when concealed by a screwed silver top looked like +an ordinary walking-stick, was one method discovered a short time ago. +Another and still more artful device was discovered by the Custom-House +authorities on the landing of a passenger at an East Coast port. As his +appearance aroused suspicion a search was made, and he was found to be +wearing a truss, the bulb end of which was hollow, and filled with +cocaine. + +In another case, where a man was arrested in the West End and charged +with being in possession of nearly five ounces of cocaine, it was found +that he had brought the drug from Germany, and concealed it in cavities +he had skilfully cut out in the heels of his shoes, and had afterwards +covered with leather. + +During the war, which increased the nervous tension of the individual to +a hitherto unknown degree, thousands of Canadian and American troops +passed through London on their way to and from the fighting fronts, and +many of the men provided potential victims for the trafficker in +poisons. Many of these men who fell into bad hands were drugged with +opium in the form of cigarettes and then robbed. + +In proof of this statement, on July 19, 1916, seven men were charged at +Marlborough Street Police Court with being concerned in selling cocaine +to soldiers. The prosecuting solicitor for the Commissioner of Police +said that the evil had grown to such dimensions in London that it was +necessary for steps to be taken to check it. The use of cocaine in this +country had increased enormously, and the habit appeared to have been +brought here with soldiers from across the seas. Since the war began it +had been sold in the streets in small boxes each containing a grain; it +was offered to soldiers in particular, who were told to use it like +ordinary snuff on account of its exhilarating effect. The habit grew and +grew till it produced symptoms of intoxication, the moral and physical +senses were clouded, and insanity and death resulted. The number of +persons engaged in this abominable traffic was very large. The case +having been proved against the men by several members of the Military +Police, they were sentenced to various terms of imprisonment. + +The efforts of the police to stop the traffic revealed the existence of +what is practically an organization for the sale of the drug. The chief +agents are men, mostly of foreign nationality and the worst possible +type. They sell it, often adulterated with boric acid in small +quantities, at enormous profit. Women sell it to other women, one acting +as a carrier, being in the possession of a number of boxes of the drug, +and the other undertaking actually to sell it in single boxes. The price +of cocaine sold illegally in the West End of London a year or two ago +was at the rate of £10 an ounce, and as it became more difficult to get, +owing to the restrictions, the price increased. A bottle containing two +and a half ounces was said to have been sold for £100. + +In the autumn of 1922 there arrived at Hong-Kong a Japanese steamer, +which was boarded by Revenue officers. A passenger who was a Japanese +subject was arrested, and a quantity of his belongings, which included +four cases of furniture, were seized. On examining the furniture, +consisting of two sofas and four arm-chairs, which were cut open, there +was found hidden in the upholstery 2,400 ounces of morphine and 2,500 +ounces of cocaine. The quantity of morphine concealed in the furniture +would provide 2,100,000 maximum doses, according to the _British +Pharmacopœia_, and the quantity of cocaine was equal to 4,375,000 doses. + +Legislation can play its part, but it will never eradicate the traffic +until the supply is stopped at its source. So far as we know, Germany +and Switzerland are the chief sources of origin. Nearly all the cocaine +sold in London is smuggled into this country either by Chinese or +foreigners, and it is stated that before it gets into the hands of the +actual victim, quite a number of persons have made substantial profits +out of it. In most cases it has been traced to Limehouse and the region +of the London Docks or other seaports, where Continental steamers land, +on the East Coast, and latterly to some of the big seaports like Cardiff +and Newcastle. + +These narcotics are rarely alluded to by those who traffic in them by +their proper names. As is well known, cocaine is generally alluded to as +“snow” or “C”; heroin is “H”; opium is alluded to as “Chandoo” or “Pop.” + +Some young women conceive the idea that drug-taking renders them more +mysterious and fascinating; indeed, vanity plays a considerable part +with many at the beginning, and human curiosity impels the victim to go +on. The beginner cannot conceive the after-effect. The entire moral +character appears to be sapped and rendered inert, the victims sink down +unknown to themselves to the lowest depths of depravity and degradation, +all restraint is lost, and they become a prey to those who may use them +for any evil purpose at will. + +Confirmed drug-takers cannot be cured by persuasion, argument or +attempted coercion, but they will have the drug or they will die, and +the only way of dealing with them and preventing the drug habit, is to +prevent its importation into the country. + +Insomnia is a frequent cause of the formation of a poison habit, and for +this purpose chloral hydrate is capable of producing more serious +results than any other drug of its class. The fact that it accumulates +in the system, and that the dose needs constantly to be increased, +always renders its use dangerous in unskilled hands. Many gifted men +have fallen victims to the habit, among others Dante Rossetti, who +seldom was without a bottle of the narcotic near him. Latterly, +sulphonal and veronal, drugs derived from coal tar, possessing hypnotic +properties, have been largely taken; and antipyrine, also a popular +remedy for headache, is capable of forming a pernicious and dangerous +habit. The practice of self-dosing with drugs of this description cannot +be too strongly deprecated. In all cases they should only be taken when +ordered by a medical man. + +Some people form a curious habit of taking one drug till at last they +become imbued with the idea that that only, and nothing else, will have +any effect on them. The only remedy Thomas Carlyle would ever take, +according to the late Sir Richard Quain, who was his medical adviser, +was “Grey Powder.” “Grey Powder,” he states, “was his favourite remedy +when he had that wretched dyspepsia from which he suffered, and which +was fully accounted for by the fact that he was particularly fond of +very nasty gingerbread. Many times I have seen him, sitting in the +chimney corner, smoking a clay pipe and eating this gingerbread.” Oliver +Goldsmith also laboured under the confirmed belief that the only +medicine that would have any effect on him was “James’ Powder.” He +doctored himself with this favourite nostrum whenever he felt unwell, +and believed it to be a cure for all his ills. + + + + + CHAPTER XXV + HASHISH AND HASHISH-EATERS + + +Hashish, or Bhang, is the native name applied to the dried flowering +tops of the Indian hemp, from which the resin has not been removed. + +This plant, cultivated largely in India, is now considered to be the +same, botanically, as the _Cannabis sativa_ of European cultivation; but +there is great difference in their medicinal activity, that growing in +India being much more powerful. Ganja is the native name for one part of +the plant, and Sidhi for another part, which is much poorer in resin. +The resinous principle is called _churrus_ or _charas_, and the entire +plant, cut during inflorescence, dried in the sun and pressed into +bundles, is called _bhang_. + +The method of using it in India is chiefly for smoking in combination +with tobacco. For this purpose, a plug of tobacco is first placed at the +bottom of the bowl of the pipe, on the top a small piece of hashish, and +over this a piece of glowing charcoal. Another way is to knead the drug +with the tobacco by the thumb of one hand and working it in the palm of +the other, till they are thoroughly incorporated. + +In India both ganja and churrus are used for smoking, but not bhang or +sidhi. In India the habit of smoking ganja becomes part of a man’s life. +Under ordinary circumstances he has his smoke daily when his day’s +labour is over, and during the interval when he cooks his evening meal. +Under extraordinary circumstances he takes it to sustain him in the +midst of severe or prolonged exertion. It does not (as in opium smoking) +affect his appetite, but enables the poorest to partake with a heartier +appetite of their somewhat uninviting fare. It does not affect the +digestion or interfere in the slightest degree with bodily or mental +health, and the habit does not grow on the votary. Ganja-smoking appears +to be only injurious when indulged in to excess by those who lead +sedentary lives. + +Simple infusions of the leaves and flowering tops are also much used for +drinking purposes by old and young in India, the alcoholic form being a +most active and dangerous intoxicant. + +The drug is said to have been used in China as early as the year 220, to +produce insensibility when performing operations. The Persians employed +it in the Middle Ages for the purpose of exciting the pugnacity and +fanaticism of the soldiers during the wars of the Crusades. + +In 1803 Visey, a French scientist, published a memoir on hashish, and +attempted to prove that it was the nepenthe of Homer; there is little +doubt, however, that the use of the drug was known to Galen. + +Silvestin de Lacy contends that the word assassin is derived from +“hashishin,” a name given to a wild sect of Mohammedans who committed +murder under its influence. + +The Chinese herbal, _Rh-ya_, which dates from about the fifth century +B.C., notices the fact that the hemp plant is of two kinds, the one +producing seeds and the other flowers only. Herodotus states that hemp +grows in Scythia both wild and cultivated, and that the Thracians made +garments from it which can hardly be distinguished from linen. He also +describes “how the Scythians exposed themselves as in a bath” to the +vapour of the seeds thrown on hot coals. + +The hemp occurs in several forms and is known under various names. Bhang +consists of the entire plant dried and mixed with a few fruits and is of +a dark green colour. It has a peculiar odour but little taste. Mixed +with flour or incorporated with sweetmeat it is called hashish. It is +also smoked or taken infused in cold water. Ganja consists exclusively +of the flowering shoots of the female plant, having a compound or +glutinous appearance, and is brownish-green in colour. Majún is a term +applied to a sweetmeat or confection, of which Indian hemp is the basis, +but it may contain nux vomica, opium, cantharides, or frequently datura +seeds, according to the purpose for which it is intended, whether as an +aphrodisiac or a criminal excitant or deliriant. + +Of the many curious experiences that have been written describing the +effects of hashish, perhaps the most accurate is that given by Gautier, +in which he relates his own experience of the drug. + +“The Orientalists,” he states, “have, in consequence of the interdiction +of wine, sought that species of excitement which the Western nations +derive from alcoholic drinks.” He then proceeds to state how a few +minutes after swallowing some of the preparation, a sudden overwhelming +sensation took possession of him. It appeared to him that his body was +dissolved, and that he had become transparent. He clearly saw in his +stomach the hashish he had swallowed, under the form of an emerald, from +which a thousand little sparks issued. His eyelashes were lengthened +indefinitely, and rolled like threads of gold around ivory balls, which +turned with inconceivable rapidity. Around him were sparklings of +precious stones of all colours, changes eternally produced, like the +play of a kaleidoscope. He every now and then saw his friends who were +around him disfigured as half men, half plants, some having the wings of +the ostrich, which they were constantly shaking. So strange were these +that he burst into fits of laughter, and, to join in the apparent +ridiculousness of the affair, he began by throwing the cushions in the +air, catching and turning them with the rapidity of an Indian juggler. +One gentleman spoke to him in Italian, which the hashish transposed into +Spanish. After a few minutes he recovered his habitual calmness, without +any bad effect, and only with feelings of astonishment at what had +passed. Half an hour had scarcely elapsed before he again fell under the +influence of the drug. On this occasion the vision was more complicated +and extraordinary. In the air there were millions of butterflies, +confusedly luminous, shaking their wings like fans. Gigantic flowers, +with chalices of crystal; large peonies upon beds of gold and silver +rose and surrounded him with the crackling sound that accompanies the +explosion in the air of fireworks. His hearing had acquired new power; +it was enormously developed. He heard the noise of colours. Green, red, +blue, yellow sounds reached him in waves—a glass thrown down, the +creaking of a sofa, a word pronounced low, vibrated and rolled within +him like peals of thunder. His own voice sounded so loud that he feared +to speak lest he should knock down the walls or explode like a rocket. +More than five hundred clocks struck the hour with fleeting silvery +voice, and every object touched gave a note like the harmonica or the +Æolian harp. He swam in an ocean of sound, where floated like aisles of +light some of the airs of “Lucia di Lammermoor” and the “Barber of +Seville.” Never did similar bliss overwhelm him with its waves; he was +lost in a wilderness of sweets; he was not himself; he was relieved from +consciousness, that feeling which always pervades the mind; and for the +first time he comprehended what might be the state of elementary beings, +of angels, of souls separated from the body. All his system seemed +infected with the fantastic colouring in which he was plunged. Sounds, +perfume, light, reached him only by minute rays, in the midst of which +he heard mystic currents whistling along. According to his calculation, +this state lasted about three hundred years, for the sensations were so +numerous and so hurried one upon the other, that a real appreciation of +time was impossible. The paroxysm over, he was aware that it had only +lasted a _quarter of an hour_. + +Another interesting account of the strange hallucinations produced by +the drug is related by Dr. Moreau, who, with two friends, experimented +with hashish. + + +“At first,” he states “I thought my companions were less influenced by +the drug than myself. Then, as the effect, I fancied that the person who +brought me the dose had given me some of more active quality. This, I +thought to myself, was an imprudence and the involuntary idea presented +itself that I might be poisoned. The idea became fixed; I called out +loudly to Dr. Roche, ‘You are an assassin; you have poisoned me!’ This +was received with shouts of laughter, and my lamentations excited mirth. +I struggled for some time against the thought, but the greater the +effort the more completely did it overcome me, till at last it took full +possession of my mind. The extravagant conviction now came uppermost +that I was dead, and upon the point of being buried; my soul had left my +body. In a few minutes I had gone through all the stages of delirium.” + + +These fixed ideas and erroneous convictions are apt to be produced, but +they only last a few seconds, unless there is any physical disorder. + + +“The Orientalist, when he indulges in hashish retires into the depth of +his harem; no one is then admitted who cannot contribute to his +enjoyment. He surrounds himself with his dancing girls, who perform +their graceful evolutions before him to the sound of music; gradually a +new condition of the brain allows a series of illusions, arising from +the external senses, to present themselves. The mind becomes overpowered +by the brilliancy of gorgeous visions; discrimination, comparison, +reason, yield up their throne to dreams and phantoms which exhilarate +and delight. + +“The mind tries to understand what is the cause of the new delight, but +it is in vain. It seems to know there is no reality.” + + +Hardly two people experience the same results from hashish. Upon some it +has little effect, while upon others, especially women, it exerts +extraordinary power. While one person says he imagined his body endowed +with such elasticity that he fancied he could enter into a bottle and +remain there at his ease, another fancied he had become the piston of a +steam engine; under the influence of the drug the ear lends itself more +to the illusion than any other sense. Its first effect is one of intense +exhilaration, almost amounting to delirium; power of thought is soon +lost, and the victim laughs, cries and sings or dances, all the time +imagining he is acting rationally. The second stage is one of dreamy +enjoyment followed by a dead stupor. + +Of the ordinary physical effects of hashish, the first is a feeling of +slight compression of the temporal bones and upper parts of the head. +The respiration is gentle, the pulse is increased, and a gentle heat is +felt all over the surface of the body. There is a sense of weight about +the fore part of the arms, and an occasional slight involuntary motion, +as if to seek relief from it. There is a feeling of discomfort about the +extremities, creating a feeling of uneasiness, and if the dose has been +too large the usual symptoms of poisoning by Indian hemp show +themselves. Flushes of heat seem to ascend to the head, even to the +brain, which create considerable alarm. Singing in the ears is +complained of; then comes on a state of anxiety, almost of anguish, with +a sense of constriction about the chest. The individual fancies he hears +the beating of his heart with unaccustomed loudness; but throughout the +whole period it is the nervous system that is affected, and in this way +the drug differs materially from opium, whose action on the muscular and +digestive systems is most marked. + +It is a remarkable fact that Indian hemp fails to produce the same +intoxicating effects in this country that it does in warmer climates, +and whether this is due to the loss of some volatile principle or +difference in temperature it is not yet determined. But would-be +experimentalists in the effects of hashish would do well to remember +that it may not be indulged in with impunity, and most authorities agree +that the brain becomes eventually disordered with frequent indulgence in +the drug even in India. It further becomes weakened and incapable of +separating the true from the false; frequent intoxication leads to a +condition of delirium, and usually of a dangerous nature; the moral +nature becomes numbed, and the victim at last becomes unfit to pursue +his ordinary avocation. It is stated by those who have had considerable +experience in its use, that even during the dream of joy there is a +consciousness that all is illusion; there is at no period a belief that +anything that dances before the senses or plays upon the imagination is +real, and that when the mind recovers its equilibrium it knows that all +is but a phantasm. + + + + + CHAPTER XXVI + POISONS IN FICTION + + +Poison mysteries have ever been a favourite theme with writers of +fiction; but unfortunately the scientific knowledge of novelists is as a +rule of a very limited description, and the effects attributed by them +to certain drugs are often as fabulous as the romances of olden times. +They tell us of mysterious poisons of untold power, an infinitesimal +quantity of which will cause instantaneous death without leaving a trace +behind. They describe anæsthetics so powerful that a whiff from a bottle +is sufficient to produce immediate insensibility for any period desired. +In fact, novelists have a pharmacopœia of their own. After all, why +should we question the effects of the drugs of their imagination, and +attempt to analyse them in the prosaic test tube of modern science; for +take away the marvels and the mysteries and you kill the romance. The +novel performs its mission if it succeeds in interesting and amusing us, +and the story-teller has accomplished the object of his art when he is +successful in weaving the possible with the impossible, so that we can +scarce perceive it. + +That master of fiction, Dumas, gives us an instance of this in his +ever-fascinating adventures of the _Count of Monte Cristo_. Nothing +seems impossible to this extraordinary individual, and incident after +incident of the most romantic nature crowd one upon another throughout +the story; yet it is all so beautifully blended by the wonderful +imagination of the author that it enthrals us to the end. The Count, who +is supposed to have studied the art of medicine in the East, has always +a remedy at hand for every emergency, from hashish, in which he is a +profound believer, to his mysterious stimulating elixir, described as +“of the colour of blood, preserved in a phial of Bohemian glass.” A +single drop of this marvellous fluid, if allowed to fall on the lips, +will, almost before it reaches them, restore the marble and inanimate +form to life. His pill-boxes were composed of emeralds and precious +stones of huge size, and their contents consisted of drugs whose effects +were beyond conception. His knowledge of chemistry and toxicology is +equally astonishing, as instanced in the conversation he holds with +Madame de Villefort, who, for nefarious purposes, desires to improve her +knowledge of poisons. Monte Cristo discourses on the poisonous +properties of brucine, a drug rarely used in England, but largely +employed in France. + + +“Suppose,” says the Count, “you were to take a millegramme of this +poison the first day, two millegrammes the second day, and so on. Well, +at the end of ten days you would have taken a centigramme: at the end of +twenty days, increasing another millegramme, you would have taken three +hundred centigrammes; that is to say, a dose you would support without +inconvenience, and which would be very dangerous for any other person +who had not taken the same precautions as yourself. Well then, at the +end of the month, when drinking water from the same carafe, you would +kill the person who had drunk this water, without your perceiving +otherwise than from slight inconvenience that there was any poisonous +substance mingled with the water.” + + +The Count thus explains the doctrine of immunity from a poison, by +accustoming the system to its effect in small doses for a length of +time, a process which is actually possible with some drugs, but not with +all. His satirical description of the bungling of the common poisoner, +as compared to the fine subtlety and cunning he advocates, is also worth +quoting: + + +“Amongst us a simpleton, possessed by the demon of hate or cupidity, who +has an enemy to destroy, or some near relation to dispose of, goes +straight to the grocer’s or druggist’s, gives a false name, which leads +more easily to his detection than his real one, and purchases, under a +pretext that the rats prevent him from sleeping, five or six pennyworth +of arsenic. If he is really a cunning fellow he goes to five or six +different druggists or grocers, and thereby becomes only five or six +times more easily traced; then, when he has acquired his specific, he +administers duly to his enemy or near kinsman a dose of arsenic which +would make a mammoth or mastodon burst, and which, without rhyme or +reason, makes his victim utter groans which alarm the whole +neighbourhood. Then arrive a crowd of policemen and constables. They +fetch a doctor, who opens the dead body, and collects from the entrails +and stomach a quantity of arsenic in a spoon. Next day a hundred +newspapers relate the fact, with the names of the victim and the +murderer. The same evening the grocer or grocers, druggist or druggists, +come and say: ‘It was I sold the arsenic to the gentleman accused,’ and +rather than not recognize the guilty purchaser, they will recognize +twenty. Then the foolish criminal is taken, imprisoned, interrogated, +confronted, confounded, condemned, and cut off by hemp or steel; or, if +she be a woman of any consideration, they lock her up for life. This is +the way in which you northerners understand chemistry.” + + +And so he endeavours to incite a woman, who is already anxiously +contemplating a series of terrible crimes. + +The recital of the ingenious experiments of the Abbé Adelmonte is a +piece of clever construction, as the quotation will show. + + +“The Abbé,” said Monte Cristo, “had a remarkably fine garden full of +vegetables, flowers and fruit. From among these vegetables he selected +the most simple—a cabbage, for instance. For three days he watered this +cabbage with a distillation of arsenic; on the third, the cabbage began +to droop and turn yellow. At that moment he cut it. In the eyes of +everybody it seemed fit for table, and preserved its wholesome +appearance. It was only poisoned to the Abbé Adelmonte. He then took the +cabbage to the room where he had rabbits, for the Abbé Adelmonte had a +collection of rabbits, cats and guinea-pigs, equally fine as his +collection of vegetables, flowers, and fruit. Well, the Abbé Adelmonte +took a rabbit and made it eat a leaf out of the cabbage. The rabbit +died. What magistrate would find or even venture to insinuate anything +against this? What _procureur du roi_ has ever ventured to draw up an +accusation against M. Majendie or M. Flourens, in consequence of the +rabbits, cats and guinea-pigs they have killed. Not one. So, then, the +rabbit dies, and justice takes no notice. This rabbit dead, the Abbé +Adelmonte has its entrails taken out by his cook and thrown on the +dunghill; on this dunghill was a hen, who, pecking these intestines, +was, in her turn, taken ill, and dies next day. At the moment when she +was struggling in the convulsions of death, a vulture was flying by +(there are a good many vultures in Adelmonte’s country); this bird darts +on the dead bird and carries it away to a rock, where it dines off its +prey. Three days afterwards this poor vulture, who has been very much +indisposed since that dinner, feels very giddy suddenly whilst flying +aloft in the clouds, and falls heavily into a fish-pond. The pike, eels, +and carp eat greedily always, as everybody knows—well, they feast on the +vulture. Well, suppose the next day, one of these eels, or pike, or carp +is served at your table, poisoned as they are to the third generation. +Well then, your guest will be poisoned in the fifth generation, and die +at the end of eight or ten days, of pains in the intestines, sickness, +or abscess of the pylorus. The doctors open the body, and say, with an +air of profound learning, ‘The subject has died of a tumour on the +liver, or typhoid fever.’” + + +After attempting to kill half the household with brucine, Madame de +Villefort changes her particular poison for a simple narcotic, +recognized by Monte Cristo (who in this instance frustrates the murder) +as being dissolved in alcohol. The name of the latter poison is not told +us by the novelist, but on the doctor’s examination of the suspected +liquid we read, “He took from its silver case a small bottle of nitric +acid, dropped a little of it into the liquor, which immediately changed +to a blood-red colour.” + +Perhaps the most curious method of poisoning ever used in fiction is +that introduced by James Payn in his novel called _Halves_. The poisoner +uses finely chopped horsehair as a medium of getting rid of her niece. +In this way she brings on a disease which puzzles the doctor, until one +day he comes across the would-be murderess pulling the horsehair out of +the drawing-room sofa, which causes him to suspect her at once. This +ingenious lady introduced the chopped horsehair into the pepper pot used +by her victim. + +The inimitable Count Fosco, whom Wilkie Collins introduces into _The +Woman in White_, was supposed to possess a remarkable knowledge of +chemistry, although he says, “Only twice did I call my science to my +aid,” in working out his plot to abduct Lady Glide. His media were +simple: “A medicated glass of water and a medicated bottle of smelling +salts relieved her of all further embarrassment and alarm.” This genial +villain waxes eloquent on the science of chemistry in his confession. +“Chemistry,” he exclaims, “has always had irresistible attractions for +me from the enormous, the illimitable power which the knowledge of it +confers. Chemists—I assert it emphatically—might sway, if they pleased, +the destinies of humanity. Mind, they say, rules the world. But what +rules the mind? The body (follow me closely here) lies at the mercy of +the most omnipotent of all potentates—the chemist. Give +me—Fosco—chemistry; and when Shakespeare has conceived Hamlet, and sits +down to execute the conception—with a few grains of powder dropped into +his daily food, I will reduce his mind, by the actions of his body, till +his pen pours out the most abject drivel that has ever degraded paper. +Under similar circumstances revive me the illustrious Newton. I +guarantee that when he sees the apple fall he shall _eat it_, instead of +discovering the principle of gravitation. Nero’s dinner shall transform +Nero into the mildest of men before he has done digesting it, and the +morning draught of Alexander the Great shall make Alexander run for his +life at the first sight of the enemy the same afternoon. On my sacred +word of honour it is lucky for society that modern chemists are, by +incomprehensible good fortune, the most harmless of mankind. The mass +are worthy fathers of families, who keep shops. The few are philosophers +besotted with admiration for the sound of their own lecturing voices, +visionaries who waste their lives on fantastic impossibilities, or +quacks whose ambition soars no higher than our corns.” + +In _Armadale_ the same novelist introduces us to a poisoner of the +deepest dye in the person of Miss Gwilt. This fair damsel, whose auburn +locks seemed to have possessed an irresistible attraction for the +opposite sex, was addicted to taking laudanum to soothe her troubled +nerves, and first tried to mix a dose with some lemonade she had +prepared for her husband’s namesake and friend, whom she wished out of +the way. This attempt failing, and a second one, to scuttle a yacht in +which he was sailing, proving futile also, he was finally lured to a +sanatorium in London where she had arranged for him to be placed in a +room into which a poisonous gas (presumably carbonic acid) was to be +passed. At the last moment she discovers her husband has taken the place +of her victim, and in revulsion of feeling she rescues him, and ends her +own life instead in the poisoned chamber. According to the story, the +medical investigation which followed the tragedy ended in discovering +that she had died of apoplexy; a fact which, had it occurred in real +life, would not have redounded to the credit of the medical men who +conducted it. + +The heroine of Benson’s novel, _The Rubicon_, poisons herself with +prussic acid of unheard-of strength, which she discovers _among some +photographic chemicals_. + +Miss Helen Mathers, in one of her novels, _The Sin of Hagar_, a story +warranted to thrill the soul of “Sweet Seventeen,” makes some +extraordinary discoveries which will be new to chemists. For instance, +she tells us of strychnine that actually _discolours_ a glass of whisky +and water. One of the characters, a frisky old dowager, professes to be +an _amateur_ chemist, and this lady, we are gravely informed by the +novelist, “detects the presence of the strychnine in the glass of whisky +and water _at a glance_.” + +But Miss Mathers has still another poison, whose properties will +doubtless be a revelation to scientists, and it is with this marvellous +body the “double-dyed villainess” of the story puts an end to her woes. +For convenience she carries it about with her concealed in a ring, and +when at last she decides on committing suicide, we are told “she simply +placed the ring to her lips, a strange odour spread through the room, +and she instantly lay dead.” + +Even the experienced writer of sensational fiction may often go beyond +the point of probability into impossibility when describing the use of +poisons. In a story recently published, a well-known novelist describes +a burglar who is caught by a policeman slipping out of a house in the +night. A terrible struggle ensues, with the result that they rolled +struggling into the gutter, the policeman shouting for assistance. The +burglar’s right hand flies to his jacket pocket, then swiftly to the +face of his captor who almost instantly relaxes his hold and becomes +unconscious. It is revealed afterwards that the prisoner had smashed in +his fingers a small capsule which released an asphyxiating gas; this +must indeed have been of great potency to be enclosed in a capsule to be +held between the fingers and render an individual insensible in a few +seconds. The effect of the gas, too, must have been terrible, as we are +told that the constable remained asleep in the front garden till eight +o’clock in the morning. The nearest policeman was unable to move him, +but he had to be removed in an ambulance and when brought to the station +was thought to be intoxicated until the divisional sergeant pronounced +that _he had been gassed_. + +Certainly, the novelist has exceeded the scientist in producing a gas +that would have proved invaluable during the Great War. + +A final instance of the poison of fiction may be quoted from a recently +published novel in which the heroine, a houri of the East, is abducted +by a fierce renegade Englishman and carried off into the desert. + +She escapes from him, however, by the aid of a wonderful ring she wears, +described by the novelist as “a great hollow jewel of ancient gold set +with a green diamond.” It contained, we are told, “a poisonous drug of +which two or three grains in coffee finished off the lady’s abductor and +drugged _fifty_ others, and so she escaped.” + +On the stage, “poisoning” has gone somewhat out of fashion with modern +dramatists, although it was a common thing in years gone by for the +villain of the play to swallow a cup of cold poison in the last act, and +after several dying speeches to fall suddenly flat on his back and die +to slow music. The death of Cleopatra, described by Shakespeare as +resulting from the bite of a venomous snake, is like no clinical +description of the final effects of death from the bite of any known +snake. + +Beverley, in “The Gamester,” takes a dose of strong poison in the fifth +act, and afterwards makes several fairly long speeches before he +apparently feels the effects, and finally succumbs. The description of +the death of Juliet, which Shakespeare, in all probability, conceived +from reading the effects that followed the drinking of morion or +mandragora wine, is an accurate description of death from that drug. The +use of this anodyne preparation to deaden pain dates from ancient times, +and it is stated it was a common practice for women to administer it to +those about to suffer the penalty of the law by being crucified. We have +another instance of the fabulous effects ascribed to poisons by the +early playwrights, in Massinger’s play, “The Duke of Milan.” Francisco +dusts over a plant some poisonous powder and hands it to Eugenia. +Ludovico approaches, and kisses the lady’s hand but twice, and then dies +from the effects of the poison. + +Sufficient eccentricities of this kind in fiction might be enumerated to +fill a volume, but we must forbear. It is perhaps hardly necessary to +state that the lady novelist is the greatest sinner in this respect, and +that stranger poisons are evolved from her fertile brain than were ever +known to man. + + + + + PART II + POISON MYSTERIES + + + + + CHAPTER I + THE MYSTERY OF LAWFORD HALL—THE STRANGE CASE OF ELIZABETH FENNING + + +In the spring of the year 1780, the quiet hamlet of Little Lawford in +Warwickshire, situated about three miles from Rugby, was the scene of a +tragedy which aroused great interest not only in the immediate locality, +but throughout the country. + +At that time there lived at Lawford Hall Sir Theodosius Boughton, a +young baronet who had not yet attained his majority, together with his +mother, his only sister and her husband, Captain Donellan, a half-pay +officer. + +The career of the latter gentleman, who plays an important part in the +story, had been an eventful one. In 1757 he was gazetted as a subaltern +in the 39th Regiment, then stationed in Madras on foreign service. There +he entered the East India Company’s service and joined in an expedition +against Masulipatam in 1758, and was wounded in action after the taking +of that place. Trouble, however, arose over the question of certain loot +that had been taken from the merchants; Donellan was court-martialled, +sentenced to be discharged from the service, and returned to England. + +On his return his ambition was to shine as a beau in society. Dress and +gaming are said to have occupied his whole attention, and he eventually +became Master of the Ceremonies at the Pantheon, in Oxford Street, +London, then a fashionable resort for dancing much frequented by +Society. + +Here, it is probable, he met and wooed Miss Boughton, whom he married, +and a year after the couple came to live at Lawford Hall with Lady +Boughton. At this time young Sir Theodosius was finishing his education. +After leaving Eton he had lived for a couple of years with a tutor, and +then came home to Lawford to settle down with his family. + +He was a young fellow of high spirits and fond of outdoor sports, but +like other young men of his class at that time he was inclined to live a +fast life, and this had told more or less upon his health. + +From the time of his residence at home, for some reason or other, he did +not get on well with his brother-in-law, Captain Donellan, and the +latter appears to have adopted a patronizing attitude towards the young +man while living in his house. According to his father’s will Sir +Theodosius did not come into his property, which was worth about £2,000 +a year, until he was twenty-one, and meanwhile he was under the +guardianship of Sir Edmund Wheeler, an old friend who lived eight miles +away from Lawford. According to the will, should he die before attaining +his majority, his sister, Mrs. Donellan, was to benefit largely from the +estate. + +Matters had gone thus for nearly two years when Sir Theodosius, as the +result of his former gay life, became unwell and placed himself under +the care of an apothecary in Rugby. + +Donellan, who became aware of this, talked a good deal to various +friends, remarking that the young man was ruining his health, that his +life was not worth a year’s purchase, and that he could not possibly +live if he did not take more care. + +The young baronet, however, appeared in good health and spirits, but the +conditions of life became so unpleasant at the Hall that he at length +decided to go and stay with a friend in Northampton until he came of +age. + +About five o’clock on a Tuesday afternoon, August 29, 1780, Sir +Theodosius, accompanied by several of his menservants, set off down to +the river on a fishing expedition. During his absence a dose of medicine +in the form of a draught was delivered at the Hall from Mr. Powell, the +apothecary, which was to be taken by the young man the first thing on +the following morning. The bottle was taken upstairs and placed on a +shelf in his bedroom. Soon after Sir Theodosius had set out, his mother, +Lady Boughton, and Mrs. Donellan went into the grounds to take the air +and remained in the garden some hours. About seven o’clock they were +joined in their walk by Captain Donellan, who remarked that he had been +fishing with Sir Theodosius, and that he was afraid if he stayed out so +long in the damp he would take cold. Sir Theodosius, however, returned +home all right, somewhat later and, after having supper, retired to bed. + +At six in the morning a servant called him, and he got out of bed and +spoke to him. An hour later his mother went into his bedroom to remind +him about taking his medicine. He asked her to give it to him, and she, +taking it from the shelf, poured the contents into a cup and gave it to +him. He swallowed about half and complained that it tasted so nauseous +he would be unable to retain it. He handed the cup back to his mother +who smelt it and was struck with the powerful smell of bitter almonds, +but gave it back to him again. Sir Theodosius then swallowed the +remainder and lay down, but in a few minutes he was taken very ill with +vomiting. On his becoming more composed Lady Boughton left him for about +ten minutes, thinking he would sleep. On returning to his room she found +him collapsed and foaming at the mouth. Struck with alarm at his +condition she sent a servant for the apothecary and to call Captain +Donellan. The latter came in a few minutes, and on his entering the room +Lady Boughton exclaimed: “Here is a terrible affair, I have given my son +something that was wrong instead of what the apothecary sent. I am sure +it would have killed a dog.” Donellan replied, “Why the devil did Mr. +Powell send such a medicine? Where is the bottle?” Lady Boughton pointed +to it on the mantelpiece and Donellan at once took it up, poured some +water into it, shook and rinsed it and emptied the contents into a basin +of dirty water standing near. + +Astonished at his action Lady Boughton said, “Good God, what are you +doing? Let everything remain just in the same place until Mr. Powell the +apothecary arrives.” Donellan made no reply, but took an empty phial +which had contained a previous draught which was also standing on the +same shelf and rinsed that out in the same way, then, calling a servant, +ordered her to take the basin away, in spite of Lady Boughton’s +remonstrance. + +Meanwhile Sir Theodosius lay dying, and expired in about thirty minutes. + +Some time elapsed before Mr. Powell arrived, and he was taken up to the +room by Donellan, who explained to him that Sir Theodosius had been out +late fishing the previous night, and had no doubt taken cold, which had +caused his death. He made no mention of the effect of the draught, but +told him the young man had died in convulsions. The apothecary +apparently offered no solution as to the cause of death and left the +house. + +The same morning that Sir Theodosius died Donellan wrote to Sir William +Wheeler, his guardian, informing him of his death, and stating that he +had been under the care of Mr. Powell, of Rugby, for a similar complaint +to that which he had had at Eton. Within a day or two, however, rumours +of foul play became current and Sir William Wheeler communicated these +to Donellan and insisted that to allay public suspicion a post-mortem +examination should be made. He named a Dr. Rattray and two surgeons, +Messrs. Wilmer and Snow, whom he desired to conduct the examination. +These gentlemen were accordingly sent for and arrived at Lawford Hall on +Monday evening, September 4. They were received by Captain Donellan, +who, after some conversation, showed them to the room. The body of the +unfortunate young man being in an advanced state of decomposition, the +doctors showed reluctance to proceed with the autopsy, and after a +cursory examination they left the Hall without coming to any +satisfactory conclusion, nothing having been said to them by Donellan of +any suspicion of foul play. + +Donellan then wrote to Sir William Wheeler stating that the doctors had +fully satisfied the family, but Sir William was still dissatisfied, and +on hearing that no actual post-mortem had been made, insisted that two +other surgeons, viz. Messrs. Bucknell and Snow, should examine the +remains. On their arrival, however, Donellan again circumvented their +intentions and the body was duly interred. This increased the rumours +instead of dispelling them, and eventually the coroner of the district +was informed of the case and he decided to hold an inquiry. + +The inquest lasted three days, and on the last day Donellan addressed a +letter to the coroner in which he stated that Sir Theodosius used to +procure arsenic to kill rats, and frequently bought as much as a pound +at a time, also that he used to make large quantities of Goulard Water. + +This was to account for the suspicion of poisoning which was now rife. +After hearing the evidence the coroner ordered that the body should be +exhumed. On Saturday morning, September 9, the body was removed from the +vault and placed in the churchyard. About five hundred people had +collected to witness the gruesome sight, which in those days was +conducted in public. When all was ready a Mr. Bucknill, a young surgeon, +put on a wagoner’s smock frock that had been dipped in vinegar, and with +a napkin that had been soaked in vinegar tied over his mouth and nose, +opened the body, which was duly inspected by the doctors present and +reinterred. + +As a result of the inquest Captain Donellan was arrested and charged +with the wilful murder of his brother-in-law by poisoning him with +arsenic. + +The trial, which excited intense interest throughout the country on +account of the social position of the persons involved, took place at +the Warwick Assizes on March 30, 1781, before Mr. Justice Buller. + +Six counsel, headed by Mr. Howarth, appeared for the Crown, and the +prisoner was represented by Mr. Newnham and two juniors. The case mainly +depended on the medical evidence, a review of which forms an interesting +picture of the state of medicine and toxicology of the time. + +The first witness was Mr. Powell, the apothecary, of Rugby, who was +treating Sir Theodosius at the time of his death. He swore that the +draught he sent the baronet was quite harmless and consisted of rhubarb +and jalap, spirit of lavender, nutmeg water and simple syrup. + +Dr. Rattray, of Coventry, the next medical witness, described the visit +he paid to Lawford Hall at the wish of Sir William Wheeler with the +other surgeons. The reason they did not proceed with the post-mortem, he +stated, was that they thought it too late, and that so long after death +nothing could be discovered. He was present when the body was opened in +the churchyard, and from its appearance he was now of the opinion that +poison was the cause of death. + +Mr. Wilmer, a surgeon, described some experiments he had made with +laurel water. He gave an ounce to a young greyhound and to his great +surprise it died immediately. He next gave a pint and a half to a mare +and in a few moments she went into convulsions and died in fifteen +minutes. He believed that an ounce of laurel water was enough to kill a +strong man. Dr. Ash, a physician of Birmingham, next gave his opinion +that the young man had died from the effects of poison. + +Further medical evidence was given by Dr. Parsons, Professor of Anatomy +at Oxford University. He stated he believed that Sir Theodosius had been +poisoned by laurel water which had been given to him instead of the +purgative draught. + +Important evidence was given by a female servant named Mary Lines, who +stated that Captain Donellan had a still, which he kept in his own room +and which he used for distilling rose water. + +A gardener at the Hall, named Amos, who was next called, said Captain +Donellan brought the still to him two or three days after Sir Theodosius +died. It was full of wet lime at the time and he asked him to clean it +for him. He mentioned that the lime was used for killing fleas. + +For the defence Mr. John Hunter, the famous surgeon, of London, was +called to give evidence and said he had dissected some thousands of +subjects. The symptoms he had heard described were not conclusive that +the baronet had taken poison. He had never known in his practice of +laurel water being given to a human being. From the description he had +heard of the appearance of the body, he should not have drawn the +inference that death had resulted from poison. Apoplexy or epilepsy +would produce similar symptoms to those he had heard described, but he +would not swear that the deceased man died a natural death. + +The judge in summing up commented on the doubt Mr. Hunter seemed to have +in giving evidence, and the failure of counsel to get from him a +conclusive opinion. On the other hand five medical men were agreed that +death had been due to the draught, and that the draught had been laurel +water. How did the poison get into the medicine bottle? Why also did the +prisoner rinse out the empty bottles and see they were taken away and +destroyed in the face of the suspicious circumstances attending the +death? The evidence concerning the still was also important, as it +proved the prisoner had a knowledge of its use and he often used it for +distilling rose and lavender waters. The deceptive way in which the +prisoner had acted was also likely to arouse suspicions as well as his +endeavour to prevent an examination of the body. + +The jury after a few minutes’ consideration found the prisoner “Guilty,” +and the judge pronounced sentence of death. The prisoner’s body +afterwards to be delivered to the surgeons and be dissected and +anatomized. “The prisoner,” says a contemporary writer, “neatly dressed +in black, was driven in a coach to the gallows and was hanged.” + +Thus ended the brilliant Captain Donellan, the much envied beau of +London Society in George the Third’s time. + + +A strange case that happened early in the nineteenth century was that of +Elizabeth Fenning. + +On April 11, 1815, this girl, who was engaged as cook to a law stationer +in Chancery Lane, was tried at the Old Bailey before the Recorder on a +charge of having poisoned her employer, Mr. Olebar Turner, his wife and +his father, Robert Gregson Turner. The girl, who was only twenty years +of age, had been employed as cook in Mr. Turner’s house for six weeks, +and on March 21 had made some yeast dumplings for dinner. + +The dumplings were brought to the table and partaken of by the three +persons. A few minutes after eating a portion of one, Mrs. Turner was +taken ill with violent pains and vomiting, and shortly afterwards the +two men, who had also eaten of the dumplings, were seized with pains in +the same manner. Mr. Marshall, a surgeon, was sent for several hours +afterwards, and all three persons, after some time, recovered. The girl +herself and a young apprentice in the house had also eaten of the +dumplings and were affected in the same way. + +Mr. Turner said he suspected arsenic had been put in the food and made a +search next morning. In the kitchen he found a brown dish in which the +dumplings had been mixed, with what appeared to be some remnants of the +food still adhering to it. He put some water into the dish and stirred +it, and found in a few minutes a white powder or sediment fell to the +bottom, which he kept and handed to the surgeon. + +He knew that arsenic was kept in a drawer in his office in two wrappers +labelled “Arsenick, Deadly Poison” and was used for killing mice. The +drawer was always unlocked. He had last seen the packet of arsenic in +the drawer on March 7, and it was now missing. He had noticed that the +knives they had used to cut the dumplings had turned black. + +He had charged the girl with putting something in the dumplings, and she +had replied it was not in the dumplings but in the milk that was used to +make them which had been brought to her by Sarah Peer, a fellow-servant. +Mr. John Marshall, the surgeon who was called in, said he found the +family suffering from symptoms that would be produced by arsenic, and +the prisoner was also ill in the same way. He had examined the remnants +found in the dish by Mr. Turner and washed them with a tea-kettle of +warm water and then decanted it. He found half a teaspoonful of white +powder left. After washing it a second time he found it was arsenic. +Arsenic would turn the knives black. He had examined the remains of the +yeast used and the flour employed in making the dumplings, but found no +trace of arsenic. + +The girl, in her defence, swore she was quite innocent of the whole +charge. + +The jury found her guilty and she was sentenced to death. + +The result of the trial excited public interest in London, and caused an +outburst of popular feeling, the general opinion being that the evidence +was insufficient to prove the girl guilty. The Prince Regent was +petitioned, also the Lord Chancellor and the Secretary of State, and +several meetings of influential persons were held, agitating for a +remission of the sentence. The girl, however, was executed at Newgate on +July 26, 1815, exclaiming, “I die innocent, but God will convince you by +a circumstance this day.” In 1834 the man Turner died in the workhouse, +but confessed before his death that he had put the arsenic into the +dumplings and falsely sworn away the girl’s life. + + + + + CHAPTER II + THE CASE OF MADAME LAFARGE + + +The story of Madame Lafarge, who was tried in France for the murder of +her husband in 1840, is a strange and romantic one. + +Marie Fortunée Cappelle was the daughter of a captain in the Imperial +Artillery. Her parents died during her childhood, and she was placed in +the care of an aunt, who, at the earliest opportunity, determined to +relieve herself of the burden of her support by negotiating a marriage +for her. While still a girl, through the instrumentality of a +matrimonial agent in Paris, an alliance was arranged between Marie +Cappelle and one Monsieur Charles Lafarge, who was a widower and an +ironmaster of Glandier. + +The marriage, which was purely a commercial transaction, took place in +Paris on August 15, 1839, after which Lafarge and his young wife set out +for his old and gloomy seigneurial château at Glandier. + +From statements made afterwards, Madame Lafarge became disgusted with +her husband’s brutality before the honeymoon was over. After they +reached their own house, however, they were reconciled, and there seemed +to be every possibility of their spending a happy wedded life together. + +Besides the newly married pair, there lived in the château the mother +and sister of Lafarge. His chief clerk, Denis Barbier, was a frequent +visitor there, and was apparently at liberty to walk through the place +without restriction. + +In a very short time Madame Lafarge discovered that both she and her +relatives had been deceived as to the position of her husband, and that +instead of being a man of considerable fortune, he was straitened for +means. On his representations she bestowed upon him all her fortune, and +even wrote letters at his dictation to some of her wealthy friends, +asking them to aid him to find money to develop a new method he claimed +to have discovered for smelting iron. With these letters of +introduction, Lafarge set out for Paris in December, 1839, to raise +money to start his new project. + +While he was away, his wife had her portrait drawn by an artist in +Glandier, and determined to send it to her absent husband. She therefore +packed it in a box, with some cakes made by his mother, together with an +affectionate letter, and despatched them to Paris. This box, which +contained nothing but the five small cakes, the portrait, and the +letter, was packed and sealed by Madame Lafarge in the presence of +several witnesses. + +When it reached Paris and was opened by Lafarge, it contained only _one +large cake_, after partaking of which he was suddenly taken ill, and was +eventually compelled to return home, where he arrived on January 5, +1840. His sickness continued and increased in severity, and nine days +afterwards he died. + +Shortly after his death his mother and friends, who were well aware how +the widow disliked them and also her husband, who had made her life so +unhappy, at once imputed the cause of death to poison administered by +his wife in the cake she had sent to Paris, and Marie Cappelle Lafarge +was arrested on suspicion. + +When the house of the deceased man was searched, certain diamonds were +found which were supposed to have been stolen from the Vicomtesse de +Léotaud by Madame Lafarge before her marriage. + +The unfortunate woman was therefore charged with the double crime of +theft and murder. + +Though arrested in January, 1840, the trial of Madame Lafarge did not +commence till July 9 of the same year, and the charge of theft was first +proceeded with in her absence, and she was found guilty. + +While this judgment was still under appeal, she was brought to trial on +the graver charge. + +The evidence for the prosecution went to prove that the illness of +Lafarge commenced with the eating of the cake received from his home. As +already stated, when the box arrived in Paris the seals had been broken, +the five cakes had disappeared, and _a single cake “as large as a +plate”_ had been substituted for them. It was alleged by the prosecution +that this single cake had been prepared by Madame Lafarge, and secretly +placed in the box; but no evidence could be brought to prove that she +ever tampered with the box after it had been sealed. Lafarge’s clerk, +Denis Barbier, made a clandestine visit to Paris after the box had been +despatched, and he was with Lafarge when it arrived in Paris, yet no +notice seems to have been taken of this suspicious fact. It transpired, +it was he who first threw out hints on his master’s return that he was +being poisoned by arsenic, and told a brother employé that his master +would be dead within ten days. There was ample proof, however, that +there was a considerable quantity of arsenic in the house at Glandier. +It was found that Madame Lafarge had purchased some in December, stating +she required it for destroying rats; Barbier also stated in evidence +that Madame had requested him to procure her some arsenic. He bought +some, but did not give it to her. It was further stated that Madame +Lafarge was seen to stir a white powder into some chicken broth which +had been prepared for her husband, the remains of which, found in a +bowl, were said by the analyst to contain arsenic. + +The medical men who conducted the post-mortem examination gave it as +their deliberate opinion that the deceased man had been poisoned by +arsenic, of which poison they professed to have found considerable +quantities. The friends of the accused then submitted the matter to +Orfila, the famous French toxicologist, who, on giving his opinion of +the methods and manner in which the analysis had been carried out, said +that owing to the antiquated and doubtful methods of detection employed +by the medical men, it was probable they _fancied_ they had found +arsenic where there was none. Thereupon the prosecution asked Orfila to +undertake a fresh analysis himself, which he consented to do, and, on +making a careful examination of the remains, stated he discovered just a +minute trace of arsenic. + +This apparently sealed the doom of the accused woman, and served to +strengthen the bias of the jury. + +But now another actor appeared in the drama in the person of Raspail, +another distinguished French chemist, who from the beginning had watched +the case with interest. + +On September 17, 1840, a young barrister knocked at the door of +Raspail’s apartment in Paris at eleven o’clock at night. Exhausted by +thirty-six hours in a postchaise—for he had come straight from Tulle +where the trial of Madame Lafarge was being held—he handed the following +note to the chemist— + + +“I am innocent and most unlucky. I am suffering and make appeal to your +science and your heart.... M. Orfila has arrived and I have refallen +into the abyss. My hope, Monsieur, is in you. Lend the aid of your +knowledge to an unfortunate victim of calumny. Come and save me while +all others abandon me.—MARIE LAFARGE.” + + +The writer was an utter stranger to Raspail at this time, but though he +had reached the age of forty-six years and was in indifferent health, he +decided to sacrifice his night’s rest and at 2 a.m. was posting as hard +as horses could carry him on the southern high road to the scene of the +trial. When he arrived at Limoges he was in a high state of fever and +took a room to rest for an hour. The rumour reached him there that +Madame Lafarge had been acquitted, so he remained the night and the next +day posted on another fifty miles and arrived at Tulle just an hour too +late. Madame Lafarge had been found guilty and condemned to penal +servitude for life. + +It was then that Raspail wrote to the presiding judge the words so often +quoted: “Give me anything you like—your own armchair—and I will find +arsenic in it.” + +Raspail has left a long description of his interview with Madame Lafarge +whom he then saw. After asking to be allowed to examine the three plates +with arsenical deposits that had passed through Orfila’s hands, he asked +to be allowed to test the reagents left at Tulle by Orfila. The reply +was made that “M. Orfila left all his reagents with M. Bories, a +pharmacist, except his potash, his zinc, and the nitrate of potash by +means of which he obtained the deposit on the third plate.” + +“Supposing,” continues Raspail, “I had acted like Orfila (as he did on +another occasion), applying the pretty expression of ‘ignorant crowd’ to +the host of reagents obtained from local pharmacists and bringing from +Paris a nitrate of potash capable of revealing a poison where no other +reagent could find an atom, what would the Advocate-General have said? +Would he not at once have required that the phial of nitrate from Paris +should be examined by the experts present?” + +Raspail then took the zinc wire with which Orfila had experimented to +the shop where the toxicologist had procured the article, and he found +on analysis that the _zinc itself_ contained _more arsenic_ than Orfila +had detected by his examination. Orfila had used Marsh’s test, which is +infallible so long as the reagents used are free from arsenic +themselves. + +As already related, Raspail reached Tulle too late to give evidence at +the trial, and the unhappy Marie Cappelle Lafarge, after a trial lasting +sixteen days, had been found guilty and condemned to imprisonment for +life with hard labour, and exposure in the pillory. Raspail, however, +would not let the matter rest, and at once set to work to save the +condemned woman. He informed Orfila that the zinc he had used was +already contaminated with arsenic, and at length got him fairly to admit +his error and join with him in a professional report to the authorities +to that effect. + +After being imprisoned for twelve years, in the end, the sentence on +Madame Lafarge was reduced to five years in the Montpellier house of +detention, after which the Government sent her to the Convent of St. +Rémy, from whence she was liberated in 1852, but only to end her +wretched life a few months afterwards. + +There appeared in the _Edinburgh Review_ for 1842 a careful examination +of this interesting case from a legal point of view, in which the writer +states that the strongest evidence indicated Denis Barbier and not +Madame Lafarge as the perpetrator of the crime. It was proved that this +man lived by forgery, and assisted Lafarge in some very shady +transactions to cover the latter’s insolvency. He was further known to +harbour a deadly hatred for Madame Lafarge. He was with his master in +Paris when he was seized with the sudden illness, and it transpired that +out of the 25,000 francs the ironmaster had succeeded in borrowing from +his wife’s relatives, only 3,900 could be found when he returned to +Glandier. On his own statement he was in the possession of a quantity of +arsenic, and he was the first to direct suspicion against his master’s +wife. Yet all these facts appear to have been overlooked in the efforts +of the prosecution to fasten the guilt on the unfortunate woman. That +Lafarge died from the effects of arsenical poisoning there seems little +doubt, but by whom administered has never been conclusively proved, and +the tragedy remains among the poison mysteries still unsolved. + + + + + CHAPTER III + THE CASE OF MADELINE SMITH + + +The case of Madeline Smith, who was charged with causing the death of +L’Angerlier by the administration of arsenic at Glasgow in 1857, excited +universal interest at the time. Owing to the social position of the +lady, the trial was a _cause célèbre_, and the circumstances of the case +were of an extraordinary character. + +Miss Smith, who was a young and accomplished woman, and who resided in a +fashionable quarter of Glasgow, got entangled with a French clerk named +Pierre Emile L’Angelier. L’Angelier died very suddenly in an +unaccountable manner, and suspicion falling on Madeline Smith, who was +frequently in his company, she was arrested and charged with the crime. +The Crown case was, that she poisoned her lover so that she might be +betrothed to a personage of high social standing. That L’Angelier died +on March 23 from the effects of arsenic was amply proved, but while +suspicious acts were alleged against the accused woman, no direct +evidence was adduced to show that she administered the drug. The worst +point against her was the fact of her having possession of the poison; +and irrespective of two previous purchases of coloured arsenic, for +which she had given false reasons, it was proved that the accused had +purchased one ounce, as she said “to kill rats,” on March 18, only five +days before the death of L’Angerlier. The arsenic sold was coloured with +indigo, according to the regulations. When charged with the crime, and +required to account for the poison, she replied that she had used the +whole of it to apply to her face, arms, and neck, diluted with water, +and that a school companion had told her that arsenic was good for the +complexion. From the post-mortem examination and subsequent analysis +_eighty-eight_ grains of arsenic were found in the stomach and its +contents. Dr. Christison, the greatest toxicological expert of the time, +was called, and stated he knew of no case in which so much as +eighty-eight grains of arsenic had been found in the stomach after +death. + +This was made a turning point of the defence, and it was contended that +so large a dose of arsenic could not have been swallowed unknowingly, +and, therefore, suicide was indicated. The jury accepting this view of +the case, returned a verdict of “not proven,” and Madeline Smith was +liberated, the trial having lasted ten days. + +Some interesting particulars concerning the subsequent life of this lady +were published some time ago. After the trial she decided to go abroad; +but before starting she is said to have married a certain mysterious +individual named Dr. Tudor Hora. With him she lived for many years in +Perth, but few people ever saw her, and the doctor always declined to +divulge his wife’s maiden name. He kept a small surgery, and is said to +have been in receipt of about £400 a year from an unnamed source. Some +years after, believing that his wife had been recognized, he bought a +practice at Hotham, near Melbourne, and they sailed for Australia. +Shortly after their arrival, Mrs. Hora left her husband and remained +absent from Melbourne until his death. Soon afterwards she married +again, but it is said her second marriage was not by any means a happy +one. She remained unknown, and sought no society. She was an excellent +musician, and spent most of her time reading and playing. She had no +children, and died at the age of fifty-five. + +Six years after the trial of Madeline Smith a case was tried at the +Chester Assizes, in which a woman named Hewitt or Holt was charged with +poisoning her mother. Although the symptoms of irritant poisoning were +very clearly marked, the country practitioner who attended the woman at +the time certified that the cause of her death was due to +gastro-enteritis. Eleven weeks after she had been buried, the body was +exhumed and examined. An analysis revealed the presence of _one hundred +and fifty-four grains_ of arsenic in the stomach alone. The possession +of a considerable quantity of arsenic was brought home to the accused, +and also direct evidence of its administration, and she was found +guilty. This case is interesting from the fact of proof being obtained +of the administration of so large a dose of arsenic, and if it had +occurred before the trial of Madeline Smith it might have demolished her +counsel’s main line of defence. + + + + + CHAPTER IV + THE BRAVO MYSTERY + + +Antimony has been a frequent medium with criminal poisoners, including +Dove, Smethurst, Pritchard and others, but there is probably no trial in +which antimony has figured that caused more interest than the “Bravo +Mystery” of 1876. + +The story of this case begins with the marriage of Mr. Bravo, a young +barrister of about thirty years of age, to Mrs. Ricardo, who was then a +wealthy widow and a lady of considerable personal attractions. After the +marriage, which followed a very short acquaintance, the couple went to +reside at Balham. According to a statement made by Mrs. Bravo, she +informed her husband before the marriage of a former lover, and there is +little doubt that it rankled in Mr. Bravo’s mind, and he frequently +taunted his wife with the fact. He was a strong, healthy, and temperate +man, but appears to have been both weak and vain in character. On +Tuesday, April 18, 1876, after breakfast at his own house at Balham, he +drove with his wife into town. On their way, a very unpleasant +discussion took place. Arriving in town he had a Turkish bath, lunched +with a relative of his wife’s at St. James’s Restaurant, and walked on +his way home to Victoria Station with a friend and fellow-barrister, +whom he asked out for the following day. He arrived home about half-past +four. Shortly after his return, Mr. Bravo went out for a ride, in the +course of which his horse bolted and carried him a long distance, and he +got back to his home very tired and exhausted. At half-past six he was +noticed leaning forward on his chair, looking ill, and with his head +hanging down. He ordered a hot bath, and when getting into it he cried +out aloud with pain, putting his hand to his side. The bath did not +appear to relieve him much, and he seemed to be suffering pain all +through dinner, but appeared to avoid attracting the attention of his +wife and Mrs. Cox, her companion, who dined with him. + +The food provided during the dinner was partaken of more or less in +common by all three, but this was not the case as regards the wine. Mr. +Bravo drank Burgundy only, while Mrs. Bravo and Mrs. Cox drank sherry +and Marsala. The wine drunk by Mr. Bravo had been decanted by the butler +some time before dinner; how long he could not say, but he noticed +nothing unusual with it. + +The wine was of good quality, and Mr. Bravo, who was something of a +connoisseur, remarked nothing peculiar in its taste, but drank it as +usual. If he had Burgundy for luncheon he finished the bottle at dinner; +but if not, as on the day in question, the remains of the bottle were +put away in an unlocked cellaret in the dining-room. The butler could +not remember whether any Burgundy was left on this day or not; but, +however, none was discovered. + +This cellaret was opened at least twice subsequently to this, and prior +to Mr. Bravo’s illness, once by Mrs. Cox and once by the maid. + +Mr. Bravo seems to have eaten a good dinner, although he was evidently +not himself from some cause or other. It was said he was suffering from +toothache or neuralgia, and had just received a letter that had given +him some annoyance. + +The dinner lasted till past eight o’clock, after which the party +adjourned to the morning-room where conversation continued up to about +nine o’clock. + +Mrs. Bravo and Mrs. Cox then retired upstairs, leaving Mr. Bravo alone, +until Mrs. Cox went to fetch Mrs. Bravo some wine and water from the +dining-room. + +Mrs. Bravo remained in her room and prepared for bed and drank the wine +and water brought to her by Mrs. Cox, who remained with her. + +The housemaid, on taking some hot water to the ladies’ room as was her +usual custom at half-past nine, was asked by Mrs. Bravo to bring her +some more Marsala in the glass that had contained the wine and water. On +her way downstairs to the dining-room, the girl met her master at the +foot of the stairs. He looked “queer” and very strange in the face, but +did not appear to be in pain, according to her statement. He looked +twice at her, yet did not speak, though it was his custom, but passed +on. + +Mr. Bravo was alone after the departure of his wife and Mrs. Cox until +the time when he passed the housemaid at the foot of the stairs. He +entered his wife’s dressing-room, and the maid Mrs. Bravo’s bedroom. In +the dressing-room, according to Mrs. Cox’s statement, Mr. Bravo spoke to +his wife in French, with reference to the wine. This had frequently been +the subject of unpleasant remarks before; but Mrs. Bravo had no +recollection of the conversation on this occasion. + +After leaving his wife in her room, Mr. Bravo went to his own bedroom +and closed the door. The maid left Mrs. Bravo’s bedroom and met her +mistress in the passage partially undressed and on her way to bed. Mrs. +Bravo and Mrs. Cox entered their bedrooms and the former drank her +Marsala and went to bed. + +In about quarter of an hour Mr. Bravo’s bedroom door was heard to open, +and he shouted out, “Florence! Florence! Hot water.” The maid ran into +Mrs. Bravo’s room, calling out that Mr. Bravo was ill. Mrs. Cox, who had +not yet undressed, rose hastily and ran to his room. She found him +standing in his night-gown at the open window, apparently vomiting, and +this the maid also saw. Mrs. Cox further stated that Mr. Bravo said to +her, “I have taken poison. Don’t tell Florence” (alluding to his wife); +and to this confession on the part of Mr. Bravo, Mrs. Cox adhered. After +this, Mr. Bravo was again very sick, and some hot water was brought by +the maid. After the vomiting he sank on the floor and became insensible, +and remained so for some hours. Mrs. Cox tried to raise him, and got +some mustard and water, but he could not swallow it. She then applied +mustard to his feet, and coffee was procured, but he was also unable to +swallow that. Meanwhile a doctor, who had attended Mrs. Bravo, and who +lived at some distance, was sent for. Mrs. Bravo, who was aroused from +sleep by the maid, and who seems to have been greatly excited, insisted +on a nearer practitioner being sent for, and in a short time a medical +man, living close by, arrived on the scene. The doctor found Mr. Bravo +sitting or lying on a chair, completely unconscious, and the heart’s +action almost suspended. He had him laid on the bed, and then +administered some hot brandy and water, but was unable to get him to +swallow it. In about half an hour another medical man arrived, and was +met by Mrs. Cox, who said she was sure Mr. Bravo had taken chloroform. +Both doctors came to the conclusion that the patient was in a dangerous +state, and endeavoured to administer restoratives. Realizing the +critical nature of the case, Dr. George Johnson, of King’s College +Hospital, was sent for. Meanwhile Mr. Bravo was again seized with +vomiting, mostly blood, and the doctors came to the conclusion he was +suffering from some irritant poison. About three o’clock he became +conscious and able to be questioned. He was at once asked, “What have +you taken?” But from first to last he persisted in declaring, in the +most solemn manner, that he had taken nothing except some laudanum for +toothache. In reply to other questions, asking him if there were any +poisons about the house, he replied there was only the laudanum and +chloroform for toothache, some Condy’s Fluid, and “rat poison in the +stable.” Mr. Bravo did not lose consciousness again until the time of +his death, which occurred fifty-five and a half hours after he was first +taken ill. + +At an early period his bedroom was searched, but nothing was found but +the laudanum bottle, and a little chloroform and camphor liniment which +had been brought from another room. There were no remains of any solid +poison in paper, glass, or tumbler, and nothing to indicate any poison +had been taken. The post-mortem examination showed evidence of great +gastric irritation, extending downwards, but there was no appearance of +any disease in the body, or inflammation, congestion or ulceration. It +was left therefore to the chemical analysis to show what was the +irritating substance which had been introduced into the body, and supply +a key to part of the mystery. The matters which had been vomited in the +early stage of Mr. Bravo’s illness had been thrown away; but on +examination of the leads of the house beneath the bedroom window, some +portion of the matter was found undisturbed, although much rain had +fallen and the greater part must have been washed away. This was +carefully collected and handed to Professor Redwood for analysis. From +this matter he extracted a large amount of antimony. Antimony was also +discovered in the liver and other parts of the body, and it was +concluded that altogether nearly forty grains of this poison must have +been swallowed by the unfortunate man. How he came to swallow this +enormous dose, whether the design was homicidal or suicidal, there was +not the slightest evidence to show, or where the antimony was obtained. +The whole affair was shrouded in mystery, and a mystery it remains. + + + + + CHAPTER V + THE RUGELEY MYSTERY + + +Strychnine is one of the active principles extracted from nux vomica, +the singular disk-like seed of the _Strychnos Nux vomica_, a tree +indigenous to most parts of India, Burma, Northern Australia, and +other countries. Nux vomica was unknown to the ancients, and is said +to have been introduced into medicine by the Arabs, but there is very +little reliable record of it until the seventeenth century, when the +seeds were chiefly used for poisoning animals and birds. Strychnine +was discovered in 1818 by Pelletier and Caventou, and was first +extracted from St. Ignatius’ bean, another species of strychnos in +which it is present to the extent of about 1·5 per cent. Very soon +afterwards it was extracted from nux vomica, which, being very +plentiful, is now the chief source of the drug. It is extremely bitter +in taste, and may be distinctly detected in a solution containing no +more than one-six-hundred-thousandth part. For a considerable time +after its discovery, the detection of strychnine in the body after +death was a matter of great uncertainty, especially when only a small +quantity had been administered; but now it is possible to detect the +presence of one-five-thousandth part of a grain, and that even after +some time has elapsed. It has been used for criminal purposes by +several notorious poisoners, notably by Dove, Palmer, and Cream, but +the symptoms produced are so marked, and its presence so clearly +indicated, that detection now is almost certain. + +Among the celebrated trials of the last century was that of Dr. Palmer, +who was charged with the wilful murder of John Parsons Cook, at Rugeley, +in 1855. A special Act of Parliament was passed in order to have this +case tried in London, where it was brought before Lord Chief Justice +Campbell, Mr. Baron Alderson, and Mr. Justice Cresswell, at the Central +Criminal Court, on May 14, 1856. The Attorney-General, Mr. E. James, +Q.C., with several other counsel, conducted the prosecution, and Palmer +was defended by Mr. Serjeant Shee, Messrs. Grove, Q.C., Gray and +Kenealy. + +The accused, who was a country doctor, had carried on a medical practice +in Rugeley, a small town in Staffordshire, for some years. Becoming +interested in racing he made his practice over to a man named Thirlby, a +former assistant, and shortly afterwards made the acquaintance of John +P. Cook over some betting transactions. Cook was a young man of good +family, about twenty-eight years of age, and was intended for the legal +profession. He was articled to a solicitor; but after a time, inheriting +some property worth between twelve and fifteen thousand pounds, he +abandoned law and commenced to keep race-horses. Meeting Palmer at +various race-meetings, they soon became very intimate. In a very short +time Palmer got into difficulties, and was compelled to raise money on +bills. Things went from bad to worse, until he at last forged an +acceptance to a bill in the name of his mother, who was possessed of +considerable property. In 1854 he owed a large sum of money, and in the +same year his wife died, whose life, it transpired, he had insured for +£13,000. With this money he bought two race-horses; but in his betting +transactions he lost heavily, and then commenced to borrow money from +Cook, whose name he also forged on one occasion on the back of a cheque. +He insured his brother’s life for £13,000, and very shortly after _he_ +died, the amount being also paid to Palmer. This money soon went, and at +length he had two writs out against him for £4,000. + +In the meanwhile, Cook had been more successful than his friend in his +racing ventures, and had won a considerable amount with a race-horse +called Polestar. Polestar was entered for the Shrewsbury races on +November 14, 1855, and Cook and Palmer went there and stayed with some +friends at the same hotel in that town. On the evening of the races they +were drinking brandy-and-water together. Cook asked Palmer to have some +more, and the latter replied, “Not unless you finish your glass.” Cook, +noticing that he had some still left in his tumbler, said, “I’ll soon do +that,” and finished it at a draught. On swallowing it he immediately +exclaimed, “There’s something in it burns my throat.” Palmer took up the +glass and said, “Nonsense, there is nothing in it,” and called the +attention of the others standing by. Cook then suddenly left the room, +and was seized with violent vomiting. This became so bad that he soon +had to be taken to bed, and appeared to be very seriously ill. Two hours +later a medical man was sent for, who at once prescribed an emetic, and +then a pill. He obtained relief from these, and by the morning the +vomiting had ceased, and he was much better, though he still felt very +unwell. They returned to Rugeley together, Cook taking rooms at an hotel +directly opposite Palmer’s house. Cook was still confined to his room, +and during the next few days was constantly visited by Palmer, and after +each visit it was noticed the sickness commenced again. On one occasion +Palmer had some broth prepared, which he specially wished Cook to take. +The latter tried to swallow it, but was immediately sick. It was then +taken downstairs, and a woman at the hotel, thinking it looked nice, +took a couple of tablespoonsful of it, but within half an hour she was +taken seriously ill and was obliged to go to bed, her symptoms being +exactly like those of Cook when first taken ill at Shrewsbury. Three +days afterwards a neighbouring doctor was called in, Palmer telling him +that Cook was suffering from a bilious attack. Palmer then went off to +London, his business being to try and arrange about the settlement of +some debts that were pressing. From the time he left, it was noticed by +the doctor that Cook’s condition rapidly improved and in a day or two he +was able to leave his bed and be up and dressed. On Palmer’s return to +Rugeley he at once went to see Cook and during the rest of his illness +was constantly with him. On the evening of his return he also called on +a surgeon’s assistant, with whom he was acquainted, and purchased from +him three grains of strychnine. Cook was taking some pills which had +been prescribed by the doctor and which had done him good. They were +ordered to be taken at bed-time, and the box containing them was in his +room. He was visited by Palmer about eleven o’clock the same night, and +up to that time he was apparently well. After Palmer had left, about +twelve o’clock the whole house was aroused by violent screams proceeding +from Cook’s room. The servants rushed in and found him writhing in great +agony, shouting “Murder!” He was evidently suffering intense pain, and +soon was seized with convulsions. Palmer was at once sent for, and on +his arrival Cook was gasping for breath, and hardly able to speak. He +ran back to procure some medicine, which on his return he gave him, but +the sick man at once threw it back. The attack gradually passed off, and +by the morning he was somewhat better, but very weak. The same day +Palmer visited a chemist he knew in the town, and purchased six grains +of strychnine. During the afternoon a relative of Palmer’s, who was also +a medical man, arrived on a visit to Rugeley, and he was taken to see +Cook, and in the evening a consultation was held by the three medical +men. They agreed to prescribe some medicine for the patient in the form +of pills, which were prepared, and in the course of the evening were +handed to Palmer, who was to administer the dose the last thing at +night. + +About half-past ten Palmer gave Cook two of the pills, settled him +comfortably for the night, and went home. At ten minutes to eleven Cook +roused the house with a frightful scream, calling out, “I’m going to be +ill as I was last night.” Palmer was sent for, and brought him two more +pills, which he said contained ammonia, and gave them to Cook. Very +shortly afterwards convulsions set in, which were followed by tetanus, +and the unfortunate man died in a few minutes in great agony. + +The deceased man’s relatives were communicated with, and his +father-in-law soon arrived in Rugeley. On Palmer being questioned about +Cook’s affairs, he said that he held a paper drawn up by a lawyer, and +signed by Cook stating that, in respect of £4,000 worth of bills, he +(Cook) was alone liable, and Palmer had a claim for that amount against +the estate. This, with other matters, aroused suspicion, and it was +decided to hold a post-mortem examination on the body to ascertain the +cause of death. Palmer was present at the examination and by his +deliberate act the fluid contents of the stomach were lost. What +portions of the body were recovered for analysis he did all he could to +prevent from reaching the analysts. When the jars, etc., were being sent +to London for examination by the Government analyst, he intercepted +them, and offered the post-boy £10 to upset the conveyance and break +them. + +The evidence offered at the trial was almost entirely circumstantial, +and the medical testimony was very conflicting. It was supposed, in the +first instance, Palmer had administered tartar emetic to his victim, but +that for the fatal dose strychnine was used. It was proved Palmer had +purchased strychnine under suspicious circumstances on the morning of +the day on which Cook died, and could not account for the purchase of +it, or state what he had done with it. The symptoms appeared at a time +which would correspond to the interval that precedes the action of +strychnine, being developed over the entire body and limbs in a few +minutes, suddenly and with violence. None of the pills could be obtained +for analysis. + +Dr. Taylor, who made the analytical examination, was unable to find any +trace of strychnine in the portions submitted to him, but he found half +a grain of antimony in the blood; but judging from the clinical symptoms +before death he believed Cook died from the effects of strychnine. The +great point in the case was, did the tetanic symptoms, under which the +deceased man died, depend on disease or poison? Doctors Brodie, +Christison and Todd, and other eminent authorities of the time agreed +that when taken as a whole they were not in accordance with any form of +disease, but were in perfect accordance with the effects of strychnine. +On the other hand, medical men called for the defence testified that +tetanus might be caused by natural disease, and the deceased might have +died from angina pectoris or epilepsy. In spite of the absence of +confirmatory chemical evidence and proof of the presence of strychnine +in the body, after one hour and seventeen minutes’ deliberation, the +jury returned a verdict of “Guilty,” and Palmer was sentenced to death, +the trial having lasted twelve days. + +The rigid and fixed condition of the limbs is a marked feature after +poisoning by strychnine. In the Horsford case, in which a farmer named +Walter Horsford was convicted of the murder of his cousin Annie Holmes, +at St. Neots, in 1897, 3·69 grains of strychnine were recovered from the +internal organs, after the body was exhumed, _nineteen days_ after +death. Even then, rigidity was very marked, especially in the lower +limbs and fingers. The same rigidity was remarked by Dr. Stevenson in +the case of Matilda Clover, who was poisoned by Neill Cream with +strychnine in 1891. In this case, the body had been buried _from October +until May_, and the rigidity in the limbs and fingers was still +maintained. Dr. Stevenson stated that usually when persons are suffering +from strychnine poisoning, they are very apprehensive of death. He had +known a woman say, “I am going to die” before any intimation of symptoms +had occurred. The first apprehension is, that some terrible calamity is +about to take place. + + + + + CHAPTER VI + THE CASE OF DR. PRITCHARD + + +The remarkable case of Dr. E. W. Pritchard, of Glasgow, who was arrested +and charged with murdering his wife and mother-in-law in that city in +the year 1865, excited great interest at the time. The respectable +position occupied by the accused man in Glasgow, and the practice as a +physician which he had been enabled to attain in the course of his six +years’ residence there, awakened an unusual degree of attention in the +public mind when the fact of his apprehension became known. The +excitement was strengthened by the mystery invariably attached to the +prosecution of all criminal inquiries in Scotland. + +It transpired that for some time previous to her decease, Mrs. Pritchard +had been in a delicate state of health, and her mother, Mrs. Taylor, +wife of Mr. Taylor, a silk weaver, of Edinburgh, had gone to Glasgow to +nurse her during her illness. Mrs. Taylor took up her abode in the house +of Dr. Pritchard, and ministered to her daughter’s comfort; but while so +engaged she became ill, and died suddenly, about three weeks previous to +the day on which the accused man was apprehended. The cause of death was +assigned to apoplexy, and as the lady was about seventy years of age no +suspicions were aroused, and the body was conveyed to Edinburgh and +buried in the Grange Cemetery. + +Circumstances closely following on this, however, awakened grave +suspicions. Mrs. Pritchard died shortly after her mother, and a report +was circulated that she had succumbed to gastric fever. The family grave +at the Grange cemetery was fixed on as the place of interment, and +arrangements were made for the funeral without delay. The body was taken +to Edinburgh by rail, and Dr. Pritchard accompanied it to the house of +his father-in-law, where it was to await interment. The deaths of the +two ladies occurring within so short an interval of each other, coupled +with certain hints which they had received, set the police on the alert, +and while Dr. Pritchard was absent in Edinburgh they instituted +inquiries, which led to a warrant being issued for his apprehension. On +his return to Glasgow, previous to the day fixed for the funeral, he was +arrested at the railway station in Queen Street and conveyed to the +police station. + +Meanwhile the authorities had transmitted to Edinburgh information of +what had been done, and at the same time had issued a warrant for a +post-mortem examination on the body of Mrs. Pritchard. This was +entrusted to Professor Douglas Maclagan, assisted by Drs. Arthur Gamgee +and Littlejohn. The result of the post-mortem proved that death had not +resulted from natural causes, and a subsequent examination disclosed the +presence of minute particles of antimony in the liver. + +The case now assumed a grave and mysterious aspect, and the authorities +resolved to carry the investigations further. The next step was to order +the exhumation of the body of Mrs. Taylor. This having been effected, +the internal organs were submitted to analysis by Professor Maclagan, +Dr. Littlejohn, and Professor Penny, of Glasgow, who, after a protracted +examination, reported that the death of Mrs. Taylor, like that of her +daughter, was due to poisoning by antimony. On these facts being +elicited, Dr. Pritchard was fully committed on the charge of murdering +Jane Taylor, his mother-in-law, and Mary Jane Pritchard, his wife. + +The trial opened on July 3, 1865, at the High Court of Justiciary, +Edinburgh, before the Lord Justice-Clerk, Lord Ardmillan, and Lord +Jerviswoode, the Solicitor-General prosecuting for the Crown, while the +prisoner was defended by Messrs. A. R. Clark, Watson and Brand. + +Evidence was given that Mrs. Pritchard was first taken ill in the +October of 1864, with constant vomiting, often accompanied by severe +cramp. After being treated by her husband for some time, and getting no +better, at her own request a Dr. Gardiner was called in, and her mother, +Mrs. Taylor, came from Edinburgh to nurse her. + +While on this visit to her daughter, Mrs. Taylor, on February 24, 1865, +complained of feeling unwell. The next day she was found insensible, +sitting on her chair in her daughter’s room, and died the same night. +From this time, Mrs. Pritchard got gradually worse, and died within +three weeks afterwards. + +Mary McLeod, a girl who had been in the service of the prisoner, +admitted that he had familiar relations with her, and that this fact was +known to Mrs. Pritchard. The doctor had also made her presents, and told +her he would marry her if his wife died. + +Dr. Paterson, a medical practitioner, of Glasgow, who was called in to +see Mrs. Taylor, stated Pritchard told him the old lady was in the habit +of taking Batley’s solution of opium, and a few days before her death +she had purchased a half-pound bottle. When he saw her, he was convinced +her symptoms betokened that she was under the depressing influence of +antimony, and not opium. He therefore refused to give a certificate of +death. + +Pritchard eventually signed the certificate himself, stating the primary +cause of death had been paralysis and the secondary cause apoplexy. He +further certified Mrs. Pritchard’s death as due to gastric fever. + +It was proved on the evidence of two chemists, that Pritchard was in the +habit of purchasing tartarated antimony in large quantities, and also +Fleming’s tincture of aconite. + +Dr. Maclagan, Professor of Medical Jurisprudence at the University of +Edinburgh, was called to give the result of the chemical examination of +the various organs of the body of Mrs. Pritchard, which had been +retained for analysis. Antimony, corresponding to one-fourth of a grain +of tartar emetic, was found in the urine, in small quantities in the +bile and the blood, and as much as four grains in the whole liver. +Evidence of the presence of antimony was also found in the spleen, +kidney, muscular substance of the heart, coats of the stomach and +rectum, the brain and uterus. + +Antimony was also detected in various stains on linen and articles of +clothing, which had been worn by Mrs. Pritchard during her illness. + +From these results Dr. Maclagan concluded that Mrs. Pritchard had taken +a large quantity of antimony in the form of tartar emetic, which caused +her death, and that from the extent to which the whole organs and fluids +of the body were impregnated with the drug, it must have been given in +repeated doses up to within a few hours of her decease. + +The result of the chemical examination of the various organs of the body +of Mrs. Taylor, which was exhumed for this purpose, revealed the +presence of 0·279, or a little more than a quarter of a grain of +antimony in the contents of the stomach. Antimony was also found in the +blood, and 1·151 grain was recovered from the liver. + +Dr. Penny, who made an independent analysis, found distinct evidence of +antimony in the liver, spleen, kidney, brain, heart, blood, and rectum, +but no trace of morphine or aconite. He also came to the conclusion that +Mrs. Pritchard’s death had resulted from the effects of antimony. + +Antimony was found mixed with tapioca contained in a packet discovered +in the house, also in a bottle containing Batley’s solution of opium +found in the prisoner’s surgery. + +Dr. Littlejohn, surgeon to the Edinburgh police, who was present at the +post-mortem examination of both women, gave his opinion that Mrs. +Pritchard’s death had been due to the administration of antimony in +small quantities, and that continuously. In Mrs. Taylor’s case he +believed some strong narcotic poison had been administered with the +antimony. + +This opinion was further endorsed by Dr. Paterson. Evidence was offered, +that Pritchard had been in the habit of purchasing large quantities of +Batley’s solution of opium, which the manufacturers swore contained no +antimony. For the defence it was urged that there was no proof whatever +that poison had been administered by the prisoner, who had always lived +on affectionate terms with his wife, and that the motive suggested was +of the most trifling nature; that the stronger suspicion pointed to the +maidservant, Mary McLeod, on whose uncorroborated statements the chief +evidence against the prisoner lay. The senior counsel for the prisoner +(Mr. Clark) concluded his address by stating that the Crown had admitted +there were but two persons who could have committed the crime—the +prisoner and Mary McLeod. Mary McLeod’s hand had been found in +connection with every one of the acts in which poison was said to have +been administered in the food. The case against the prisoner seemed to +depend on a series of suspicions and probabilities, and not upon legal +proof, and upon these grounds he asked for a verdict of acquittal. + +The summing up of the Lord Justice-Clerk occupied three hours and twenty +minutes, on the conclusion of which the jury retired to consider their +verdict. After an absence of fifty-five minutes they returned with the +following verdict, “The jury unanimously find the prisoner guilty of +both charges as libelled.” + +Dr. Pritchard was thereupon sentenced to death, and was executed at +Glasgow on July 28, 1865. + +There can be little doubt that he fully deserved his fate. + + + + + CHAPTER VII + THE CASE OF DR. LAMSON + + +The only case on record in which the active principle of aconite has +been used for the purpose of criminal poisoning is that of Dr. Lamson, +who suffered the extreme penalty of the law for administering the drug +to Percy Malcolm John, and thereby causing his death. The story is +remarkable for the cold-blooded way in which the murder was carried out. + +George Henry Lamson, a surgeon in impecunious circumstances, had a +reversionary interest, through his wife, in a sum of £1,500, which would +come to him on the death of his brother-in-law, Percy Malcolm John. The +latter, a sickly youth of eighteen years of age, was paralysed in his +lower limbs from old-standing spinal disease. + +At the beginning of December, 1881, Lamson went down to the school where +John had been placed as a boarder, and had an interview with him in the +presence of the head master, professing at the same time a kindly +interest in the youth and his health. During the interview he produced +some gelatine capsules, one of which he offered to the head master in +order that he might see how easily it dissolved in the mouth, and +another he filled with a white powder presumed to be sugar and gave to +his brother-in-law. Directly after seeing him swallow it he took his +departure. Within a quarter of an hour, the boy became unwell, saying he +felt the same as when Lamson had given him a quinine pill on a former +occasion, also adding “My skin feels all drawn up and my throat +burning.” + +Violent vomiting soon set in, and he became unable to swallow. This was +rapidly followed by delirium, and in three hours and three-quarters +death ensued. + +A post-mortem examination was ordered, and the organs of the body, +together with the remainder of the capsules, and various pills and +powders found in the boy’s room which had been sent to him at different +times by Dr. Lamson, were sent for analysis. Meanwhile from information +received by the police from another quarter Lamson was arrested and +charged with the murder of his brother-in-law. + +The trial began on March 9, 1882, before Mr. Justice Hawkins, the +Solicitor-General, Mr. Poland, appearing for the prosecution, and Mr. +Montagu Williams and others for the defence. + +The Solicitor-General in his opening speech stated, that the post-mortem +on the body revealed the fact, that the only sign of disease was the +old-standing curvature of the spine and evidence of paralysis in the +lower extremities. There was much, however, that called for remark in +the condition of the stomach and other organs. The conclusion that the +medical men came to was, that there was no natural cause to account for +death, but that the state of the stomach indicated that death had +resulted from poison—not what was called a local irritant poison, but +some vegetable poison which had acted upon the nerves and other centres. + +Dr. Stevenson, who, together with Dr. Dupré, had conducted the analysis, +gave evidence, and began by stating that he had received besides the +organs of the body, certain packets of pills, powders, sugar, etc. +Working in collaboration with Dr. Dupré, he applied a modification of +Stas’s process to the liver, spleen and kidneys, and the result obtained +was an alkaloidal extract which contained a trace of morphine, and when +placed on the tongue gave a faint sensation like that produced by +aconitine. The contents of the stomach, treated by the same process, +also revealed an alkaloidal extract which when tasted produced the same +faint sensation as that of aconitine. “When placed on the tongue,” he +continued, “the contact caused a burning sensation which extended to the +lip, although the extract did not touch the lip. The character of the +sensation was a burning and a tingling, a kind of numbness. It is +difficult to describe. It produced a salivation, a desire to expectorate +and a sensation at the back of the throat as if it were swelling up, and +this was followed by a peculiar seared feeling as if a hot iron had been +drawn over the tongue, or some strong caustic placed upon it. + +“The effect of aconitine is a burning feeling extending down towards the +stomach. It is a sickening feeling peculiar to this substance. I have +never found it in any other alkaloid, and I have tasted a great number. + +“With a portion of the alkaloidal extract,” Dr. Stevenson proceeded, “I +made an experiment. I dissolved it and injected it beneath the skin of a +mouse. The animal was obviously affected in two minutes. From that time +onward it exhibited symptoms of poisoning and died in thirty minutes +from the time of the injection of the substance. I then made a similar +experiment with Morson’s preparation of aconitine, procured specially +for this purpose. I dissolved it in the same solution that I had used +for the extract and operated with it on the mouse in the same manner. +The effect was indistinguishable from that of the extract.” + +This same experiment was repeated with extracts made from the different +organs, and each time the same result was obtained. On analysis of the +vomit an alkaloidal extract was again obtained. Dr. Stevenson applied +this to his tongue and found it had a very powerful result, the effect +lasting markedly for six and a half hours. On an injection being made +into the back of a mouse it was severely affected in two and a half +minutes and death resulted in fifteen minutes. “Parallel results,” he +stated, “were obtained with aconitine. In my judgment the vomit +contained a considerable quantity of aconitine. Approximately, it was +not less than one-seventh and not more than one-fourth of a grain. There +has only been one fatal case that I know of in which aconitine has +caused the death of a human being, and the quantity that proved +fatal—the quantity that actually caused death—was known not to be less +than one-thirteenth of a grain.” + +Dr. Stevenson then described the results of the analysis of the various +powders, pills, etc., that had been handed to him. In the sweetmeats, +cake and sugar he found no trace of poison at all. He then turned to the +quinine powders, of which there were fourteen. “My attention,” he said, +“was called to one by Dr. Dupré. It was a little different in colour, as +also were two others, and was obvious to the trained eye. An analysis of +one revealed 0·83 gr. of aconitine and 0·93 gr. of quinine.” On testing +one of the pills also, he came to the conclusion that it contained 0·45, +or nearly half a grain of aconitine. + +The capsules were handed to the judge, who remarked that the half grain +took up barely one-tenth of the space in the capsule. + +In the course of the trial it transpired that the prisoner had become +possessed of aconitine a few days before the crime was committed. On the +11th of November he had been to a chemist in Oxford St., and had a +prescription made up consisting of atropine and morphine. On the 16th he +called again and asked for a grain of digitalin, saying it was for +external use. The liquid in the bottle was found to be discoloured, and +the assistant, fearing it might be impure, refused to supply it. A few +days later Dr. Lamson called again and asked for some aconitine. The +assistant, knowing this was a poison of a very dangerous character, +declined to supply it and advised him to go where he was better known. + +Dr. Lamson then went on November 24th to a firm of chemists in the city +and asked for two grains of aconitine. Asked for his name, he wrote +George H. Lamson, Bournemouth, and the name being in the Medical +Directory, he was duly supplied with the required amount. When the name +of Dr. Lamson appeared in the newspapers in connection with the death of +Percy John, the assistant who had supplied the poison drew the attention +of his employers to the circumstance, and the police were communicated +with. + +Mr. Montagu Williams, for the defence, urged that the results of Dr. +Stevenson’s and Dr. Dupré’s experiments were consistent with other +causes and suggested that the extracts which were so fatal to the mice +might contain certain animal poisons, the result of decomposition. He +contended that it had been admitted that very little was known of +aconitine, and that therefore these tests were not to be relied upon. +The proper verdict, he submitted, would be the Scottish one of “Non +Proven,” and as that was not possible in England, the prisoner was +entitled to an acquittal. He reminded the jury of the weak state of the +boy’s health, and the general expectation that he would not live long. + +The judge, in summing up, said the question for the jury to decide was +whether they were satisfied the deceased came to his death by poison, +and if so whether the poison was administered by the prisoner. It was +for the prosecution to prove the guilt of the prisoner, and if they +failed to do so the case was at an end. The trial lasted for six days, +and after the summing up, the jury retired, returning after an absence +of twenty-five minutes, with a verdict of “Guilty.” The judge then +pronounced sentence of death on Lamson, which was duly carried out on +August 28, 1882. + +According to evidence at the trial, it is probable that Lamson had made +several previous attempts on the boy’s life with aconitine in the form +of pills and powders, which he had given him under the pretence of +prescribing for his ailments. The money to which he was entitled on the +death of John doubtless supplied the motive for the crime. + +Lamson, as a medical man, no doubt knew that there was no chemical test +for aconitine, and that it would not be likely to be detected during the +post-mortem. In fact, there was nothing to show after the autopsy that +the cause of death was not natural, and it was only the few words +uttered by the dying boy, alluding to his sensations, which gave the +clue to the scientific investigators. + +The difficulty of proving the presence of a rare vegetable alkaloid in +the body after death was, no doubt, duly considered by Lamson when he +fixed on aconitine as the medium for his evil design, but science proved +the master of the criminal, and the evidence of the instrument by which +the crime was committed was proved indisputably. + + + + + CHAPTER VIII + THE PIMLICO MYSTERY + + +Chloroform belongs to the class of neurotic poisons which act on the +brain, and produce loss of sensation. It is a colourless, heavy and +volatile liquid, having a peculiar ethereal odour which cannot be easily +mistaken, and a sweet pungent taste when diluted. For producing +insensibility it requires both careful and experienced administration, +and more lives have been lost by carelessness in using than from the +noxious character of the drug. + +The stories that appear from time to time, of persons who have been +rendered unconscious simply by waving a chloroformed handkerchief before +the face, usually emanate from the fertile brain of some imaginative +journalist. As an internal poison chloroform has rarely been used, +although there are many cases on record where persons have accustomed +themselves to drinking chloroform, until they have been able to swallow +it in very large quantities. The one recorded instance in which it was +alleged to have been used internally for the criminal destruction of +life was in the remarkable case known as the “Pimlico Mystery.” + +The trial of Adelaide Bartlett, for the wilful murder of her husband by +administering chloroform to him, was held before Mr. Justice Wills at +the Central Criminal Court on April 12, 1886, and lasted for six days. +The case attracted considerable attention and interest throughout, which +culminated in a dramatic scene at the close, and the acquittal of the +accused woman. The strange relations which existed between Mrs. Bartlett +and her husband, with whose murder she was charged, the yet more strange +relations between her and the man who in the first instance was included +in the accusation, together with the exceptional circumstances of his +acquittal and his immediate appearance in the witness-box, formed a case +of peculiar dramatic interest. + +Thomas Edwin Bartlett was a grocer, having several shops in the suburbs +of London, and at the time of his death was forty years of age. In 1875 +he married a young French girl named Adelaide Blanche de la Tremoille, +who was a native of Orléans, whom he met at the house of his brother. +After the marriage he sent her to a boarding-school at Stoke Newington, +and she lived with her husband only during the vacation. At a later +period she went to a convent school in Belgium, where she remained for +about eighteen months, after which she rejoined her husband, and settled +down to live in London. During Christmas of 1881 she gave birth to a +stillborn child, which so affected her that she came to the resolution +that she would have no more children. Some four years later Mr. Bartlett +and his wife made the acquaintance of the Rev. George Dyson, a young +Wesleyan minister, who soon became on terms of great social intimacy, +visiting and dining with them frequently. The admiration for their +friend seems to have been common to both husband and wife. In 1885 Edwin +Bartlett made a will, leaving all he possessed to his wife, and making +Mr. Dyson and his solicitors his executors. Shortly afterwards the +Bartletts removed to furnished apartments in Claverton Street, Pimlico, +where they apparently lived on good terms, and were still frequently +visited by their friend Mr. Dyson. + +On December 10, in the same year, Mr. Bartlett became seriously ill. +Peculiar symptoms developed, which excited the curiosity and surprise of +the medical man called in to attend him. The state of his gums suggested +to the doctor that the illness was due to mercury, which in some way was +being administered to him, and he complained of nervous depression and +sleeplessness. He appeared to be gradually recovering from this, but on +December 19 Mr. Bartlett himself suggested that a second doctor should +be called in, lest, as he put it, “his friends should suspect, if +anything happened to him, that his wife was poisoning him.” The cause +for this was put down to some ill-feeling which had formerly existed +between Mrs. Bartlett and her husband’s father. A second practitioner, +therefore, was called in, and the patient, on December 26, though still +weak, was practically well and went out for a drive. + +The next day Mrs. Bartlett asked Mr. Dyson, who was constantly calling +at the house, to procure for her a considerable quantity of chloroform, +which she told him she had used before on her husband for some internal +ailment of long standing, and that this internal affection had upon +previous occasions given him paroxysms. She further expressed a belief +that he might die suddenly in one of these attacks. Dyson seems meekly +to have yielded to her request, and obtained three different lots of +chloroform, in all six ounces, from various chemists, giving the reason +that he required it for taking out grease spots, and placed it all +together in one bottle. Two days after, he met Mrs. Bartlett on the +Embankment and handed her the chloroform. + +During his illness, Mr. Bartlett had slept on a camp bedstead in the +front drawing-room, his wife occupying a sofa in the same room. On +December 31 he was apparently in good health, and about half-past ten +o’clock in the evening, Mrs. Bartlett told the servant she required +nothing else and retired with her husband for the night. At four o’clock +in the morning the house was aroused by Mrs. Bartlett, and it was +discovered her husband was dead in bed. + +The statement made by the lady was, that when her husband had settled +for the night she sat down at the foot of the bed with her hand resting +upon his feet. She dozed off in her chair, but awoke with a sensation of +cramp, and was horrified to find her husband’s feet were deathly cold. +She tried to pour some brandy down his throat, and then found he was +dead. She then aroused the household. The first person who entered the +room was the landlord, who noticed a peculiar smell that reminded him of +chloric ether. The doctor was promptly sent for, but from external +examination could find nothing to account for death. The only bottle +found was one that contained a drop or two of chlorodyne. A post-mortem +examination was held, and the stomach showed evidence of having +contained a considerable quantity of chloroform. There was no internal +disease or growth, the organs being quite healthy, and nothing to +account for death beyond the chloroform, which the medical men concluded +must have been the cause of death. + +The coroner’s inquiry resulted in a verdict of wilful murder against +Adelaide Bartlett and George Dyson, and they were both arrested. + +At the trial, the Crown decided to offer no evidence against Dyson, and, +after being indicted and pleading “Not guilty,” he was discharged by the +judge to be called as a witness. + +A brilliant array of counsel were engaged on the case, Sir Charles +Russell had charge of the prosecution, while the defence of Mrs. +Bartlett was entrusted to Sir Edward Clarke, and that of Mr. Dyson to +Mr. Lockwood. + +Dyson’s examination occupied nearly the whole of the second day of the +trial, during which he detailed the form of the intimacy between Mrs. +Bartlett and himself. He related how he procured the chloroform and +disposed of the bottles after hearing the result of the post-mortem by +throwing them away on Wandsworth Common while on his way to preach at +Tooting. He was in the habit of kissing Mrs. Bartlett, and usually +called her Adelaide. He had had conversations with Mr. Bartlett on the +subject of marriage, and had heard him express the opinion that a man +should have two wives, one to look after the household duties, and +another to be a companion and confidante. He had told Mr. Bartlett he +was becoming attached to his wife, but the latter seemed to encourage +it, and asked him to continue the intimacy. He did not mention the +matter of having procured the chloroform for Mrs. Bartlett until he had +heard the result of the post-mortem. + +The medical man called in to attend Mr. Bartlett during his illness +described the condition in which he found him, and his recovery from the +illness. He also gave an account of a very extraordinary statement, +which was made to him by Mrs. Bartlett after the death of her husband. +It was as follows. At the age of sixteen years she was selected by Mr. +Bartlett as a wife for companionship only, and for whom no carnal +feeling should be entertained. The marriage compact was, that they +should live together simply as loving friends. This rule was faithfully +observed for about six years of their married life, and then only broken +at her earnest and repeated entreaty that she should be permitted to be +really a wife and a mother. The child was stillborn, and from that time +the two lived together, but their relations were not those of matrimony. +Her husband showed great affection for her of an ultra-platonic kind, +and encouraged her to pursue various studies, which she did to please +him. He affected to admire her, and liked to surround her with male +acquaintances, and enjoy their attentions to her. Then they became +acquainted with Dyson. Her husband conceived a great liking for him, and +threw them together. He requested them to kiss in his presence and +seemed to enjoy it, and gave her to understand that he had “given her” +to Mr. Dyson. As her husband gradually recovered from his illness he +expressed a wish that they should resume the ordinary relations of man +and wife, but she resented it. She therefore sought for some means to +prevent his desire, and for this purpose she asked Dyson to procure the +chloroform. + +On the night of his death, some conversation of this kind had taken +place between them, and when he was in bed she brought the bottle of +chloroform. She gave it to him, informing him of her intention to +sprinkle some upon a handkerchief and wave it in his face, thinking that +thereby he would go peacefully to sleep. He looked at the bottle and +placed it by the side of the low bed, then, turning over on his side, +apparently went to sleep. She fell asleep also, sitting at the foot of +the bed, with her arm round his foot; she heard him snoring, then woke +again, and found he was dead. + +Dr. Stevenson, who made the analysis, gave evidence as to finding eleven +and a quarter grains of pure chloroform in the stomach of the deceased, +but, judging from the time that had elapsed and the very volatile nature +of the liquid, a large quantity must have been swallowed. No other +poisons were found. The jury, after deliberating nearly two hours, +returned a verdict of “Not guilty,” and Mrs. Bartlett was acquitted. + +There was no evidence to prove that chloroform had been administered to +Mr. Bartlett, and it was suggested that he had awoke, and by mistake +swallowed some of the contents of the bottle. + + + + + CHAPTER IX + THE MAYBRICK CASE + + +On July 31, 1889, one the most remarkable poisoning cases on record was +tried before Mr. Justice Stephen, at the Liverpool Assizes. The trial, +which lasted eight days, excited the keenest interest in the locality +and throughout the country, especially as the principal actors in the +tragedy were people of good social position and well known. The accused, +Mrs. Florence Maybrick, wife of a Liverpool merchant, was charged with +causing the death of her husband by administering arsenic to him. + +About the end of April, 1889, Mr. James Maybrick, who lived at +Grassendale, near Liverpool, was seized with a peculiar illness, of +which the main symptoms consisted of a rigidity of the limbs and a +general feeling of sickness which quite prostrated him, and eventually +confined him to bed. The local medical man who was called in to attend +him, attributed the cause to extreme irritability of the stomach and +treated him accordingly. Becoming puzzled by the persistent sickness and +the rapidly increasing weakness of his patient, he called a physician in +consultation. From this time he grew considerably worse and severer +symptoms set in, which caused the doctors to suspect the cause was due +to some irritant poison. This was confirmed by the discovery that +arsenic had been placed in a bottle of meat-juice that was being +administered to the sick man. At the instance of the physician called in +consultation, trained nurses were placed in charge, and a close watch +kept on the patient, but without avail, and he died on May 11. + +From statements made to the police, suspicions were aroused, Mrs. +Maybrick was arrested, and eventually charged with the wilful murder of +her husband. + +From evidence given at the trial, it transpired that the relations +between husband and wife had not been of the most cordial character for +some time. There were frequent disagreements, and just before Mr. +Maybrick was taken ill there had been a serious quarrel, resulting from +his wife’s relations with another man. The lady resented the accusation, +and a separation was contemplated. The fatal illness then intervened, +during the first portion of which Mrs. Maybrick nursed her husband. A +letter addressed to her lover, which she had given to a nursemaid to +post, was opened by the girl and handed to Mr. Maybrick’s brother, +trained nurses were called in and the sick man placed in their sole +charge. This letter, which formed one of the strongest pieces of +evidence against the accused, revealed the connection between Mrs. +Maybrick and her lover, and conveyed the intelligence to him that her +husband was “sick unto death.” Evidence was also given by the servants +of fly-papers having been seen in process of maceration in water in Mrs. +Maybrick’s bedroom. The trained nurses also gave evidence concerning the +suspicious conduct of Mrs. Maybrick in tampering with the medicines and +meat-juice which were to be administered to the patient. These +suspicions culminated in the discovery of arsenic in a bottle of +meat-juice by one of the medical attendants. Considerable quantities of +arsenic were found by the police in the house, including a packet +containing seventy-one grains, mixed with charcoal, and labelled “Poison +for cats.” + +The analytical examination was conducted by Dr. Stevenson and Mr. Edward +Davis, a Liverpool analyst, who discovered traces of arsenic in the +intestines, and 0·049 of a grain of arsenic in the liver, traces of the +poison being also found in the spleen. Arsenic was also found in various +medicine bottles, on handkerchiefs, in bottles of glycerin, and in the +pocket of a dressing-gown belonging to the accused. Dr. Stevenson stated +that he believed the body of the deceased at the time of death probably +contained a fatal dose of arsenic. + +The scientific evidence adduced at the trial was of a very conflicting +character. On one hand, the medical men who attended the deceased, and +the Government analyst, swore they believed that death was caused from +the effects of arsenic; while on the other, Dr. Tidy, who was called for +the defence, stated as an expert that the quantity of arsenic discovered +in the body did not point to the fact that an overdose had been +administered. He believed that death had been due to gastro-enteritis of +some kind or other, but that the symptoms and post-mortem appearances +distinctly pointed away from arsenic as the cause of death. Dr. +Macnamara, ex-president of the Royal College of Surgeons, Ireland, also +stated that in his opinion Mr. Maybrick’s death had not been caused by +arsenical poisoning and that he agreed with Dr. Tidy that the cause was +gastro-enteritis, unconnected with arsenical poisoning. For the defence, +it was also urged that the deceased man had been in the habit of taking +arsenic in considerable quantities for some years. In support of this, +witnesses were called to prove that he had been in the habit of taking a +mysterious white powder, and that while living in America, he frequently +purchased arsenic from chemists, who knew he was in the habit of taking +it. A negro, who had been in the service of the deceased in America, +also deposed to seeing him take this white powder in beef tea. + +Sir Charles Russell, in his speech for the defence, stated that Mr. +Maybrick had been in the habit of taking arsenic for many years, and was +a man who prided himself on his knowledge of medicine. What was more +likely than that he should have had a supply of that poison in the +house, and that he had ultimately dosed himself to death with it? + +After the last witness for the defence had left the box, Sir Charles +Russell held a rapid consultation with Mrs. Maybrick. A glance of +dissatisfaction crossed his face as he turned to the judge and asked if +the prisoner might make a statement. The judge replied in the +affirmative and the accused woman rose to her feet, and in a low voice +broken by emotion read the following plea from a written paper she held +in her hand, amid the breathless silence of those in court:— + + +“My Lord, I wish to make a statement, as well as I can, about a few +facts in connection with the dreadful and crushing charge against me—the +charge of poisoning my husband and father of my dear children. I wish +principally to refer to the fly-paper solution. The fly-papers I bought +with the intention of using the solution as a cosmetic. Before my +marriage, and since for many years, I have been in the habit of using +this wash for the face prescribed for me by Dr. Graves, of Brooklyn. It +consisted, I believe, principally, of arsenic, tincture of benzoin, +elder-flower water, and some other ingredients. This prescription I lost +or mislaid last April, and as at the time I was suffering from an +eruption on the face, I thought I should like to try and make a +substitute myself. I was anxious to get rid of this eruption before I +went to a ball on the 30th of that month. When I had been in Germany +among my young friends there, I had seen used a solution derived from +fly-papers soaked in elder-flower water, and then applied to the face +with a handkerchief well soaked in the solution. I procured the +fly-papers and used them in the same manner, and to avoid evaporation I +put the solution into a bottle so as to avoid as much as possible the +admission of the air. For this purpose I put a plate over the +fly-papers, then a folded towel over that, and then another towel over +that. My mother has been aware for a great many years that I have used +arsenic in solution. I now wish to speak of his illness. On Thursday +night, May 9, after the nurse had given my husband medicine I went and +sat on the bed beside him. He complained to me of feeling very sick, +very weak and very restless. He implored me then again to give him a +powder which he had referred to earlier in the evening, and which I +declined to give him. I was over-wrought, terribly anxious, miserably +unhappy, and his evident distress utterly unnerved me. As he told me the +powder would not harm him, and that I could put it in his food, I then +consented. My Lord, I had not one true or honest friend in the house. I +had no one to consult, no one to advise me. I was deposed from my +position as mistress of my own house, and from the position of attending +on my husband, and notwithstanding that he was so ill, and +notwithstanding the evidence of the nurses and the servants, I may say +that he missed me whenever I was not with him; whenever I was out of the +room he asked for me, and four days before he died I was not allowed to +give him a piece of ice without its being taken out of my hand. I took +the meat-juice into the inner room. On going through the door I spilled +some of the liquid from the bottle, and in order to make up the quantity +spilled I put in a considerable quantity of water. On returning into the +room I found my husband asleep. I placed the bottle on the table near +the window. As he did not ask for anything then, and as I was not +anxious to give him anything, I removed it from the small table where it +attracted his attention and put it on the washstand where he could not +see it. There I left it. Until Tuesday, May 14, the Tuesday after my +husband’s death, till a few moments before the terrible charge was made +against me, no one in that house had informed me of the fact that a +death certificate had been refused—or that there was any reason to +suppose that my husband had died from any other than natural causes. It +was only when a witness alluded to the presence of arsenic in the +meat-juice that I was made aware of the nature of the powder my husband +had been taking. In conclusion, I only wish to say that for the love of +our children, and for the sake of their future, a perfect reconciliation +had taken place between us, and on the day before his death I made a +full and free confession to him.” + + +It was evident from Sir Charles Russell’s manner when he rose to make +his final appeal that Mrs. Maybrick had made her statement against his +wish, but he still fought valiantly in her cause, and urged that if it +had not been for the act of infidelity on her part there could be no +motive assigned in the case, and surely, he declared, there was a wide +difference between the grave moral guilt of unfaithfulness and the +criminal act involved in the deliberate plotting, by such wicked means, +the felonious death of her husband. He closed his eloquent and brilliant +appeal by putting two questions to the jury:— + +1. Was there clear, safe and satisfactory unequivocal proof that death +was in fact caused by arsenical poisoning? + +2. Had the accused woman administered that poison, if to the poison the +death of her husband was due? + +On the eighth day of the trial the judge summed up the evidence and the +jury retired at 3.15, and had barely been absent thirty-eight minutes +when they returned to the court with the verdict of “Guilty.” + +On being asked by the clerk if she had anything to say, Mrs. Maybrick +replied “I have been found guilty, but excepting my moral fault I am not +guilty.” The judge then passed sentence of death. + +[Illustration: + + [_Copyright._ + + BOTTLE OF MEAT JUICE AND A BOTTLE CONTAINING MEAT JUICE AND WATER + EXHIBITED IN THE MAYBRICK CASE. +] + +The sentence aroused considerable feeling and the country was divided +into two parties, one protesting that Mrs. Maybrick was innocent, and +the other that she was guilty. An agitation was at once made for a +reprieve, which ended in a respite being granted and the sentence being +commuted to penal servitude for life. + +For some years afterwards efforts were continually made to secure Mrs. +Maybrick’s release, and successive Home Secretaries investigated the +circumstances of the case, but always decided the conviction must stand. +Sir Charles Russell frequently affirmed his belief in Mrs. Maybrick’s +innocence, and attributed the jury’s verdict to his remarks upon the +moral aspect of the case, and even after he became Lord Chief Justice of +England he stated his personal belief that she was not guilty. + +The late Lord Moulton, who was an eminent scientist as well as a great +lawyer, took a deep interest in this case, and in a letter to the +writer, written in 1899, stated: + + +“The point of interest was one of evidence as to the cause of death. I +have always been of opinion that—taking into consideration the fact that +the deceased was an arsenic-eater—there was no evidence that he was +poisoned. The weight of the medical testimony was in favour of that +view, but that was not the main point. In my opinion the testimony for +the prosecution entirely failed to support the onus which lay upon it. +The witnesses could not point out anything inconsistent with +non-poisoning.” + + +“This case,” says Sir William Willcox, “is interesting from the fact +that the proof of fatal poisoning rested on the presence of 0·049 grain +of arsenic in the liver, the minimum fatal dose being about two grains.” + +Whether Mrs. Maybrick did actually administer arsenic to her husband +_with intent to kill him_ she alone could tell. On her own confession +she admitted having given him a certain white powder for which he +craved, of the nature of which, however, she said she was ignorant. +There can be no doubt this powder was arsenic. If she did not know the +powder was arsenic and did not give it with intent to kill him, then +surely such a web of circumstantial evidence has never before been woven +round one accused of having committed a terrible crime. + + + + + CHAPTER X + THE LAMBETH POISON MYSTERIES + + +Towards the close of the year 1891 and the early part of 1892, public +interest was excited by the mysterious deaths of several young women of +the “unfortunate class” residing in the neighbourhood of Lambeth. The +first case was that of a girl named Matilda Clover, who lived in Lambeth +Road. On the night of October 20, 1891, she spent the evening at a +music-hall in company with a man, who returned with her to her lodgings +about nine o’clock. Shortly afterwards she was seen to go out alone, and +she purchased some bottled beer, which she carried to her rooms. After a +little time the man left the house. + +At three o’clock in the morning the inmates of the house were aroused by +the screams of a woman, and on the landlady entering Matilda Clover’s +room, she found the unfortunate girl lying across the bed in the +greatest agony. Medical aid was sent for, and the assistant of a +neighbouring doctor saw the girl, and judged she was suffering from the +effects of drink. He prescribed a sedative mixture, but the girl got +worse, and, after a further convulsion, died on the following morning. +The medical man whose assistant had seen her on the previous night, gave +a certificate that death was due to delirium tremens and syncope, and +Matilda Clover was buried at Tooting. + +A few weeks afterwards a woman called Ellen Donworth, who resided in +Duke Street, Westminster Bridge Road, is stated to have received a +letter, in consequence of which she went out between six and seven in +the evening. About eight o’clock she was found in Waterloo Road in great +agony, and died while she was being conveyed to St. Thomas’s Hospital. +Before her death she made a statement that a man with a dark beard and +wearing a high hat had given her “two drops of white stuff” to drink. In +this case a post-mortem examination was made, and on analysis both +strychnine and morphine were found in the stomach, proving that the +woman had been poisoned. + +These cases had almost been forgotten, when some six months afterwards, +attention was again aroused by the mysterious deaths of two girls named +Alice Marsh and Emma Shrivell, who lodged in Stamford Street. On the +evening of April 11, 1892, a man, whom one of the girls in her dying +testimony called “Fred” and whom she described as a doctor, called to +see them, and together they partook of tea. The man stayed till 2 a.m., +and during the evening gave them both “three long pills.” + +Half an hour after the man left the house, both girls were found in a +dying condition. While they were being removed to the hospital Alice +Marsh died in the cab, and Emma Shrivell lived for only six hours +afterwards. The result of an analysis of the stomach and organs revealed +the fact that death in each case had been caused by strychnine. + +There was absolutely no evidence beyond the vague description of the man +for the police to work upon, and this case, like the others with which +at first it was not connected, seemed likely to remain among the +unsolved mysteries; when by the following curious chain of +circumstances, the perpetrator of these cold-blooded crimes was at last +brought to justice. + +Some time after the deaths of the two girls Marsh and Shrivell, a Dr. +Harper, of Barnstaple, received a letter, in which the writer stated +that he had indisputable evidence that the doctor’s son, who had +recently qualified as a medical practitioner in London, had poisoned two +girls—Marsh and Shrivell—and that he, the writer, required £1,500 to +suppress it. Dr. Harper placed this letter in the hands of the police, +with the result that on June 3, 1892, a man named Thomas Neill, or Neill +Cream, was arrested on the charge of sending a threatening letter. He +was brought up at Bow Street on this charge several times, during which +it transpired that in the preceding November a well-known London +physician had also received a letter, in which the writer declared that +he had evidence to show that the physician had poisoned a Miss Clover +with strychnine, which evidence he could purchase for £2,500, and so +save himself from ruin. + +Neill Cream was remanded, and in the meanwhile the body of Matilda +Clover was exhumed, and the contents of the stomach sent to Dr. +Stevenson, one of the Government analysts, for examination. He +discovered the presence of strychnine, and came to the conclusion that +some one had administered a fatal dose to her. + +An inquest was then held on the body of Matilda Clover, with the result +that Thomas Neill, or Neill Cream, was committed on the charge of wilful +murder. + +The man’s lodgings were searched after his arrest, and a curious piece +of paper was discovered, on which, written in pencil in his handwriting, +were the initials “M. C.” and opposite to them two dates, and then a +third date, viz. October 20, which was the date of Matilda Clover’s +death. On the same paper, in connection with the initials “E. S.,” was +also found two dates, one being April 11, which was the date of Emma +Shrivell’s death. There was also found in his possession a paper bearing +the address of Marsh and Shrivell, and it was afterwards proved that he +had said on more than one occasion that he knew them well. + +In his room a quantity of small pills was discovered, each containing +from one-sixteenth to one-twenty-second of a grain of strychnine, also +fifty-four other bottles of pills, seven of which contained strychnine, +a pocket medicine case, and a bottle containing one hundred and +sixty-eight pills, each containing one-twenty-second of a grain of +strychnine. These, it is supposed, he obtained as an agent for the +Harvey Drug Co., of America. It was found he had purchased a quantity of +empty gelatine capsules from a chemist in Parliament Street, which there +is little doubt he had used to administer a number of the small pills in +a poisonous dose. + +Thomas Neill, or Neill Cream, was tried for the wilful murder of Matilda +Clover at the Central Criminal Court before Mr. Justice Hawkins, on +October 18, 1892, the trial lasting five days. + +It transpired that Cream, who had received some medical education and +styled himself a doctor, came to this country from America on October 1, +1891, and on arriving in London first stayed at Anderton’s Hotel, in +Fleet Street. Shortly afterwards he took apartments in Lambeth, and +became engaged to a lady living at Berkhampstead. + +[Illustration: + + [_Copyright._ + + STETHOSCOPE AND POCKET MEDICINE CASE CARRIED BY NEILL CREAM. +] + +He was identified as having been seen in the company of Matilda Clover, +and also by a policeman as the man who left the house in Stamford Street +on the night that Marsh and Shrivell were murdered. + +Dr. Stevenson, who made the analysis of the body of Matilda Clover on +May 6, 1892, stated in his evidence that he found strychnine in the +stomach, liver, and brain, and that quantitatively he obtained +one-sixteenth of a grain of strychnine from two pounds of animal matter. +He also examined the organs from the bodies of Alice Marsh and Emma +Shrivell. He found 6·39 grains of strychnine in the stomach and its +contents of Alice Marsh, and 1·6 grain of strychnine in the stomach and +its contents, also 1·46 grain in the vomit, and 0·2 grain in a small +portion of the liver of Emma Shrivell. + +The jury, after deliberating for ten minutes, returned a verdict of +guilty, and Thomas Neill, or Neill Cream, as he was otherwise known, was +sentenced to death. He was executed on November 15, 1892. + + + + + CHAPTER XI + SOME POISON MYSTERIES IN FRANCE + + +For centuries past poison has played a prominent part in love intrigues +which form so common a feature in French life. Such crimes are generally +incited by jealousy or the desire to remove some obstacle that obstructs +the path of the ardent lover. A typical case of this character and one +which caused a great sensation at the time, occurred at Bordeaux in +1906, when Madame Canaby was tried for attempting to poison her husband. +Monsieur and Madame Canaby were people of good position and well known +in Bordeaux society. The arrest of the lady, therefore, caused +considerable interest. The story is somewhat remarkable. Early in 1906 +Monsieur Canaby was taken ill with influenza, and on the 27th of that +month his cook called at a pharmacy in the city with a prescription +which contained a large quantity of aconite and digitalin, two very +powerful poisons. The prescription was signed by a “Dr. Gaube.” The +pharmacist, who happened to be the uncle of Madame Canaby, knew that his +niece and her husband were friendly with Dr. Gaube, who lived some +distance away from Bordeaux. His natural surprise at the large quantity +of the powerful poisons ordered was somewhat allayed by a note which +accompanied the prescription, stating that Dr. Gaube required the +poisons for experimental purposes. M. Fouries, the pharmacist, then +wrote a note to his niece, whom he had not seen for three years, +explaining that although he had dispensed this prescription he could not +in future deliver such dangerous drugs by a messenger. He further +cautioned the servant, saying, “Be careful; there is enough there to +poison thirty men!” + +On May 1 M. Erny, the pharmacist who usually dispensed for Madame +Canaby, received a prescription for one gramme of digitalin, signed by +Dr. Gaube, also accompanied by a note similar to that presented to M. +Fouries. This was followed by another prescription on May 4 for one +gramme of aconitine and five centigrams of digitalin. Five days +afterwards a third prescription was presented for one gramme of +potassium cyanide and one gramme of digitalin, both of which are +extremely virulent poisons. The pharmacist’s suspicions now being +aroused, he refused to dispense the last prescription, and on May 11 he +called on Dr. Guérin, whom he knew to be attending M. Canaby, and showed +him the prescription. The following day Dr. Guérin called in four +physicians, and after a consultation it was decided to remove M. Canaby +to a private hospital under the charge of Dr. Villar. Here, carefully +watched, M. Canaby gradually made some progress toward recovery. + +Meanwhile, the doctors submitted the prescriptions to Dr. Gaube, who at +once pronounced them forgeries and lodged a complaint with the Procureur +of the Republic. A police inquiry followed, and a search was made in the +Canabys’ house, which resulted in the discovery of a large number of +empty bottles which had formerly contained Fowler’s Solution of Arsenic. +An analysis being made of the hair of M. Canaby, it revealed the +presence of arsenic to the extent of forty milligrams per kilo, and in +hair from his beard twenty-six milligrams. + +The arrest of Madame Canaby quickly followed, and she was committed for +trial on the charge of attempting to poison her husband. The motive for +the cause was assigned to an intimacy Madame had formed with a Monsieur +Rabot, a friend of the family. + +At the trial M. Canaby, still weak and ill, was brought to the Court and +strongly affirmed his wife’s innocence. He stated his belief that a +discharged servant had by means of anonymous letters instigated the +prosecution. He ascribed the presence of arsenic in his beard to patent +medicines which he had been in the habit of taking in large doses. M. +Rabot, whose intimacy with Madame Canaby had given rise to some scandal, +denied that any improper relations existed between him and the lady. The +onus of proving the case then rested with the medical men who had been +in attendance on M. Canaby. Beyond a few explanations, however, they +declined to say anything, stating that they could not say more without +betraying the secrets of their patients, which professional usage +forbade. + +The President of the Court informed Dr. Villar, the chief medical +witness, that his refusal to speak would probably tell against the +prisoner. + +“I will ask her to release you from your pledge,” continued the +President. + +“I want the truth to be told; I don’t want anyone to keep silence on my +account,” broke in Madame Canaby. + +“So now you can speak,” remarked the President. + +“Not at all,” replied the doctor. “No one can release us from our pledge +of secrecy, and certainly not Madame Canaby, who was not our patient.” + +“But every good citizen under pain of punishment is bound to disclose +any criminal act that is known to have been committed by another,” said +the President sharply. + +“On the contrary,” replied the witness, “the law punishes those who +violate professional secrecy and did so recently in Paris. Even if we +know an accused person guilty, we would refuse to speak.” + +For the defence, evidence was adduced that M. Canaby was in the habit of +taking a certain patent medicine that contained arsenic. Of the three +experts who were called to give an opinion on the writing of the +prescriptions, one declared the writing resembled that of M. Rabot, +while the others averred that it was unquestionably that of Madame +Canaby, who had attempted to disguise her hand. + +Madame herself declared that the poisons when received had been handed +to her by a fair young man, who came presumably from Dr. Gaube, but as +to his identity she could trace nothing. + +In the end, Madame Canaby was acquitted on the charge of attempting to +poison her husband, but was found guilty of forging medical +prescriptions, by which poison was fraudulently obtained by her. For +this she was sentenced to fifteen months’ imprisonment and a fine of a +hundred francs. + +Another strange case, the motive for which can only be assigned to a +disordered brain, happened in Varennes, a village near Saint +Amand-Montroud. In April, 1905, a well-to-do farmer named Gilbert died +suddenly, and six months afterwards his wife expired in a similar +manner. In September of the following year, another farmer in the same +district, called Renaud, died very suddenly, and within a month his wife +succumbed to a mysterious illness. In the meantime, one of their farm +labourers also died from an unexplained cause, and a young man, who was +steward of a neighbouring château, together with his little daughter, +was likewise fatally attacked. No suspicions of foul play were +apparently aroused until a considerable time afterwards, when Madame +Pallot, a villager, found a small cheese on her window-sill, which she +took to be a present from a neighbour. She ate some of it with her +lunch, and in less than three hours she was dead. + +The origin of the cheese, which on analysis proved to be strongly +impregnated with arsenic, was traced to a young married woman named +Jeanne Gilbert, the daughter of the farmer Renaud and the +daughter-in-law of M. and Mme Gilbert, all of whom had died in a similar +manner. She was arrested and charged with the murder of Madame Pallot. + +M. Bouillot, a pharmacist of Saint Amand, was able to prove from his +poison register that Jeanne Gilbert had bought arsenic by the half pound +from him, stating that she required it for poisoning rats on the farm, +and she might have had two pounds of the poison in her possession at one +time. Jeanne at first stoutly denied that she had purchased the arsenic, +and declared she did not even know the pharmacist. Even when confronted +with the _juge d’instruction_ she continued her denials, but the +pharmacist had been careful to make her sign his register on the +occasion of each purchase. The judge required her to sign her name, with +the result that the identity of the writing was at once established. + +When compared, the dates of sales and the deaths of the woman’s +relatives practically corresponded. She subsequently admitted the +purchases of the arsenic, but adhered to her original assertion that she +used it for destroying rats. Altogether, it is suspected that Jeanne +Gilbert poisoned no fewer than eleven persons. + +The most extraordinary feature of the case was that she appeared to have +no possible motive for committing these terrible crimes, as she was +comfortably settled in life. Her parents were in good circumstances, and +she could expect no advantages to accrue from their deaths, or that of +her future mother-in-law and the other persons she is believed to have +poisoned. The only explanation offered is the statement of her husband +that her mind may have been affected by an illness after which he had +noticed that she sometimes acted strangely. + +A more recent case which excited great interest throughout France was +that of Henri Girard, who died in prison while awaiting trial. About +1909 this individual, who passed as an insurance agent, was living at +Montreuil-sous-Bois. Well educated, of good appearance, and apparently a +cultured man with a leaning towards music, literature and science, he +soon became popular among a wide circle in the district in which he +lived and also in Paris. Among his acquaintances was a wealthy man named +Pernotte, who after some persuasion consented to have his life insured +in two different companies for a total sum of £8,400, which was to be +payable to Girard in case of Pernotte’s death. + +A short time afterwards all the members of Pernotte’s family were +stricken with typhoid fever, but in the course of time they recovered +and went away for a holiday. On their return, however, as M. Pernotte +was still feeling weak, his friend Girard, who claimed to have some +medical knowledge and was interested in science, gave him a hypodermic +injection which he said would speedily put him on his feet again. +Pernotte died soon afterwards, and the physicians who examined the body +declared that death resulted from poisoning. + +Girard, it was afterwards discovered, made an entry in his diary at this +time as follows: “Poisons; prepare bottle, tubes, rubber gloves; buy +microbe books.” + +Police inquiries were set on foot and disclosed the fact that Girard at +this time was studying bacteriology, and had actually bought cultures of +typhoid bacilli, and a selection of toxic organisms and poisons were +found at his house. + +Meanwhile Girard calmly took possession of the £8,400 for which he had +insured the life of M. Pernotte. + +He appears to have been a man possessed of the most extraordinary power +of attraction for both men and women; his manners are said to have been +charming, and the courtly tone of his conversation gave him the name +among his acquaintance of “Gentleman Girard.” + +Once his intimate friends came within the sphere of his magnetic +personality they seem to have surrendered their wills entirely to his. + +In 1913 he became very friendly with a M. Godel, and the latter agreed, +at the suggestion of Girard, to take out a joint life insurance for +£8,000. In case of the death of one, the money was to go to the +survivor. M. Godel after lunching one day with Girard was taken ill with +typhoid fever; he eventually recovered, but becoming suspicious, he +refused to see Girard again, to which decision he no doubt owed his +life. + +Girard was mobilized during the war and served in the automobile service +in Paris where he made the acquaintance of a soldier called Delmas. +Delmas became very friendly with Girard, and, after having signed bills +in favour of the insurance agent, also took ill and developed typhoid +fever. He was sent, however, to a military hospital and recovered. + +It is stated that Girard was experimenting with microorganisms and had +bought quantities of typhoid cultures from wholesale druggists. At this +time, too, he fitted up a bacteriological laboratory in the house of a +woman with whom he lived at Neuilly. + +Finding that his efforts in using pathogenic organisms had proved so +uncertain in effects, he next turned his attention to the study of +poisonous fungi, and used the resulting poison on his next victim, a M. +Duroux, a post office employee, whose life, as in the previous cases, he +had insured for a large sum without the latter’s knowledge. + +Having invited him to dine at his house, it was said that he took the +opportunity of placing the poison in his food. The servants, it is +alleged, were told not to wash up, and they say that Girard and one of +his mistresses washed the plates and knives and forks in a bath full of +antiseptic solution. Duroux, however, was none the worse. Girard’s +notebook at this time shows the following entry: “Mimiche +Dinner—mushrooms,” opposite the dates May 10 and 11, 1917. The dinner +took place on May 14. In December of the same year Duroux twice went to +a café with Girard and each time was taken violently ill afterwards. + +The next victim was a Madame Monin, a widow, with whom Girard became +very intimate. Having taken out four insurance policies on her life, he +then decided to poison her. He persuaded her to come to the house of his +future wife, a Mlle Drouhin, to see some hats, and while Mme Monin was +so engaged, Girard offered her some refreshment and wine was brought +into the room. The hat having been selected, the lady partook of a glass +of wine handed to her by Girard, which is said to have contained a +poison he had prepared from fungi specially for this purpose. + +It acted very rapidly, as the unfortunate lady was taken ill in the +street almost directly afterwards, and after being taken by two +policemen to her home, she died three hours later. A post-mortem +examination revealed the fact that she died from mushroom poisoning. +Girard, however, was bold enough to make a claim on the insurance +policies, but owing to the refusal of one of the companies to pay £400, +the amount of one policy which he had taken out with them on the life of +Mme Monin, he was arrested. + +It was then discovered that two other insurance companies had already +handed over to Girard or his accomplices over £800 without inquiries. +Girard, as agent, having secured the business in each case, had +according to custom been paid the first premium as his commission. + +After his arrest, on his house being searched, in his laboratory, which +was completely equipped, were found a considerable number of poisons and +a number of glass jars containing typhoid cultures and other organisms. +Inquiries revealed other mysterious cases on which Girard had operated +back to 1913, and brought to light another, of a man whom he had invited +to dinner and who had died after drinking an apéritif which had been +offered to him by Girard. + +The preliminary legal investigation into this remarkable series of +crimes lasted nearly three years, and in the end Girard was sent before +the Chamber of Criminal Indictment, but before the trial took place at +the Paris Assizes death had cheated the guillotine. Girard died in +prison after he had made, it is said, a full confession of his crimes. + + + + + CHAPTER XII + THE HORSFORD CASE + + +Towards the close of the year 1897, a widow, called Mrs. Holmes, was +living with her three children at Stonely, near Kimbolton. She had a +cousin named Walter Horsford, a well-to-do young farmer who occupied a +farm at Spaldwick, about twelve miles away, and who frequently came to +Stonely to visit her. + +A romantic attachment eventually sprang up between them, which resulted +in a too intimate acquaintance. + +After a while Horsford’s affection began to wane, and in the end he +married another lady. Shortly afterwards Mrs. Holmes left Stonely and +took up her residence at St. Neots. + +About December of the same year she wrote a letter to Horsford, +informing him of her condition, a piece of news which appears to have +greatly upset him, as he was in fear the information might reach his +wife. + +On December 28 he called at a chemist’s shop in Thrapstone, a +neighbouring town, and asked for a shilling’s worth of strychnine, some +prussic acid, arsenic, and carbolic acid, which he stated he required +for poisoning rats. The chemist, to whom he was a stranger, requested +him to bring a witness, which he did, and the chemist’s poison register +was duly signed by Horsford and a man who introduced him. He took the +poisons, which consisted of ninety grains of strychnine, one pound of +arsenic, and some prussic acid and carbolic acid, away with him. + +About a week afterwards Mrs. Holmes received a letter from Horsford. It +was taken in by her daughter, who recognized his handwriting, and the +envelope is also supposed to have contained two packets of strychnine. + +On the evening of January 7, 1898, Mrs. Holmes retired to bed, +apparently in her usual health, about half-past nine. The only other +persons in the house were her daughter Annie, her son Percy, and her +infant. The daughter noticed that her mother took a glass of water +upstairs with her, which was an unusual circumstance. On going to her +mother’s bedroom shortly afterwards, she found her suffering great pain, +and she saw the glass, now almost empty, standing on a chest of drawers. + +Percy Holmes ran out and called in the assistance of some neighbours, +and then went for a doctor. When medical aid arrived, the unfortunate +woman was in convulsions and died shortly afterwards. + +The day after her death the police searched the house, but failed to +find any trace of poison, and an inquest was held on January 8, which +Horsford was summoned to attend. + +In his evidence before the coroner, he swore that he had neither written +to nor seen the deceased woman. The medical evidence proved that death +was caused by strychnine. + +The inquest was adjourned for a week, and in the meanwhile Mrs. Holmes +was buried. From information received by the police, a further search +was made in the house, with the result that two packets were discovered +under the feather bed in Mrs. Holmes’s bedroom. One packet of +buff-coloured paper was found to contain about thirty-three grains of +strychnine in powder, on which was written the words, “One dose. Take as +told,” in Horsford’s handwriting. On the second packet, the contents of +which had been used, was written, “Take in a little water. ’Tis quite +harmless. Will come in a day or two.” This was also in Horsford’s +writing. A letter was also found downstairs, presumably from Horsford, +saying he would come over on Friday to make arrangements, and that he +did not wish to write any more letters, as he did not want his wife to +know. + +On January 10 Walter Horsford was arrested on the charge of perjury +committed at the inquest, and it was resolved to have another +examination made of the body of the deceased woman. On examination of +further documents and letters discovered by the police, the charge of +wilful murder was added to corrupt perjury against Horsford, and he was +committed for trial. + +The trial began on June 2, 1898, at Huntingdon, before Mr. Justice +Hawkins, and lasted five days. + +Evidence was given by Dr. Stevenson, scientific analyst to the Home +Office, who stated that he had received and analysed the contents of the +stomach of the deceased woman. He extracted 1·31 grains of strychnine, +which was a dose fatal to an adult. He detected no other poison. The +buff-coloured paper marked “One dose. Take as told,” contained 33¾ +grains of strychnine, and the other paper which presented the appearance +of having had the powder shaken out, had a few minute crystals of +strychnine adhering. In each case it was the pure alkaloid. + +On January 26 he made an examination of the exhumed body of Mrs. Holmes. +The fingers and lower limbs were rigid. This was an unusual condition +nineteen days after death. He had observed one case like it before, and +that was the case of Matilda Clover, who was poisoned by Neill Cream. He +removed the brain, spinal cord, heart, lungs, spleen and both kidneys +and found strychnine in all the organs analysed. There was no appearance +of disease in the vital organs. There could not have been less than 7 +grains taken, more likely 10 or 12 grains. 1·31 grain would be an +absolutely fatal dose for an average adult. In cases of strychnine +poisoning, death occurs about half an hour after the beginning of the +symptoms, and they come on about twenty minutes after the poison has +been taken. Six hours is the extreme limit. The mind of a person +suffering from strychnine poisoning would be very apprehensive of death. +Death was caused in one of two ways—suffocation, by the muscles of the +chest becoming fixed, or after a spasm of exhaustion. He could imagine +no more terrible death. + +He had examined some Dover’s Powder found in the workbox of Mrs. Holmes, +but found no trace of strychnine. + +He further stated that if strychnine were poured off a paper he would +expect to find a few crystals adhering to the surface of the paper. If a +person took strychnine in water the greater part would go down to the +bottom of the glass as sediment. What was drunk would be the portion +floating on the top. + +Mr. Anderson, the medical practitioner called in to attend Mrs. Holmes, +described her condition when he saw her. His opinion was that she was +suffering from tetanus caused by strychnine poisoning. The convulsions +were of a tetanic character and the spasms succeeded each other in rapid +succession. + +A specialist in handwriting was then called, who said that having +compared the letter from Horsford in which he spoke about the +“arrangements” with the two papers marked “Take in a little water. ’Tis +quite harmless” and “One dose, take as told,” he came to the conclusion +they were in the same handwriting, and in his opinion the handwriting +was natural and there had been no attempts to disguise it. + +Mr. Wild, for the defence, said there was no proof that the prisoner +administered the poison and there was no motive for the crime. What +evidence was there that the prisoner ever sent poison to the deceased? +Everything in the case, he contended, depended upon the handwriting, and +he urged that some of the handwriting produced as that of the prisoner +was utterly unreliable. + +The judge, in summing up, told the jury that if anyone wilfully caused +another to take a deadly poison, whether intending to kill or not, and +death resulted thereby, it was murder. + +The question of handwriting was of vital importance, and it had not been +shown that there was any single other soul in the neighbourhood who was +interested in the deceased woman’s death, or who wrote in a hand like +that of the prisoner. He enjoined them to remember these things and to +deal with the case according to the evidence, and return the verdict +which the evidence compelled them. + +The jury returned at 1.20 p.m., after deliberating for twenty minutes, +with a verdict of “Guilty,” and sentence of death was passed. + +Horsford was hanged at Cambridge Gaol on June 28, 1898, and before he +died made a full confession of his crime. + + + + + CHAPTER XIII + AMERICAN POISON MYSTERIES + + +One of the most carefully planned murders by means of poison in modern +times was investigated at the trial of Roland B. Molineux, who was +charged with causing the death of Mrs. Catherine J. Adams in New York in +1899. + +On November 10, 1898, Mr. Henry C. Barnett, a produce broker, who was a +member of the Knickerbocker Athletic Club, one of the most prominent +social organizations in New York, received by post at the club a sample +box of Kutnow’s Powder. He was in the habit of taking this and similar +preparations for simple ailments, and soon after receiving the box he +took a dose of its contents. He became ill immediately afterwards, and +was thought to be suffering from diphtheria. That he had a slight attack +of this disease there is little doubt, as the fact was proved from a +bacteriological examination made by his medical attendant. He left his +bed earlier than the doctor advised, and died presumably of heart +failure. + +The contents of the box, however, were examined, which led to the +discovery that the powder had been tampered with and mixed with cyanide +of mercury, and although Mr. Barnett had died from natural causes, it +seemed clear that an attempt had been made to poison him by some one who +knew he was in the habit of taking this powder. The investigation, +however, does not appear to have been carried further. + +The next chapter in the story occurred in connection with a Mr. Harry +Cornish, who occupied the position of physical director to the +Knickerbocker Athletic Club. + +A day or two before Christmas in the same year, a packet directed to him +was delivered by post at his address. It contained a box in which, on +opening, he found at one end a silver article for holding matches and +toothpicks; at the other end was a bottle labelled “Emerson’s +Bromo-seltzer,” and between the two was packed some soft tissue paper. + +Mr. Cornish was at first under the impression that some one had sent him +the packet as a present. After removing the articles from the box, he +threw it and the wrapper into his wastepaper basket, but on second +thoughts he cut the address from the wrapper and kept it. + +The bottle, labelled “Bromo-seltzer,” which is a saline preparation well +known in America, was sealed over the top and bore the usual revenue +stamp. After tearing off the outside wrapper, Mr. Cornish placed the +bottle and the silver holder on his desk. + +On the following Sunday he remarked to his aunt, Mrs. Catherine Adams, +that he had received a present. Mrs. Adams and her daughter, Mrs. +Rogers, joked him about it, saying he must have some admirer, and was +afraid to bring his present home, as the sender’s name was probably on +it. On Tuesday night Mr. Cornish took the bottle and the silver holder +home with him, and presented them to Mrs. Rogers, saying they were no +use to him and she might have them. + +The next morning Mrs. Adams complained of a headache, and her daughter +suggested a dose of the Bromo-seltzer. Mr. Cornish was present, and +mixed a teaspoonful of the preparation from the bottle with a glass of +water, and gave it to his aunt. After drinking it she at once exclaimed, +“My, how bitter that is!” + +“Why, that’s all right!” said Mr. Cornish, as he took a drink from the +glass. + +A few moments afterwards Mrs. Adams collapsed, and died within a short +time. Mr. Cornish was seized with violent vomiting, which doubtless +saved his life, and he recovered. + +A post-mortem examination revealed the fact that Mrs. Adams had died +from cyanide poisoning, and on the bottle of Bromo-seltzer being +analysed the contents were found to have been mixed with cyanide of +mercury. + +For a long time the affair seemed a complete mystery, and the police +investigations appeared likely to be fruitless. Then the particulars of +the death of Mr. Barnett, who was Chairman of the House Committee of the +Knickerbocker Club, were brought to light; and connecting them with the +fact that Mr. Cornish was also a prominent member of the club, and had +received the bottle of Bromo-seltzer by post in the same manner, it +seemed highly probable that both the poisoned packets which contained +cyanide of mercury had been sent by the same person. + +Further examination proved that the bottle used was not a genuine +Bromo-seltzer one, and that the label had been removed from a genuine +bottle and carefully pasted on that sent to Mr. Cornish. + +A firm of druggists in Cincinnati then came forward and stated that, as +far back as May 31, 1898, they had received a written application signed +“H. C. Barnett” for a sample box of pills, and another similar +application on December 21, 1898, which was signed “H. Cornish.” + +Both these applications were found to be in the same handwriting, which +was also strikingly similar to the address on the packet sent to Mr. +Cornish, which he had fortunately kept. The address given by the +applicant who called himself “H. C. Barnett,” was 257, West Forty-second +Street, New York, a place where private letter-boxes are rented for +callers. The address given by the applicant signing himself “H. +Cornish,” was a similar place at 1,620, Broadway, in the same city. From +these facts it seemed evident that an attempt had been made to poison +both Barnett and Cornish by some one who knew them, and the poisoner had +concealed his identity by employing the names of his intended victims. + +The nature of the poison used, cyanide of mercury, was also a slight +clue, as it is a substance which is not used in medicine and must in all +probability have been specially prepared for the purpose by some one +with a knowledge of chemistry. + +At the coroner’s inquest, which began on February 9, 1899, certain facts +were elicited that tended to bring suspicion on Roland B. Molineux, who +was also a member of the Knickerbocker Club and well acquainted with +Barnett and Cornish. He was also known to have quarrelled with the +latter. At the close of the inquest Molineux was arrested and removed to +the Tombs prison. + +Owing to legal technicalities in the original indictment, which charged +him with the murder of both Mr. Barnett and Mrs. Adams, he was twice +liberated, and then for the third time arrested. + +The trial of Molineux for the murder of Mrs. Adams was a memorable one, +and lasted nearly three months. It began on November 14, 1899, at the +Central Criminal Court, New York, and was not concluded till February +11, 1900. + +The evidence was entirely circumstantial. Most of the experts in +handwriting who were examined declared that the address on the packet +sent to Mr. Cornish was in Molineux’s handwriting, and that he had also +written both applications to the druggists in Cincinnati. Further, +Molineux was engaged as a chemist to a colour factory in which cyanide +of mercury was used, which would enable him either to make or procure +that special poison, from which only three other fatal cases had been +recorded. + +No witnesses were called for the defence, and the jury found Roland B. +Molineux guilty of “murder in the first degree,” which, according to +American law, is murder with premeditation. + + +In January, 1911, a mysterious case that for some time baffled the +united exertions of the police occurred in Cumberland, Maryland, U.S.A. +On Christmas Eve of 1910, the night before their wedding, a Mr. Trigg +and Miss Grace Loeser, who were well known in Maryland, were found +sitting together in an upright position on a sofa in the drawing-room of +Miss Loeser’s home, both apparently dead. An hour before they were thus +discovered, Mrs. Loeser had seen them sitting exactly in the same +position, full of life and animation and talking over the arrangements +for their wedding on the following day. + +Returning an hour later, she found them still both sitting in the same +position but lifeless. Nothing was found in the room to indicate the +cause of death. + +Before the ghastly discovery Mrs. Loeser had heard them laughing and +talking in the drawing-room; then she heard the telephone bell ring, and +heard her daughter go to it and speak to a friend at the other end of +the wire about the final arrangements for the wedding. + +A doctor who was immediately summoned and examined the bodies, noticed +that the lips of both the man and the woman were burned, and in the +mouth of the man was found a piece of chewing-gum, which he believed +might contain poison. According to the doctor, Mr. Trigg had apparently +taken poison and then kissed his fiancée and poisoned her in doing so. + +A post-mortem examination was held and revealed traces of potassium +cyanide in the organs of both young people, but how the poison came to +be swallowed there was nothing to indicate, beyond the fact that the +tongues of both were burned and there was a larger quantity of the +poison found in the stomach of Trigg. + +The chewing-gum habit is very common in America and a package of it with +one stick missing and the wrapper on the floor, was found in Mr. +Loeser’s bedroom. The questions that arose were: was the chewing-gum the +cause of death, and had they divided the one stick missing from the +packet between them, and if the gum was poisoned why had they thus +decided to take their lives? + +Mrs. Loeser protested against the theory of suicide as being beyond all +reason, as both young people were absolutely devoted to one another and +had never even quarrelled. + +A younger sister of Miss Loeser’s, to whom Mr. Trigg is said to have +first paid attentions before he became engaged to Grace Loeser, in +giving evidence said that she also had symptoms of cyanide poisoning. +She was upstairs when Trigg came to the house that afternoon, and the +first she knew of the tragedy was her mother screaming. She swore that +she had no poison in her possession, and had never heard of hydrocyanic +acid before her sister’s death. + +Mrs. Loeser when brought to the court to give evidence, was practically +in a state of collapse, but she swore that no poison of any kind was +kept in the house and that both her daughters were on friendly terms. + +Dr. Foard, the medical man first called in, described how he found the +young couple sitting upright together on the sofa; the woman was +breathing stertorously, with her teeth clenched and the pupils of her +eyes dilated. A slight froth issued from her lips, all of which, said +the doctor, were symptomatic of hydrocyanic acid or cyanide poisoning. + +Dr. Broadrup, another medical practitioner, corroborated Dr. Foard’s +statements. When he visited the house he was called upstairs to see Miss +May Loeser, who was in her room, and when he got there he found the +bedroom was full of a strong odour of gas. + +The evidence went to prove that Trigg at the last moment did not wish to +carry out the marriage with Miss Loeser, and it was suggested that he +may have poisoned her with the chewing-gum, only swallowing a small +portion himself in the belief that he would easily have survived the +effects. + +At the coroner’s inquiry, it was stated that cyanide of potassium was +found in the chewing-gum, and the jury returned a verdict that both +persons had died of cyanide poisoning “administered in an unknown +manner.” + + +Another mysterious case which aroused great interest in America, +concerned the death of a millionaire pork-packer, and the arrest of his +wife, on the charge of attempting to murder her husband. + +This lady is said to have begun life as a country waif; at the age of +twenty she became a waitress and married the man whom she was accused of +attempting to murder. It appears that the marriage was bitterly opposed +by the husband’s family on account of her social position, which placed +a stumbling-block between them and the position they aspired to attain, +and since the marriage her brother-in-law was said to have been her +greatest enemy. + +It was alleged, that the wife not only made her husband ill by giving +him small doses of poison by placing it in his medicine, but also in the +water that she gave him to drink during the night in his sick-room. + +The chief witness against the accused was the nurse who attended her +husband during his illness. She said that despite the wife’s lowly +origin she was greatly beset by social ambitions. She wished to shine in +the best Virginia society, and her husband stood in the way. She had +always showed considerable animus against her husband’s family, and told +the nurse that when he died, she was to search his pockets and get the +keys, especially those of his despatch box, as she did not want the +family to get them. + +The nurse said the accused consulted two fortune-tellers, and informed +her, that both of them told her that her husband could not live until +Christmas. She showed little attention to him while he was ill, and he +had complained to her that the water given to him to drink had an +unusual taste; he said it made him sick, and when she drank a glass of +the water in the room, to see if it was all right, she too became ill. + +Suspicions being aroused, the sick man was removed to a hospital, which +his wife declared was a plan of the family to get her husband out of her +influence. + +According to the prosecution, the wife’s motive for getting rid of her +husband was her admiration for a shop-assistant in the town in which +they resided, and this man was called as a witness for the prosecution. +From his account the lady must have conceived an extraordinary +infatuation for him, loading him with presents such as fur-lined coats, +silver cigar boxes, embroidered vests, dressing-gowns and other things +of considerable value. + +It transpired later that, owing to the suspicions of the family, they +arranged for a female detective to be employed in the house as a nurse. +This person was instructed to win the confidence of the wife and +endeavour to find out what was wrong. + +At the trial she declared, that while in the house the accused had +offered her a thousand pounds to give her husband a poisoned pill. She +also stated that the accused frequently cried and made no secret that +she wished “that man would die,” and declared again and again, every +time she received news from the bedside that he was worse, that she was +the happiest of women and prayed night and morning that she should be +awakened in the morning by a telephone call announcing that her husband +was dead. + +She once asked her, “How much would you take to do it?” “I told her,” +continued the detective, “that I was a poor woman, but said I would do +it for a thousand pounds if she prepared the poison.” She replied, “I +haven’t a thousand pounds, but I could get the poison, and if you will +give it to him I will give you two hundred pounds in cash, and when he +is dead and the estate comes to me I will give you the other eight +hundred.” + +The detective said she agreed to this but insisted on a promise in +writing, so that she could demand the eight hundred pounds afterwards. +The accused said she would be afraid to give anything in writing, for it +might fall into the hands of her brother-in-law and would certainly +delight him, but she afterwards promised to do so and said, “I will get +the poison and I will meet you outside the hospital at eleven o’clock +to-morrow morning and bring it with me. You are on night watch and you +can put it in his medicine when he is half asleep; or if you don’t want +to do that, just leave his medicine by the bedside and tell him when the +time comes to take it. He will take the poison himself.” She asked her +to let her know the instant her husband died, so that she could get +possession of her husband’s body. + +A doctor who was called, stated that the accused had bought an ounce of +sugar of lead from him, and afterwards came to him for a solution of +arsenic, which he refused. + +For the defence, counsel asserted that the husband had suffered from +severe pains for some months and called in his medical man, who said +that his condition was consistent with ptomaine poisoning. + +After a trial lasting more than a fortnight the jury considered for over +twenty-four hours, but were unable to agree; they were then discharged, +and the case collapsed. + + + + + CHAPTER XIV + THE SOUTHWARK POISON MYSTERY + + +In the last week of July, 1902, a girl named Maude Marsh, about twenty +years of age, was admitted as a patient into Guy’s Hospital suffering +from internal inflammation and vomiting. She was placed under treatment, +and in a few weeks’ time her condition so improved that she was +discharged from the institution. She was employed as a barmaid at The +Crown, a licensed house in the Borough High Street. There she passed as +the wife of the proprietor, with whom she lived. About a month after her +return to The Crown she was again seized with a similar illness, and was +attended by a local medical practitioner and also seen by a medical man +from Croydon who had visited her at her father’s request. The former was +told by the sick girl that the doctor at Guy’s Hospital thought she was +suffering from peritonitis, but after visiting her several times he came +to the conclusion she was suffering from inflammation of the stomach and +bowels. On calling to see his patient on the afternoon of October 22, +the doctor was told she had died two or three hours earlier. He refused +to give a certificate and insisted on a post-mortem examination. The +examination failed to reveal the cause of death, and the doctor removed +certain internal organs and submitted them for analysis. In consequence +of the report he received, he then communicated with the police. + +On October 25 South London was gaily decorated in honour of the State +procession of the King and Queen, and the streets were thronged with +people. Shortly before the royal procession was due to pass through the +Borough High Street, two detectives entered The Crown public-house, +which was festooned with flags, and passed into the bar. A notice on the +wall announced seats to let to view the pageant, and the windows were +already filled with sightseers, who took no notice of the two men who +had entered so quietly. + +Behind the bar was the landlord, a small, dark-complexioned man with +prominent cheek-bones and sallow skin. + +“Are you George Chapman?” asked one of the detectives. + +“Yes,” was the reply. + +“I am an inspector of police and wish to speak to you quietly.” + +Chapman motioned the detectives towards the billiard-room at the rear +and the three men entered together. + +“Maude Marsh, who has been living with you as your wife, has been +poisoned with arsenic,” said Detective-Inspector Godley at once. + +“I know nothing about it; I do not know how she got the poison. She has +been in Guy’s Hospital for the same sort of sickness,” replied Chapman. + +Chapman was asked to accompany the inspector to the police station, +where he was detained pending inquiries, and at 10.15 that night he was +formally charged with the wilful murder of Maude Marsh. + +When the accused man quietly took his place in the dock at the police +court the following morning, no one could imagine that the curtain was +about to be withdrawn from a series of murders which for sheer +heartlessness are almost unprecedented in the annals of crime. + +The only witness was Inspector Godley, who gave but sufficient evidence +to obtain a remand pending the inquest. He stated that from inquiries he +had made, he had found that Chapman was the only person who had fed the +girl, and that he would not allow anyone else to give her food or to go +into the kitchen when it was being prepared. He found five books, all +dealing with medicine, in the possession of the accused, and also some +white powders which had not yet been analysed. Arsenic, however, had +been discovered in a portion of the viscera which had been removed from +the body of Maude Marsh at the time of the post-mortem. The doctor who +had attended Chapman’s former wife during her fatal illness had been +called in to attend Maude Marsh, and he had noticed that both women had +displayed the same symptoms. Chapman was then remanded. + +Meanwhile, a further examination of the body was made by Dr. Stevenson, +the official analyst to the Home Office, the result of which was given +at his next appearance before the magistrate. He stated that he found no +evidence of natural disease to account for death. + +“Was arsenic suggested to you as the cause of death?” asked the +solicitor who prosecuted on behalf of the Treasury. + +“Yes, but I suggested to the other doctors present I did not think +arsenic had been the cause,” replied Dr. Stevenson. “I attributed it to +another metallic poison, antimony, which I found in the stomach and its +contents, the liver, the spleen, the kidneys, the brain and elsewhere in +the following quantities:— + + _Metallic Antimony_ + In the stomach 0·23 grains. + „ „ abdomen 5·99 „ + „ „ liver 0·71 „ + „ „ kidneys 0·14 „ + „ „ brain 0·17 „ + ———— + Total 7·24 grains. + _Tartar Emetic._ + In the stomach 0·64 grains. + „ „ abdomen 16·64 „ + „ „ liver 1·98 „ + „ „ kidneys 0·39 „ + „ „ brain 0·47 „ + ————— + Total 20·12 grains. + +“In every organ and tissue that I examined I found some antimony,” added +Dr. Stevenson. + +He further stated that two grains of antimony had been known to produce +fatal results in a very weak person, but in the case of an ordinary +person, fifteen grains would kill. In the case of repeated doses three +grains taken at a time might be expected to result in death. From the +position of some of the antimony he thought a dose was taken within a +few hours of death. Dr. Stevenson said he received from the police over +thirty articles, including pills and ordinary medicines, and analysed +them, but found neither arsenic nor antimony in any but one. This bottle +was apparently empty when he received it, but he found there were a few +drops of a liquid in it and looking into it he saw a little bit of white +powder sticking to the side. He rinsed the bottle out with water and +then analysed it and found the water contained both bismuth and +antimony. + +At this stage the case was adjourned; meanwhile the coroner’s inquest on +the body of Maude Marsh was concluded, which resulted in a verdict of +wilful murder against Chapman. + +When he was brought before the magistrate for the tenth time on December +31, 1902, the Counsel for the Treasury had the sensational announcement +to make that Chapman had since his last appearance been further charged +with the murder of two other women, viz. Mary Isabella Spink (or +Chapman) on Christmas Day, 1897, and Bessie Taylor (or Chapman) on +February 13, 1901. + +These two women, said the counsel, had lived with him for some time +prior to their deaths. It had also been discovered that the prisoner’s +real name was Severino Klosowski, and that he had assumed the name of +George Chapman since coming to live in England. He was a Polish Jew and +had studied medicine and surgery in Warsaw. + +The story of Klosowski’s life is an extraordinary one. He was born in +1865 and educated at a military school in Poland. Afterwards he became a +male nurse in a hospital at Warsaw and learned something of medicine. In +1888 he emigrated to England and obtained work in a small barber’s shop +in Whitechapel Road, London. After he had been in London about twelve +months, he married a woman named Lucy Baderski, who was then living. At +one time they went to America, but she returned alone, and does not +appear to have lived with him again. + +In 1895 he left Whitechapel and was next heard of in a barber’s shop at +Tottenham, where he was recognized by a hairdresser’s traveller who had +known him in Warsaw. He next started a small shop on his own account, +and at this time was living with a girl called Annie Chapman, whose name +he afterwards adopted. His business failing, he again took a situation +in Church Lane, Leytonstone, where he earned thirty shillings a week. +While living at Leytonstone in 1895 he became acquainted with a Mrs. +Spink, whose husband deserted her. Klosowski, or Chapman, as he now +called himself, became on intimate terms with Mrs. Spink, and after a +time he informed a Mr. Ward with whom he lodged that he and Mrs. Spink +were going to be married. One day in October, 1895, they went out, and +on their return stated that the wedding had taken place, and afterwards +lived together as husband and wife. + +Mrs. Spink had about £560, which was vested in a trust deed, and while +she lived with Chapman some £250 had been advanced to her by the +trustee. In 1897 the balance was handed over to the couple and they left +London for Hastings, where Chapman purchased a barber’s business in +George Street. + +About February, 1897, Chapman’s affection for his wife seemed to wane, +as he is said to have treated her cruelly, and she complained of his +treatment to people they knew. Then she became ill, suffering from +irritation of the stomach, which resulted in great weakness and +depression. In April of that year Chapman is known to have purchased an +ounce of tartar emetic (tartarated antimony) from a chemist in Hastings. +In August they left Hastings and took a beerhouse called The Prince of +Wales in Bartholomew Square, St. Luke’s, London. Mrs. Chapman, who had +been better for a time, again became ill with the same symptoms, and her +husband is said to have recommenced his ill-treatment of her. As she +grew worse, a Dr. Rogers was called in to see her. Here a Mrs. Doubleday +came upon the scene, and she noticed that Chapman frequently felt his +wife’s pulse, and was much occupied in consulting medical books. He +prepared her food and also her medicine, sending every one out of the +room while he did it. She suffered terrible pain with vomiting and +diarrhœa and finally died on Christmas Day, 1897. The doctor appears to +have had no suspicion of poison and gave a certificate that the cause of +death was phthisis. + +After her death Chapman advertised for a barmaid and eventually engaged +a woman named Bessie Taylor in that capacity. She came from Cheshire and +had been in a situation as housekeeper at Peckham before coming to +Chapman at Easter in 1898. She told a friend she was going to be married +before going to live with Chapman at The Prince of Wales. In August, +1898, they left London and went to live at Bishop Stortford, where +Chapman took an inn called The Grapes. In March, 1899, the couple again +returned to London, Chapman first becoming tenant of The Monument, a +public-house in Union Street Borough, and afterwards removing to The +Crown in High Street. A Miss Painter, a friend of Bessie Taylor’s, who +called to see her at The Crown, noticed that Chapman treated her with +indifference and once even threatened her with a revolver. Calling to +see her on another occasion some time later, Miss Painter found she was +very ill and was troubled with persistent vomiting. Chapman attended to +her, cooking her food and feeling her pulse. + +In January Dr. Stoker, a local practitioner, was called in to see the +sick woman, and he attended her until her death in February, 1901. The +doctor had no suspicion she had been poisoned and certified the cause of +death as intestinal obstruction, vomiting and exhaustion. The bodies of +both women were exhumed under an order from the Home Secretary, and an +analysis was made in each case by Dr. Stevenson. + +The analysis of various organs removed from the body of Mary Isabella +Spink revealed the presence of antimony in all the viscera examined:— + + In the stomach 0·08 grains + „ „ intestines 1·15 „ + „ „ liver 2·42 „ + „ „ kidneys 0·18 „ + ———— + Total 3·83 grains of tartarated antimony + +Dr. Stevenson remarked on the amazing preservation of the body after +being interred for five years. He found the head and features were so +well preserved that they were as little altered as though only buried a +day. This he attributed to the preservative properties of antimony, +which in sufficient quantity practically mummified the body. He could +find no case like this on record, and he regarded it as unique. There +was no indication of phthisis, the cause of death being gastro-enteritis +caused by the administration of antimony. + +The analysis of the body of Bessie Taylor also revealed the presence of +antimony in the following quantities:— + + In the stomach and its contents 0·32 grains + „ „ intestines „ „ 23·43 „ + „ „ liver 4·55 „ + „ „ kidneys 0·82 „ + ————— + Total 29·12 grains of tartarated antimony. + +Taylor’s body was also in a remarkably good state of preservation after +being buried twenty-one months, and showed no appearance of recent +disease, but signs of acute non-ulcerative gastro-enteritis set up by +antimony were evident. + +It was about eighteen months after Bessie Taylor’s death that Chapman +engaged Maude Marsh as a barmaid at The Monument public-house, and her +illness and death, the story of which closely resembles that of the +other women with whom Chapman had consorted, has been already related. + +He was committed for trial on December 19, 1902, and was arraigned +before Mr. Justice Grantham at the Old Bailey on March 16, 1903. + +For the defence the counsel for the prisoner urged the absence of motive +for the crimes, and although he admitted that antimony had been found in +the bodies of the three women, he asked if the methods of science were +absolutely conclusive? There was, he contended, room for mistake unless +such evidence was accompanied by corroborative evidence of the most +powerful kind. There was no proof that Chapman had antimony in his +possession since 1897, and his behaviour had been that of an innocent +man. + +The Solicitor-General, Sir Edward Carson, in his reply, said that +although the prisoner was indicted only with regard to Maude Marsh’s +death, the cumulative evidence of the two earlier murders was perhaps +the most fatal testimony. One woman after another was betrayed and +abandoned, and all poisoned in the same way and with the same poison. +Each received the same “attention” on Klosowski’s part during their +fatal illnesses. As to motive, the history of the man was one of +unbridled, heartless, cruel lust. If a man were proved a murderer, one +need not look for motive, but if motive were wanted in this case, it was +easily to be found. + +The judge, in summing up, said the case was unique from three points of +view, viz. legally, chemically and medically. Chemically, it was unique +by reason of the discovery which it enabled Dr. Stevenson to make of the +power of antimony to preserve the tissues of the body in almost a +perfect state of embalmment; from the legal point of view, because it +was the first time the antecedents of a prisoner had been investigated +in the way they had been in this case. + +Medically, it was a sad reflection that a man who had only been a +hairdresser’s assistant should be able to defy the doctors of this +country, and for years carry on a practice of this kind without the +slightest fear of being found out. The only question for the jury to +determine was by whom the antimony was administered. + +After a consultation of ten minutes, the jury returned a verdict of +guilty, the foreman adding “We are all agreed.” Klosowski, or Chapman, +was then sentenced to death, and paid the penalty of his crimes at +Wandsworth Gaol on April 7, 1903. + + + + + CHAPTER XV + SOME IRISH POISON MYSTERIES + + +A curious case with many unusual features was investigated at Armagh in +June, 1905, when two women named Pearson and Black were charged with +murdering Alice Pearson, aged seventy-four, the mother-in-law of the +former and mother of the latter, insurance benefits being alleged as the +motive for the crime. + +The case came to be investigated through the statement of one of the +women while she was in gaol. Sarah Pearson, one of the accused, was +arrested in Montreal while in prison, and made a confession of the +crime, implicating herself, her husband and her sister-in-law. She said +she bought three pennyworth of strychnine in Armagh and mixed it with +mashed potatoes and eggs. When her mother-in-law was eating the meal she +said that it tasted sour and she did not like it. Both she and her +sister had also partaken of the food. + +Evidence went to prove that systematic attempts were made to kill the +old woman for the sake of the little money, some forty pounds, which she +possessed; that Pearson and Black had first tried metallic mercury, but +eventually put strychnine into the meal of potatoes and eggs which +caused her death. According to the evidence of a witness, one of the +accused women came to his house and said she had seen “Old Alice’s +ghost,” and added that her husband had dreamed that his mother was going +to die. + +The analyst who made an examination of the organs said that he +discovered two hundred and ninety-six grains of pure metallic mercury in +the body and had not been able to trace any record of a case where +mercury in such large quantities had been found in any human body. The +mercury, however, was not the cause of death and did not act as a poison +while in a metallic state. He found one-seventh of a grain of strychnine +in the stomach, liver and kidneys and there was little doubt that +strychnine had been the cause of death. + +The jury found Sarah Pearson guilty and she was sentenced to death. + + +Perhaps one of the most curious defences to a charge of poisoning that +has ever been put forward in court, was that advanced in a case which +was tried in Ireland, where a woman was charged with murdering her +husband. + +The victim was a farmer who was taken ill after eating a supper prepared +by his wife, which consisted of a poached egg. He died, apparently from +the effects of strychnine poisoning, the following morning. + +A week later one of his daughters, a child of three, also died from the +effects of strychnine poisoning after drinking some milk. A post-mortem +examination was made on both bodies, and led to the discovery of half a +grain of strychnine in the stomach of each. + +At the trial, the counsel for the defence declared that he could satisfy +the jury that no human hand was laid upon the egg eaten, from the moment +it was broken in the pan until it reached the deceased man. He contended +that the poison had _fallen from the rafters_, and _accidentally dropped +on the egg_, portions of which he could prove the accused woman had also +eaten. Her husband before he died had expressed this view, and it was +proved that some strychnine to poison rats had been placed on the floor +of the loft immediately above the kitchen, and some of it had fallen +from the rafters on to the egg as it was being removed from the fire to +the table. Although the Crown contended this accident could not have +happened, the jury found the accused not guilty, and she was discharged. + + + + + CHAPTER XVI + THE DEVEREUX CASE + + +In 1905 a poisoning case of an unusual character was disclosed at the +Central Criminal Court. On April 13 of that year the attention of the +police was called to a large tin trunk that was found in a warehouse in +Kensal Rise. Round the trunk was a strap and an endeavour had been made +to seal it with wax. The lock was forced and the lid opened, and in it +was found another covering consisting of a number of pieces of wood +wedged tightly together, over which had been placed a mixture of glue +and boric acid, which made the box absolutely air-tight. + +On the wood covering being removed, three human bodies were discovered +beneath, which appeared to be those of a woman and two children. The +result of a post-mortem examination and analysis of the organs showed +that all three had been poisoned with morphine. More than sufficient of +the poison had been administered to the woman for the purpose of taking +her life, and sufficient was found in the bodies of the children to +achieve the same result. + +The body of the woman was identified as that of Beatrice Ellen Maud +Devereux, the wife of Arthur Devereux, a chemist who lived at Milton +Avenue, Harlesden, and the children were found to be her twin boys. + +The Devereuxs were married in London in 1898, and had three children, +the twin boys being born at Stroud, where the family had moved in 1902. +In 1904 they returned to London, where Devereux became manager of a +pharmacy at Kilburn. + +In December Devereux took a flat at 60 Milton Avenue, Stonebridge Park, +stating that he wanted it only for six months. There was another flat in +the house which the landlord, at his request, left empty. + +On the afternoon of January 28, Devereux made arrangements for one of +the boys to go to a day school in the neighbourhood and on the evening +of the same day Mrs. Devereux was out shopping with her mother. They +parted near Milton Avenue, and she was never seen alive again by anyone +outside her own family. At the end of the following week Devereux +appears to have decided to dispose of a number of things in the house, +including a perambulator and women’s clothing. He gave out that his wife +and the twins were away in the country, and arranged for himself and the +other boy to go into lodgings in the Harrow Road. His belongings were +removed by a local firm, who at the same time undertook to warehouse for +him a large trunk which he said contained boxes of chemicals. + +Shortly after this, Devereux obtained a situation with a chemist in +Coventry, giving himself a reference in the name of Taylor. Mrs. +Devereux’s mother, not having heard from her daughter for a considerable +time, and finding the house in Milton Avenue empty, communicated with +the police, which led to inquiries and the discovery of the trunk at the +depository. + +Devereux was arrested at Coventry and brought to London on April 13. He +made the following statement to the police:— + + +“I, Arthur Devereux, hereby declare that one evening towards the end of +January or the beginning of February last, after having been out for a +few hours with my child Stanley, I returned to find my wife and twins +lying dead on their beds, evidently, to my mind, having died from +poisons taken or administered. Rather than face an inquest I decided, +with a recent trial fresh in my mind, to conceal the bodies in a trunk +which I had had in my house for the past two years. This I proceeded to +do at once. I missed some poisons—chloroform and morphine—which I always +kept in my writing-desk after leaving my last situation, in the event of +my wishing to end my own life rather than face starvation. The room +smelt strongly of chloroform, so I concluded that my wife had +administered it to herself and the children, and probably also the +morphine. I had had a violent quarrel with her before going out, also +many times quite recently and during the past twelve months.” + + +The autopsy revealed no signs of disease in any of the bodies, and death +was supposed to have been caused by asphyxiation. + +Sir Thomas Stevenson, who examined the organs, said that he found +altogether in the internal organs, 1·12 grains of morphine. In the case +of the children he found morphine in small quantities which could not be +accurately determined, but he believed it to be originally a fatal dose. +In his opinion all three of the persons had died of morphine poisoning. +There was no evidence of chloroform having been given. + +After the police inquiry Devereux was committed for trial on the capital +charge, and the case was tried at the Central Criminal Court on July 27, +1905. + +The trial lasted for four days, the prisoner being defended by Mr. +Elliott, who urged that he was a man of weak mind, and that, confronted +by a crisis, was not likely to act like an ordinary person. He commented +on the fact that Devereux had left traces of himself behind in London on +going to Coventry, which showed him if not as a cunning criminal, at +least as one who was free from the stain of murder. He also commented on +the lack of motive for the crime. + +Mr. Matthews, who prosecuted for the Crown, endeavoured to reconstruct +the tragedy as he conceived it to have happened, and fixed it as +occurring on the night of Sunday, January 29. He suggested that at +supper time morphine was introduced into the food of the unsuspecting +Mrs. Devereux and children, and on their going up to bed in a drowsy +condition, Devereux could have easily administered chloroform to make +assurance doubly sure. There was no evidence that the prisoner was +insane. + +The judge, in summing up, referring to the gruesome nature of the case, +said there was a strong body of evidence against the prisoner. After +only twelve minutes’ consideration, the jury returned with a verdict of +guilty, and Devereux was sentenced to death. + + + + + CHAPTER XVII + THE CRIPPEN CASE + + +In 1883 an American named Hawley Harvey Crippen came to England to +attend various hospitals for the purpose of seeing operations. He was +born at Coldwater, Michigan, U.S.A., in 1862, where he was educated at +the Homœopathic College at Cleveland, and took a degree as Doctor of +Medicine. After being in England some months, he returned to the States +as an assistant to a Dr. Porter, of Detroit, but later he specialized in +the eye and ear, and after his marriage he went to live in New York. + +It was here in 1893, after the death of his wife, he first met Cora +Turner, whom he eventually married, and removed to Saint Louis, where he +started practice as a physician and optician. Cora Turner was the +daughter of a Russian Pole and a German mother, and her real name was +Makamotsky. A woman of extravagant tastes, who delighted in jewellery +and dress, she seems to have been fascinated by Crippen. Possessing a +fine voice, it was her ambition to go on the operatic stage, and +Crippen, at this time having been offered a post as physician to +Munyon’s Remedies Company, removed to New York, where he paid for the +training of his wife’s voice; but when it was completed, it was found +she had no chance of singing in opera. + +Crippen was transferred by the Company first to Philadelphia and then to +Toronto, where he managed Munyon’s business. About 1900 he was sent to +England in charge of the Company’s branch, but leaving them he became +physician to what was known as the Drouet Institute. He left the +Institute to become medical adviser to a company known as “The Aural +Treatment and Sovereign Remedy Company.” This also appears to have +failed, and he went back to Munyon’s Remedies Co., where he acted as +manager till he took on the business as agent. At the same time he was +running a business called the “Gayle Teeth Specialists Company,” in +which he had a partner named Rylands, but the head-quarters of his +“Aural Remedies” was at Craven House, Kingsway. Here a Miss Ethel Le +Neve was employed as a typist and clerk, and to her Crippen seems to +have confided his domestic trials and found in her a sympathizer. + +When the Crippens came to London they took a house at 39 Hilldrop +Crescent, Kentish Town, where Mrs. Crippen had the assistance of a +charwoman to help her in the housework. After they had settled down, +Mrs. Crippen wanted to go on the music-hall stage, and her husband paid +a fee on several occasions so that she might have a trial turn at minor +music halls. In spite of an attractive personality, elaborate dresses, +and a pleasant, clear voice, she could not get a sympathetic hearing, +proving that she had no stage talent whatever. She was known on the +stage as Belle Elmore, and being bitterly disappointed at her inability +to get engagements, she became nervous and irritable and subject to fits +of violent temper. + +Crippen’s domestic infelicities were commonly known to his friends, +before whom his wife would openly abuse him, often for the most trivial +occurrences. His home affairs went from bad to worse, and his wife gave +him continual uneasiness and trouble. On several occasions she +threatened to leave him and go off with another man with whom she had +become intimate. + +On January 31, 1910, in the afternoon, Crippen called upon two friends +and invited them to his house for the evening to have a game of cards. +They agreed, and came to dinner, Mrs. Crippen preparing the meal and +helping to serve it, there being no servant present. Apparently husband +and wife were on quite good terms, and their guests departed about one +o’clock in the morning, leaving Crippen and his wife alone in the house. + +This was the last time Mrs. Crippen was seen alive. + +On February 2 there was a meeting of the Committee of the Music Hall +Ladies’ Guild, of which Mrs. Crippen was the honorary treasurer, and a +regular attendant, but this time she did not put in an appearance. To +explain her absence, Miss Le Neve came to the meeting, bringing with her +two letters. One was addressed to Miss May, the secretary of the Guild, +and stated the illness of a near relative had called Mrs. Crippen to +America at a few hours’ notice, and tendering her resignation. This was +signed “Belle Elmore, per pro H. H. C.” + +The other letter, which was addressed to the Committee of the Music Hall +Ladies’ Guild, was similar in purport, and repeated her resignation of +the honorary treasurership, and enclosed a cheque-book and deposit-book +for the immediate use of her successor. The letter concluded by saying, +“I hope some months later to be with you, and in the meantime wish the +Guild every success.” This was also signed “Belle Elmore,” although the +letter was obviously in her husband’s writing. + +The reading of the letters took the members of the Committee by +surprise. A few days afterwards a friend of Mrs. Crippen, who was very +fond of her, met Dr. Crippen and asked him more particularly about his +wife’s journey, but could gain nothing very definite in reply. Shortly +afterwards this lady again saw Crippen, who informed her that he had +that morning heard from his wife who stated she had been rather ill, +having something the matter with her lungs. + +About the last week in February, there was a dinner given by the Music +Hall Artists’ Benevolent Fund. Dr. Crippen attended it, accompanied by +Miss Le Neve, and it was noticed that she was wearing a brooch that +several persons recognized as one they had often seen Mrs. Crippen +wearing. During dinner, a lady member of the Guild asked Crippen some +details of his wife’s whereabouts, and he told her that she was then up +in the mountains in the wilds of California. + +As time went on her friends still continued to make inquiries about her +mysterious disappearance, and on March 21 a letter was received by Mr. +and Mrs. Martinetti from Crippen, in which he said he had been upset by +serious news about his wife, having received a cable that she was +dangerously ill with double pneumonia. A day or two later, meeting Mrs +Martinetti, he said he was expecting a cable at any time saying his wife +was dead. On March 23 he sent a telegram to Mrs. Martinetti saying he +had heard his wife was dead. Three days later he inserted an +announcement of the death in the _Era_ and gave notice to his landlord +that he would be leaving the house in Hilldrop Crescent on June 24. + +Mrs. Crippen’s friends still continued puzzled about her mysterious +disappearance and her supposed death, and a Mr. Nash, who was connected +with the music-hall profession, on returning from America, where he had +been on a visit, interviewed Crippen. He was evidently dissatisfied with +Crippen’s replies to his questions respecting the disappearance of his +wife, and he went to Scotland Yard, placing his suspicions before +Inspector Dew. + +After exhaustive inquiries with a view if possible of finding Mrs. +Crippen or some trace of her, the inspector decided to see Crippen +himself, and to find out if he could obtain some information. He called +at Hilldrop Crescent on July 18, about 10 in the morning, and saw Miss +Le Neve, who was there with a young French servant girl. The inspector +asked where he could find Crippen, and Miss Le Neve was unable to give +him any information, but she gave him his business address at Albion +House in Oxford Street. Inspector Dew went there and saw Crippen, and +asked him what light he could throw on the supposed death of his wife. +Crippen replied, “Well, I suppose I had better tell the truth. All my +stories about her illness and death are untrue; so far as I know she is +not dead at all.” + +He then made a long detailed statement to the inspector, which he +committed to writing and signed. + +In this statement, which began with an account of his career from the +time he was born, he said that his wife had often threatened to leave +him, saying she would go out of his life and he would never hear from +her again. On the night that their friends came to dinner they had a +quarrel after they left, and she said, “I shall leave you to-morrow and +you will not hear from me again.” + + +“She told me,” he stated, “that I was to arrange to cover up any scandal +from our mutual friends; I went to business next morning and on +returning home between five and six o’clock I found she had gone. I then +wrote the letters to the Guild secretary, and realizing this would not +be sufficient to explain her not coming back, I added she was ill with +pneumonia and afterwards that she had died in California. + +“When my wife went away I cannot say whether she took anything with her. +She took some of her jewellery, I know, but she left her rings behind. I +do not know what clothes she took away. It is true that I was at the +Benevolent Fund dinner at the Criterion with Miss Le Neve, and she wore +the brooch left behind. She also wore my wife’s furs. After I told them +my wife was dead, Miss Le Neve and I went to Dieppe for five days. My +belief is that my wife has gone to Chicago to join Bruce Miller, a man +whom she knew and who, I believe, had speculated and made money.” + + +Crippen signed this statement and Inspector Dew said, “That is all very +well, but your wife has got to be found,” and suggested an advertisement +in the newspapers and discussed with Crippen the form of it. They drew +up an advertisement between them, as follows:— + + +“Makamotsky. Will Belle Elmore communicate with H. H. C. or authorities +at once. Serious trouble from your absence. Twenty-five dollars for +communicating her whereabouts to ——” + + +The address was left open for Crippen to decide upon. + +On Crippen’s invitation, Inspector Dew made a search of the house in +Hilldrop Crescent, but found nothing of a suspicious nature. The next +morning Crippen arrived at his place of business a little earlier than +usual, and his clerk remarked on his worried appearance. Crippen said +that he had been bothered, as there was a little scandal. He told him +that he was going away, and that if anything happened to him the clerk +must deal with the letters. He then sent him out to purchase a suit of +boy’s clothes, and about 11.30 Miss Le Neve came to the office, where +she changed her clothes for the boy’s suit purchased by the clerk, and +left the office without anyone noticing her, disguised as a boy. Crippen +then saw the manageress of Munyon’s Company and asked her to change him +a cheque for £37, showing his pass-book at the Charing Cross Bank, where +he had a balance to that amount. He produced a cheque signed Belle +Elmore, the account being in their joint names, and the manageress gave +him cash in exchange. + +This occurred on July 9, and from that date Crippen and Miss Le Neve +disappeared. On July 11 Inspector Dew again went to Hilldrop Crescent to +have a further interview with Crippen and Miss Le Neve, and found they +had gone. He then began a systematic search of the premises, and on the +13th his suspicions were aroused by something he saw on the floor +leading to the cellar. He decided to examine it more carefully, and +finding some bricks which appeared to be loose, he decided to take up +the floor. The result was, that he discovered what were obviously human +remains, and sent for the divisional sergeant of police. The remains +were as far as possible uncovered, but not removed, and on July 14 they +were examined by Mr. Pepper, at whose request they were removed to the +mortuary for closer examination. The remains having been buried in +quicklime were found to be in a fairly good state of preservation, most +of the internal organs, such as the heart, the spleen, intestines and +stomach being intact. The extraordinary part of the matter was, that no +bones were found, and the head, hands and feet were missing. It was +apparent that the individual who had carried out the evisceration had +done everything possible to prevent identification as regards the body. +Some things, however, were forgotten, such as portions of articles of +clothing, and some hair done up in curling pins, some strands of which +were fully eight inches long, proving they belonged to a female. + +Another point noticed was, that the hair had been bleached. The articles +of clothing showed the arm-piece of a suit of pyjamas, and separately, +the right back portion of the jacket of a similar suit, with the maker’s +name on it. The woman’s clothing consisted of a camisole. The name on +the pyjamas was discovered to be the same as on those which Crippen wore +and which were found in his box. + +Following this discovery, a warrant was issued on July 16 for the arrest +of Crippen and Miss Le Neve. + +The scene now changes to the Atlantic. On July 20 the steamship +_Montrose_ sailed from Antwerp bound for Quebec, and among the +passengers who embarked at that port were a Mr. Robinson and his son. +They mixed freely with the passengers on the ship, but circumstances +arose when they were a few days out, to cause the captain to make +particular observation of the son, and from certain characteristics, he +began to doubt his sex. Communicating his suspicions to two of the +passengers, they soon confirmed his belief that Mr. Robinson junior was, +in fact, a girl. + +Suspecting something was wrong, on July 22 the captain sent a wireless +message asking the police to follow and board his ship, as he was +convinced that Mr. Robinson and his son were the Dr. Crippen and Ethel +Le Neve who were being sought for by the police. It was probably the +first time that wireless telegraphy had been used in connection with +suspected criminals. + +The day after the receipt of the message, Inspector Dew and Sergeant +Mitchell sailed from Liverpool in the s.s. _Laurentic_, which overtook +the _Montrose_ at sea. During the voyage, Crippen had become very +friendly with the quartermaster of the ship, and a couple of days before +the vessel was due at Quebec, the quartermaster gave him a hint that the +Canadian police were on his track. It is said an arrangement was made +between them, in order to avoid the police on landing, that Crippen +should be concealed among the cargo, and at an appointed hour there +should be a splash in the water as if some one had fallen or jumped +overboard, while in the cabin a tell-tale message was to be found. It +was thought that no one would think of searching the cargo for the +missing man, and thus the fugitive was to get clear away, Miss Le Neve +in the meanwhile being advised of an address where she might join him +afterwards if all went well. + +All Crippen’s arrangements, however, were upset by Inspector Dew +boarding the s.s. _Montrose_ at Farther Point, Quebec. The inspector saw +Crippen pacing the deck near the captain’s cabin. “Good morning, Dr. +Crippen,” he remarked. “Good morning, Mr. Dew,” replied Crippen. Dew +then told him he would be arrested for the murder and mutilation of his +wife, Cora Crippen, in London, on February 2. Miss Le Neve, who was +still dressed in her suit of boy’s clothes, was also arrested. A written +card, evidently intended for Miss Le Neve, was found on Crippen. It was +in his handwriting and said that he could not stand the horrors he had +gone through. There was nothing bright ahead and he had made up his mind +to jump overboard that night. + +Crippen and Miss Le Neve were brought back to England by Inspector Dew +on the s.s. _Megantic_, and they landed at Liverpool on August 27, and +were taken to London. A great crowd had assembled at Euston Station, +where the prisoners had a hostile reception, being greeted with groans +and hisses. On August 29 they were charged at Bow Street, and committed +for trial at the Central Criminal Court, one on the charge of murder, +and the other as being accessory after the fact. + +At the trial of Crippen it transpired that on January 19 he had +purchased at a pharmacy in New Oxford Street five grains of hyoscine +hydrobromide, for which he signed the poison register, stating it was +required for making homœopathic preparations. At this shop Crippen had +previously purchased a number of drugs such as cocaine, morphine, and +mercury, and was well known there. He had also written prescriptions +which had been prepared for him. + +Mr. Augustus Pepper, surgeon to St. Mary’s Hospital, gave the result of +his examination, and in his opinion, he concluded that the remains were +undoubtedly those of a woman, adding that the person who removed the +various organs showed considerable dexterity. The remains were buried +very soon after death, and approximately they had been in the ground +from four to eight months. On a portion of the body found there was a +scar, the result of an operation which it was discovered Mrs. Crippen +had undergone some time ago. This was important as evidence of +identification. He had examined the hair which was found in the curler, +and said that the longest was eight inches long and the shortest two and +a half inches. It showed signs of having been artificially dealt with, +and was partially bleached, but the natural colour of the hair was +probably a dark brown. The very lightest portion was a pale yellow. + +Dr. Marshall, who assisted Mr. Pepper, stated that there was no evidence +at all that suggested the remains were those of a male. What little +evidence there was pointed to their being those of a female. He was of +the opinion that the scar was the result of an operation, and his +impression was there were also marks of stitches. + +Dr. B. H. Spilsbury, pathologist of St. Mary’s Hospital, who was called +for the prosecution, stated he had made a microscopical examination of +this piece of skin, and confirmed the opinion that it was undoubtedly an +old scar which had been stretched. + +Dr. W. H. Willcox, senior analyst to the Home Office, gave evidence as +to the examination of the organs of the body found. He stated that he +had tested the extracts he had made from the organs physiologically, and +in each case got complete paralysis of the pupil of the eye. He also +made chemical tests in the case of the liver and intestine, and he +concluded that hyoscine was present, corresponding approximately to +one-thirtieth of a grain in the whole stomach. He also found an amount +of alkaloid corresponding to one-fortieth of a grain in the whole of the +kidney, and an amount corresponding approximately to one-seventh of a +grain in the intestines, and in the liver approximately an amount of +one-twelfth of a grain. He believed the alkaloid found to be hyoscine, +and the total amount to be two-sevenths of a grain approximately. In his +opinion there must have been present in the whole body more than half a +grain, and the probable fatal dose of hyoscine hydrobromide would be +from one-quarter to one half a grain. It was not commonly prescribed, +and was chiefly used in sedatives in such conditions as mania and +meningitis, in doses from one two-hundredth to one hundredth of a grain. +He was of the opinion it had been administered by the mouth and not as +an injection, because of the large amount found in the intestines. He +believed the cause of death was poison by hyoscine or a salt of +hyoscine. + +The counsel for the prisoner suggested that alkaloidal substances +resembling atropine or hyoscamine had been met with in decomposed meat, +but Dr. Willcox negatived the suggestion. + +Dr. Luff, scientific adviser to the Home Office, said he had followed +Dr. Willcox’s tests in evidence, and he agreed that the poison found was +undoubtedly hyoscine. During seventeen years’ experience he had always +tested for animal alkaloids in toxicological cases, and before that he +had conducted a long series of investigations for animal alkaloids, but +only on one occasion had he come across them, and that was in some +putrefied meat. It was quite impossible that hyoscine could be mistaken +for an animal mydriadic alkaloid under Vitali’s test. + +Mr. Tobin, who defended Crippen, contended that the alkaloid found by +Dr. Willcox in the remains might have been traced to an animal alkaloid +produced after death as the result of putrefaction. He dwelt on the fact +of the lack of motive Crippen had for the suggested crime; and that +although he had purchased five grains of hyoscine hydrobromide, he had +signed his name in the poison register, although there was no need for +him to have done so. He bought the drug in January when he was still +agent for Munyon’s Remedies, for the purpose of making it into a liquid +and using it in the form of the tiny homœopathic tablets which he sold +in bottles of three hundred each, to patients. He said that although no +obligation rested upon Dr. Crippen to go into the witness-box, he chose +to go of his own accord, and he would call him. + +Crippen was taken through the story of his life by the examining +counsel, and coming to the question of his purchase of drugs he said he +always made up the preparations he sold, and had bought considerable +quantities of different poisons, such as aconite, belladonna and _Rhus +tox_. He had frequently used hyoscine in making his homœopathic +preparations in extremely minute doses. He admitted purchasing the +hyoscine and explained how he used it, by first dissolving it in +alcohol, then saturating a certain amount of small disks or tablets, two +of which would equal ¹⁄₃₆₀₀th part of a grain. He used it in nervous +diseases. + +Crippen, examined by the Lord Chief Justice, said he took no steps to +find out where his wife had gone to, up to July 8. For three hours he +stood the fire of cross-examination by Mr. Muir, the leading counsel for +the Crown, and from beginning to end appeared to be utterly devoid of +emotion or anything in the least approaching it, nor did he ever lose +his self-possession or show the slightest sign of being ruffled. + +During the trial Mr. Bruce Miller, whose name had been mentioned by +Crippen in connection with his wife, was called, and swore that he had +not seen Mrs. Crippen since she left America in 1904. + +The Lord Chief Justice, in his summing up of the case, impressed upon +the jury that they must be satisfied by the whole of the evidence that +the Crown had made out their case, and if not, the prisoner was entitled +to the benefit of the doubt. The crime of murder charged against Crippen +was that he wilfully and intentionally killed his wife by poison, and +then mutilated the body and buried the remains in the cellar at 39 +Hilldrop Crescent, in order to conceal his crime. There was no question +here of suggesting that it was by some other means or by some other +method or agency that Crippen had caused the death of his wife, and it +involved two questions: first, whether the remains found in the house +were those of the body of Cora Crippen; if they were not, there was an +end of the case; if they were the remains of this woman, then it was a +question, was her death occasioned by the wilful act of her husband? +These were the two issues upon which the jury must concentrate their +attention. + +After exactly half an hour’s absence the jury returned and declared they +unanimously found the prisoner guilty of wilful murder, and Crippen was +sentenced to death. + +The following morning the trial of Miss Le Neve took place, she being +indicted upon the charge of being accessory after the fact of the wilful +murder of Cora Crippen. No witnesses were called for the case, and after +some formal proceedings the jury found a verdict of acquittal. + +The case was brought before the Court of Criminal Appeal, but the appeal +was dismissed, and Crippen was executed at Pentonville Prison on +November 23, 1910. It is said he made no confession of his crime. + +Thus ended the trial of one who was described by Lord Alverstone as an +extraordinary man. Throughout the trial he never showed a symptom of +concern or trace of emotion or fear; he appeared to be never at a loss +for a word or explanation, and showed remarkable self-possession all +through, the only argument his counsel could adduce in his defence. But +after all this is one of the salient characteristics of poisoners. In +Crippen’s case we have a man possessing some medical knowledge; who had +deliberately chosen a little-known poison to carry out his evil design. +He had probably prepared and planned the deed at least a fortnight +before it was committed, and then eviscerated the remains of his victim +to try and baffle the ablest investigators. He evidently thought his +escape from justice sure. But the Nemesis which dogs the footsteps of +all poisoners followed those of Crippen, and he made three fatal +mistakes. First in burying a portion of the suit of pyjamas belonging to +himself with the remains; second, although he destroyed the major parts +of the body to prevent identification, he left the very remains which +contained traces of the poison by which he murdered his victim; and +third, and most remarkable of all, he forgot to remove the portion of +the body containing the scar, which ultimately established beyond all +doubt the identity of the remains as those of Cora Crippen, his wife. + +This case is noteworthy as being the first on record in which hyoscine +was used for criminal poisoning in this country. The presence of the +alkaloid was clearly demonstrated, although the remains had been buried +for six months. + + + + + CHAPTER XVIII + THE MYSTERY OF THE SEDDONS + + +There have been few cases in the history of poisoning where a man and +his wife have been charged on the capital charge, therefore the trial of +Frederick Henry Seddon and Mary Anne, his wife, on the charge of +murdering Elizabeth Barrow at 63 Tollington Park, N., on September 14, +1911, is one of some interest. The mysterious circumstances connected +with the case are also somewhat out of the ordinary, as the evidence +largely was of a circumstantial character. + +In 1901 Seddon, who was a superintendent of canvassers for an industrial +insurance company, was living with his wife and three children at 63 +Tollington Park, and on July 26, 1910, a Miss Eliza Mary Barrow, a woman +of 49 years of age, came to lodge with them. She appears to have been a +person of a somewhat strange temperament. She was very deaf, and had in +her charge a small boy named Ernest Grant, an orphan of some people with +whom she formerly lived. Miss Barrow was the possessor of a considerable +sum of money, amounting to about £4,000, part of which was invested in +stocks, and she was also the owner of some leasehold property. She had a +curious, but not unusual, characteristic of hoarding gold and notes to a +large amount in a cash-box, which she kept in a box in her room. There +was probably £400 in gold and a considerable number of five-pound notes, +said to be at least thirty-three, kept in this cash-box. + +All this property disappeared by September 14, 1911, and on that date +there appeared to be little cash left in her possession. All the +property had found its way into the hands of the Seddons, which included +£600 of India stock, the leasehold property and some £200 in cash as +well. During October both Seddon and his wife were dealing with +five-pound notes which undoubtedly belonged to Miss Barrow, and which +had been in her cash-box. On the day when the India stock and leasehold +property were transferred, Mrs. Seddon changed two five-pound notes, +endorsing them with a false name and address. Six other notes were also +paid into Seddon’s banking account. + +According to Seddon, the money had been transferred to him by agreement +with Miss Barrow, and he was to give her an annuity of a pound a week in +exchange for the interest on it. He said that he had a verbal agreement +with her by which he was bound to pay her an annuity of £72 a year in +addition to the rooms in the house, in return for the property of the +India stock. + +On September 1 Miss Barrow became ill, from what her medical adviser +diagnosed as epidemic diarrhœa, and this continued for at least eight or +nine days, after which she began to improve and seemed to be getting +better. While she was ill, Mrs. Seddon was the only one who attended to +her, with the exception of Seddon, who was known to have gone into her +room on September 11, when she made a will, appointing him as her sole +executor and trustee. Mrs. Seddon saw after the cooking of Miss Barrow’s +food and did everything necessary for her, and no servant went near the +apartment. + +On the night of the 13th she became rapidly worse, but the doctor was +not called in until about six o’clock in the morning of the 14th, when +she died. Seddon saw the doctor and obtained a certificate to the effect +that death was due to epidemic diarrhœa, and two days afterwards the +funeral took place. There were some significant facts with regard to +what happened after her death. No relative was present at the funeral, +nor were they informed of her death until September 20. + +After the funeral there was some inquiry from one of the relatives, a +Mr. Wonderahe, who had an interview with Seddon. His suspicions being +aroused that all was not well, he communicated with the authorities, and +inquiries were instituted, which resulted in an order being given for +the exhumation of the body on November 15. A post-mortem examination was +made, and it was found that Miss Barrow died from the effects of +arsenic, the poison being widely distributed throughout her body. The +doctor had not prescribed arsenic in his treatment during her illness, +and as Seddon and his wife were the only two people who had come near +her during the period, they were arrested and charged with the crime. + +How the poison was obtained, and who administered it were the paramount +questions at the trial. + +During Miss Barrow’s illness no one else appeared to have entered her +bedroom but the man and his wife, and yet the quantity of arsenic found +in the body was so large, that it was found even in the hair and nails. +Shortly after Miss Barrow’s death, Seddon was seen by two of his +colleagues to be in possession of considerable sums of money, including +£200 in gold and also jewellery. He bought shares in a Building Society, +which he paid for in cash, and made several payments amounting to £150 +in gold. + +A chemist at Crouch Hill stated, that a girl he had since identified as +Seddon’s daughter, purchased from him a packet of six arsenical +fly-papers; she asked for arsenical papers and not the “sticky” ones. + +A doctor who treated Miss Barrow in August, 1911, said she was then +suffering from congestion of the liver, and at the end of the month had +an attack of asthma, but the symptoms were not severe, and she made no +complaint of pain or sickness. The doctor who was called in to attend +her on September 2 had attended the Seddons for some years. He found her +suffering from sickness and prescribed for her. On the 13th the symptoms +of the illness had returned, but he did not consider her condition +critical. The following day Seddon came to see him and said Miss Barrow +was dead, and he gave a certificate that death was due to epidemic +diarrhœa, but he never prescribed arsenic in any form for her during her +illness. + +Dr. Spilsbury, who conducted the post-mortem examination, stated that +the body was in an abnormal state of preservation, and after witnessing +tests made by Dr. Willcox, he was of the opinion that death was due to +acute arsenical poisoning, which meant poisoning by one or more large +doses of arsenic. He had found no sign of internal disease, and in this +particular case he could find no external or internal indication of +chronic arsenical poisoning. + +Dr. Willcox, who made the analysis for the Home Office, said he found +arsenic in all the remains and tissues, the largest proportion being in +the stomach, intestines, liver and muscles; there was arsenic in the +skin, heart and nails, and it was distributed throughout the body. He +agreed with Dr. Spilsbury as to the cause of death. He estimated that +there was in the remains 2·01 grains of arsenic, and that would indicate +to him that more than that amount had been taken. There might have been +an amount of five grains taken within three days of death. In his +opinion the fatal dose was given within two or three days of death, +probably two days. Two grains of arsenic would be a poisonous dose, and +might be enough to kill an adult person, and two or three such doses +within a short period of time would be fatal. + +Dr. Willcox said he had heard a suggestion in this case that carbonate +of bismuth contained arsenic. He had made an analysis of some and found +a very faint trace of about one in a million, so at least two +hundredweight of bismuth carbonate would be required to give two grains +of arsenic. + +He made an analysis of the arsenical fly-papers and found arsenic in a +quantity varying from 3·8 to 6 grs. per paper. If the paper was actually +boiled in water for some minutes, practically all the arsenic would be +got out, and he had obtained 6·6 grs. by boiling one, 6 grs. from +another and 3 grs. from another. In his opinion the 2·01 grs. he found +in Miss Barrow’s body would be sufficient to kill an adult person. + +A considerable point was made by the counsel for the prosecution in the +cross-examination of Dr. Willcox as to the finding of arsenic in the +tips of the hair. Counsel remarked, that one of the most important +subjects of investigation before the Royal Commission of inquiry into +arsenical poisoning, was the presence of arsenic in the hair and the +length of time it must have taken before it reached the hair tips. +Counsel said that the fact that arsenic was found in the tips of Miss +Barrow’s hair proved that it must have been given for a period extending +over two or three months. Dr. Willcox said that it need not mean that +arsenic was being taken continuously, but some might have been taken a +year or more previously, and in the present case he was inclined to the +opinion that there had been one fatal dose given in the last three days +before death. + +Mr. Marshall Hall, who defended Seddon, submitted that there was not +sufficient evidence to give to the jury, and suggested the case was +absolutely a unique one. In all other cases of poisoning there was some +direct tracing of the poison, and in the cases of some men who had been +tried previously, such as Lamson and Cream, there had been medical +knowledge in the possession of the prisoners, but in this case there +were two people charged on circumstantial evidence and it could not be +said which of them did it. Beyond the evidence of the chemist who said +he had sold Margaret Seddon certain fly-papers, there was no proof of +any poison being in the possession of either party. Mrs. Seddon said +that she herself bought some fly-papers in consequence of the request +from Miss Barrow, that something should be done to mitigate the nuisance +of flies in the room. She remembered that on one occasion, the contents +of four saucers were emptied into one which was placed on the washstand +in the room. + +Seddon was then called to give evidence and stated that Miss Barrow had +asked him about reinvesting her money, as she was losing capital, and he +suggested an annuity, which she agreed to in exchange for her India +stock and the lease of her property. He denied ever handling the +fly-papers which came to his house and beyond giving her a little brandy +the last night when she was very ill, he had never given her anything to +eat or drink. He had not the smallest suspicion at that time that she +was fatally or dangerously ill. He declared he had never purchased +arsenic in his life in any shape or form, and swore that he had never +either administered or instructed the administration of it. + +Mrs. Seddon, who also went into the box, said there were a great many +flies in Miss Barrow’s room, and Miss Barrow asked her to get some +fly-papers, “Not the sticky ones, but those you wet.” She herself bought +them at the shop of a neighbouring chemist and took four on being told +she could get them at a reduced price. The papers were shown to Miss +Barrow and placed in a saucer in her room with water on them. During +Miss Barrow’s illness, she waited upon her, and on one occasion, only, +did Mr. Seddon give Miss Barrow any medicine. She had never bought a +fly-paper until she bought these, and she had never sent her daughter +for anything of the kind. She began by putting them in saucers singly, +two on the mantelpiece and two on the chest of drawers. Then there was +an accident, she remembered, and she emptied them into a soup-plate and +repeatedly moistened them if they were going dry. + +Mr. Justice Bucknill, in summing up, said if the prisoners were guilty, +it was a crime which had been carefully thought out and carefully +committed in secret. The history of great poisoning cases showed that +the poisoner did not poison in open daylight, in the presence of other +persons. It was a secret crime, done in the dark, and if this particular +crime was proved against these people there could be no doubt as to its +being an abominable one, and that the love of gold led to it. + +The question to answer was, what was the cause of Miss Barrow’s death? A +considerable amount of arsenic had been found in the body; how did it +get there? There was no direct evidence that Seddon had ever been seen +to handle a fly-paper or the water in which one had been soaking. In +view of the medical evidence it ought not to be difficult to decide that +Miss Barrow died from arsenical poisoning, and it was for the jury to +decide whether that arsenic was administered by the prisoners or either +of them. + +After considering for an hour and five minutes, the jury found Seddon +guilty and his wife “Not Guilty.” Before sentence was passed upon the +man, he read a long statement in which he again denied that he was +guilty of the crime. Seddon was condemned to death and his wife was +acquitted, and he suffered the extreme penalty of the law on April 18, +1912. + +The verdict was much discussed in the Press, and some ten thousand +persons, including Mrs. Seddon, assembled in Hyde Park and presented a +petition at the Home Office to get the verdict set aside. The Court of +Criminal Appeal was asked to quash the conviction, but the judges said +they saw no reason to say the verdict was wrong or unreasonable. + +In November, 1912, Mrs. Seddon made a remarkable statement in the Press +which was published in the _Weekly Dispatch_ of November 17. In it she +stated, that Seddon committed the crime, that she saw him give the +poison to Miss Barrow, that on the fatal night he deliberately +substituted for the medicine the water from the fly-papers and white +precipitate powder and gave it to Miss Barrow. She continued:— + + +“Soon afterwards she breathed her last and I threatened to call the +police, but he pointed his revolver at my head and told me if I informed +on him he would blow my brains out. He had always slept with a loaded +revolver under his pillow. It was Seddon who told me about the flies in +Miss Barrow’s bedroom and asked me to buy the fly-papers. He would not +let me arrange them in the room but took them himself. Late that night +Miss Barrow complained to me about the medicine tasting funny. Something +made me look round. I found a saucer that I had not put there. It was +damp, and I put my finger to it and then on my tongue. It tasted very +queer. On the night of her death Seddon went out to a theatre; several +times during that evening Miss Barrow had called out “I am dying,” and I +told my husband this when he came in, but he laughed. Later on he went +to the bedroom and I followed him. Miss Barrow begged him to send for +the doctor, but he refused; I left the room for a few minutes. On coming +back Seddon did not notice me standing near the doorway. I saw that the +doctor’s medicine had been put on one side, and my husband was mixing +water from fly-papers and white precipitate powder which was to make the +mixture look like that sent by the doctor. Then I saw him approach the +bed and give Miss Barrow several doses.” + + +Sir William Willcox, commenting on this case,[9] said it was of interest +because arsenic was found in all the organs of the victim, Miss Barrow, +and a computation of the total amount of arsenic in the body was made by +a determination of the arsenic present in each organ. The corpse was +actually weighed for this purpose, as well as the individual organs. A +fatal poisonous dose of 2 gr. was proved to be present in the body. For +the purpose of this analysis the electrolytic Marsh-Berzelius test was +used for the first time in determining quantitatively the amount of +arsenic in each organ. + +Footnote 9: + + Presidential Address before the Harveian Society, Jan. 11, 1923. + + + + + CHAPTER XIX + THE DALKEITH COFFEE POISON CASE + + +In the early part of February, 1911, a Mr. Charles Barrett Hutchison and +his wife, in celebration of their silver wedding day, gave a whist and +supper party to some friends at their house at Bridgend, Dalkeith, near +Edinburgh. + +There were four tables in the room, eighteen people being present, and +at midnight supper was served. Coffee was taken to the ladies in the +drawing-room, and on Mrs. Hutchison tasting it she called to her son +John, who had been pouring it out in the dining-room, that there was +something wrong. Mr. Hutchison and a Mr. Alexander Clapperton, a grocer +and wine merchant of Musselburgh, were among those who were drinking the +coffee and smoking in the dining-room. Shortly after drinking it, one of +the party began to experience a peculiar sensation and to have a +disagreeable dryness in the throat. Then it was discovered that most of +the ladies in the drawing-room were also in great distress, and in a +short time every one who had partaken of the coffee became ill, and the +results threatened to become serious. + +One of the guests hurried for assistance, and medical men soon arrived +and did what they could to aid the sufferers. Mr. Hutchison’s eldest +son, John, who had been a dispenser, mixed an emetic of mustard and +water, which gave the sufferers a certain amount of relief and then he +motored to Edinburgh for further assistance. Mr. Hutchison, who had been +assisted to bed, passed away shortly after the doctor’s arrival, and his +friend, Mr. Clapperton, died about three hours afterwards. Practically +the whole of the party of eighteen were affected with greater or lesser +severity, but only the host and his friend succumbed. + +The coffee had come from the shop of Mr. Clapperton, one of the victims, +and although samples of it were subjected to analysis, no trace of +poison could be found. The sugar and milk were also examined without +result, but clear traces of arsenic were discovered by the analyst in a +portion of the prepared coffee that had not been consumed. It was +evident that the quantity of arsenic introduced must have been very +large to have affected so many people, but where had it come from? That +was the mystery. The poison books of the chemists in Dalkeith and +Musselburgh were examined by the police, but all arsenic sold during the +previous twelve months was satisfactorily accounted for. All kinds of +theories were adduced. One brought forward was, that the coffee had been +prepared in an old urn which might have absorbed the poison from the +metal, but the vessels in which the coffee was made were examined and +not a trace of arsenic was found, and so the mystery remained unsolved +for over a fortnight. + +The police still continued their inquiries beyond the neighbourhood, and +eventually at Musselburgh it was found, that a bottle of arsenic was +missing from a chemist’s shop which had apparently been surreptitiously +removed. It then appeared that John James Hutchison had been an +assistant to the chemist from whose shop the bottle was missing. This, +coupled with the fact, that it was he who had carried the poisoned +coffee from the kitchen to the dining-room in his father’s house, led to +the issue of a warrant for his arrest. + +It was then found that John Hutchison had left Bridgend for Edinburgh, +ten miles distant, very early in the morning. He was recognized at +Waverley Station, Edinburgh, at nine o’clock entering a south-bound +express for Newcastle and King’s Cross, and on Wednesday a letter dated +from an hotel in the Strand reached one of his friends. It contained a +passage saying, that the writer intended to throw himself into the +Thames off Waterloo Bridge. + +Inquiries meanwhile proved that he had been speculating on the Stock +Exchange, and his speculations in oil and copper proving unfortunate, he +was heavily in debt. + +When the inspector, armed with a warrant, arrived at the hotel in London +to which he had been traced, he found that he had left. All trace of him +was lost for a time, but a description being issued, it was discovered +that he had travelled to Southampton and taken a boat to the Channel +Islands. Passing through Guernsey, he travelled to Jersey, where he +stayed a night and returned to Guernsey again. To a boarding-house in +the latter island he was traced by the local police and recognized from +a photograph that had been sent to them. The police sergeant found him +in a sitting-room alone, and after charging him made the arrest. When in +the passage leading from the room, Hutchison suddenly darted upstairs, +followed by the sergeant. He made for his bedroom, and as he opened the +door he drew his hand out of his trousers’ pocket and put a phial to his +lips before the sergeant could interfere. + +A doctor was sent for, and although emetics were administered, he died a +few minutes after his arrival, or about ten minutes after taking the +fatal draught. He gave no information to the sergeant, except saying in +the room below, that he would prove he was not Hutchison. He had taken +his room in the hotel under the name of Henderson, but from papers and +other documents found in his possession there was no doubt he was John +James Hutchison, of Dalkeith. + +The poison by means of which he had committed suicide turned out to be +prussic acid, which he had probably had in his possession for some time. +It is an extraordinary psychological problem how a young man of this +type, apparently so much liked and popular among the people of the town +where he lived, and said to be of a generous, kindly and gentle +disposition could have perpetrated the deed. According to his friends, +he was the last person in the world who would be thought likely to +commit such a terrible crime. + +After the death of his father he had been perfectly collected, was the +chief mourner at the funeral, and became the object of general sympathy. + +Extravagance and social ambition appear to have been his chief faults, +but it is difficult to discover the motive which prompted him to the +commission of a wholesale crime such as he attempted. The only +conclusion that could be arrived at was, that it was the act of a man +whose mind was unbalanced and distorted, as he had nothing to gain by +his father’s death nor from any of the guests he attempted to poison. + + + + + CHAPTER XX + THE AGRA POISON MYSTERY + + +One of the most remarkable cases of criminal poisoning in the annals of +Indian justice was brought to light in December, 1912. There was living +in Agra at that time, a Lieutenant Clark, who was an officer in the +Indian Subordinate Medical Department, and his wife, Mrs. Clark, a lady +of about fifty-five years of age. Both husband and wife were Eurasians. + +On the night of November 17, Mrs. Clark was found in the bedroom of +their bungalow badly wounded and died shortly afterwards of her +injuries. She had apparently been stabbed to death with a sharp +instrument. Her husband informed the authorities that she had been +murdered by a native, and suspicion fell upon a servant named Buddhu who +was at one time employed by the Clarks. + +During the official inquiry which was called to investigate the matter, +Miss Clark, the daughter of the victim, said she saw her mother sitting +up in bed bleeding profusely from several wounds. The lamp was low in +the room and she was unable to recognize any assailant. The whole affair +seemed to be shrouded in mystery until the police brought to light a +correspondence between Lieut. Clark and Mrs. Fulham, the wife of an +Assistant Examiner of Military Accounts, who had died under suspicious +circumstances in the previous October. This correspondence showed a +connection between the deaths both of Mrs. Clark and of Mr. Fulham, and +Lieut. Clark was arrested on November 29, and charged with the murder +both of his wife and Mr. Fulham. + +Mrs. Fulham was also charged with the murder of her husband and Mrs. +Clark, and Buddhu, the native servant, was also arrested. The latter +offered to give evidence, and testified that Lieut. Clark had given him +three powders that he was to place in Mrs. Clark’s tea, and promised him +fifty rupees when he had done it. The witness took the powders and asked +what they were for, and was told that they were aperient medicines. At +the same time Clark threatened to throttle him if anything leaked out. +He gave the powders as he was told, and then left the service of Lieut. +Clark immediately. + +Miss Clark stated that her father was very violent with her mother at +times and had been very intimate for some time with Mrs. Fulham. Mrs. +Clark had objected to this and as a result quarrels had taken place. +Twice, the daughter stated, her mother had been taken ill after a meal, +and referring to one of these attacks in a diary Mrs. Clark kept, she +wrote that the cook had put something in her tea. + +Mr. Harry Clark, a son, declared that he was aware that his mother was +having poison given her and obtained possession of some of the powder +and had it analysed by a surgeon, who said it was a “slow poison.” His +mother had told him that she would be poisoned, and he tried to persuade +her to go away with him, but she refused, without giving any reason. + +Major O’Meara, a civil surgeon in Agra, who examined the body of Mrs. +Clark, was of the opinion that she had been attacked with a heavy weapon +and that the blows had been deliberately given by a man. A second son of +the accused stated that his father had told them that their mother had +been given more than one dose of arsenic, but she proved poison-proof, +so that he made no secret before his own family of his intention to get +rid of his wife at the first opportunity. + +In one of the letters discovered, written by Mrs. Fulham to Clark, which +was dated April 22, 1911, was the statement: + + +“You are very thoughtful in sending me more powders; I was going to ask +you for more, as I have only three left. I do not think these powders +are having any effect. You say they must be given regularly and then you +say you cannot administer them to ‘Mrs. C.’ as regularly as you would +like to. She will need much more than that. Tell me plainly what you +think.” + + +An Assistant-Surgeon named Linton told how, when visiting Clark’s +bungalow one evening, Harry Clark showed him a white powder and asked +him whether it was poison. He tasted it and concluded it was a compound +of arsenic, and told young Clark it was a poison and would be fatal in +about twenty minutes. + +In a statement made by Mrs. Fulham that was read she explained her +friendship with Clark, and said: + + +“I believe Clark must have the power of hypnotism. He made me and my +husband do whatever he wished. He won my affection completely from him. +On arriving at Agra my husband was suddenly taken ill. Clark went on his +bicycle and fetched Captain Dunn, who arrived just in time to see my +husband expire. Clark once told me he had given his wife enough arsenic +to kill ten men, but she recovered. My husband became very ill and +paralysed and helpless, and died on October 10, 1911. Clark gave him +several injections before fetching Captain Dunn, and used a hypodermic +syringe filled with something from a small bottle.” + + +From the evidence of these letters it was apparent that both the accused +conspired in April, 1911, first to poison Mr. Fulham, the poison being +sent to Meerut from Agra by Lieut. Clark, and that Mrs. Fulham wrote to +Clark duly acknowledging the receipt of the poison, and sending him +reports of its effect upon her husband. In one of her letters she +alludes to an attempt to poison her husband with “Tonic Powders,” which +were believed to be a name for a deadly alkaloidal poison which Clark +had brought from Calcutta. Another preparation was twice tried +previously, but was unsuccessful because Fulham refused to drink the tea +in which it was placed because of its peculiar taste. + +Mrs. Fulham wrote to Clark on the subject, “This will take a hundred +years to kill him.” Mr. Fulham became very ill and was taken to +hospital, but recovered, and his wife wrote to Clark telling him how the +attempts had failed and they must try to find another way. + +Fulham then went on a visit to Agra, where he was taken very ill after +dinner and died shortly afterwards. Clark himself wrote the death +certificate, stating that he died of “general paralysis of three months’ +standing.” + +In another letter from Mrs. Fulham to Clark on May 20, 1911, she stated: + + +“I administered the powder you left. There was no result. I shall begin +in earnest on Monday and inform you of the results.” + + +On May 23 she said: + + +“I again have news for you. I administered a full dose yesterday. Hubby +returned the tea untasted. He said there was bad medicine in it. This +shows that jalapine is readily tasted. The fates are against us. All our +attempts are bitterly frustrated. I feel so disappointed, not so much on +my account as on yours. What is the best plan of operation in the +future?” + + +On May 27 she wrote: + + +“You assure me you are determined to win me at any cost. Come what may, +I will help you to achieve that end.” + + +On June 11 she said: + + +“Hubby is very ill with symptoms of cholera. All blame masonic dinner, +but you and I know. I cannot bear to see his suffering.” + + +On June 27 she wrote: + + +“A powder is hard to administer, as my husband takes no food prepared by +me, and makes his own cocoa; but I am still doing my best.” + + +Mr. Fulham’s little daughter, a child of ten, told the Court a pathetic +story of how her father became ill after dinner on the day on which he +died. He was previously quite well, but had dinner in the garden, her +mother and herself taking the meal out to him. Afterwards her father +complained of illness and went to bed. Lieut. Clark was there at the +time. She went to see her father in his room later on and going into the +dining-room afterwards, she saw Clark take a red box off a shelf and +take out a glass needle. He opened a paper and poured out a white powder +into a wineglass of water and filled the needle. She watched him then go +into her father’s room and seem to push the needle into his heart, arm +and shoulder. Shortly afterwards there was a funny gurgling noise from +her father. She went to the bedside wondering what it could be, and +found him lying on his back and the noise continued. He was breathing +heavily and then he died. Clark came in and felt her father’s heart, but +returned immediately to the dining-room and said to her mother, “Gone.” +After that he went out on a bicycle to fetch Captain Dunn. When the +latter arrived Clark pretended he did not know her father was dead and +said he brought Captain Dunn to see how Fulham was. + +Lieut. Clark volunteered a statement in which he said that Captain Dunn +was consulted when Mr. Fulham was brought to Agra and advised the +injection of ether, digitalin and strychnine, which was to be kept handy +and used immediately an attack was coming on. The injection he gave Mr. +Fulham as described by the child was ten minims of this mixture. Half an +hour later he made a second injection and then went off on his cycle to +fetch Captain Dunn. The bottle was labelled “Hypodermic injection” with +the prescription fully inscribed and it was kept in Mrs. Fulham’s room, +where it remained until the time of her arrest. It had been stated that +he purchased arsenic, atropine and cocaine from different chemists in +Calcutta in 1911. He admitted he made these purchases to treat a patient +suffering from rheumatism and neuralgia, and as they did not prove +effective, he sent to Calcutta for five grains of gelsemine for another +preparation which was harmless. This accounted for the whole of the five +grains of gelsemine which he purchased in 1911. He bought fifty-four +grains of gelsemine and other drugs in 1912, which he had used, and gave +the names of the patients whom he had treated with the medicines in +order to prove he habitually prescribed it for certain diseases. + +He also stated that he purchased 118 grains of cocaine in 1911 and +described the disposal of it and also of the thirty grains of atropine, +which he said he had used in a liniment. + +A letter from Mrs. Fulham to Clark was read, asking if the “new powders +were tasteless?” since Mr. Fulham refused his food with the other +powders. In a former letter she describes her husband’s frequency of +vomiting and, after stating what the hospital doctors thought about his +case, she added “but you and I know.” + +Mrs. Fulham, on being asked by the Court whether she wished to say +anything about this matter, declared that she did not know what the +powders she gave to her husband were composed of, but that Lieut. Clark +told her that they would make her husband slightly ill, otherwise she +would not have given them to him. + +Dr. Gore, Assistant-Chemist and Bacteriologist, stated that Clark came +to his laboratory in October and asked him for some cholera cultures, +saying that he wanted to use them on animals in order to test a cholera +specific. He told Clark that animals did not get cholera, and therefore +he did not give him any of the cultures. Finally he put him off with +some harmless water organisms, as he thought to place cholera cultures +in Clark’s inexperienced hands would be a most risky proceeding. + +On the Saturday before his wife’s death, Clark came to the laboratory +again and asked for more cultures and said that he had tried them on +fowls, cats and dogs which had contracted cholera and they had been +cured by his specific. + +Major O’Meara, who made the autopsy on Mr. Fulham, stated that he found +the remains in a remarkable state of preservation; it was well known +that certain poisons, especially arsenic, assisted in the preservation +of the body. He was certainly of the opinion that Mr. Fulham’s symptoms +were compatible with chronic arsenical poisoning, probably given in +small doses over a long period. Taking Mrs. Fulham’s statements in her +letters to Clark into consideration, describing her husband’s condition, +it would appear his whole nervous system and brain were wrecked, and +following the administration of a powder, paralytic symptoms developed. +Asked if a dose of any poison would produce such symptoms, Major O’Meara +replied, “Yes, a certain group of poisons, one of which is atropine.” A +mixture of atropine and cocaine would also produce symptoms of +heat-stroke; he considered the fatal dose of gelsemine to be one-sixth +of a grain, or less, if administered hypodermically, and would cause +rapid death. + +According to the evidence of the analyst, he failed to find any alkaloid +in the remains after making tests for strychnine, gelsemine and +atropine, but he found slight traces of arsenic in the thigh bone. + +The investigation of Mr. Fulham’s death having been completed, two +natives named Sukhia and Ram Lal were placed in the box and charged +along with the other three prisoners. + +Buddhu, the native servant of the Clarks, then made a confession. He +said that he had first worked for four months with Mrs. Fulham, when one +day she spoke to him at her bungalow and said she would give him +something to put in Mrs. Clark’s food and would pay him fifty rupees. He +had refused to do it. Later on Lieut. Clark came into the lamp room in +the hospital and took a lamp chimney from him, from which he made +powdered glass. He made it into three powders and told him to give it to +Mrs. Clark, for which he was promised fifty rupees. When Mrs. Clark +became very ill Clark warned him to be careful not to put the powder in +the children’s food. Ten days later Clark gave him a bottle and told him +if he did not give it to Mrs. Clark he would drive him from the +hospital, and on that day he poured the contents into his mistress’s +tea, after which she was sick. + +Later Clark asked him to come to Mrs. Fulham’s bungalow, where he also +met him, and after sending the other servants away, they both asked him +if he would arrange to kill Mrs. Clark. Buddhu said he would tell them +later and afterwards saw Sukhia and asked him if he could do anything. +Sukhia replied, “I cannot do it for a hundred rupees, I want more.” He +then took Sukhia to the Fulhams’ bungalow, where Clark was, and he and +Mrs. Fulham conversed at length with Sukhia, who asked for payment +before he did the work. Clark replied: “You will get the money when the +work is done.” + +Eventually it was arranged to give Buddhu the money and let him pay +Sukhia. + +At ten o’clock on the same night, Clark came to the hospital and showed +Buddhu six sovereigns and ten rupees and asked if his fellows were +coming to the bungalow. Buddhu replied, “When the moon goes down.” + +He met Sukhia and Ram Lal that night, together with another man named +Mohan who brought a large knife, which Ram Lal took. Mohan kissed and +worshipped the knife and then sharpened it on a stone. + +About one o’clock they all went to Clark’s bungalow. Buddhu waited on +the verandah while the other four went in at the back door, which they +tried to open, but a dog barked. They returned to the verandah, and +again went towards Clark’s bedroom, but the dog was still barking. Just +at that moment Clark rode up on his bicycle. The four men told him to +look after the dog, and they would at once finish the work. Ram Lal +opened the door, and Clark entered and took out the dog, which was shut +up in the outhouse. Clark then rode off, telling the men to enter the +house when he had gone. About half-past one the four men went in, Buddhu +waiting outside. Shortly afterwards Ram Lal came out, saying he did not +know which was Mrs. Clark and which was the daughter. Buddhu pointed out +Mrs. Clark’s bed, and then the other two men brought in the lamp. Ram +Lal and Sukhia stood behind the curtain, near the daughter’s bed, and, +while Budhakanjore took the lamp, the other man gave the memsahib a +heavy cut. Directly she shrieked, the man gave another cut, and she +writhed and rolled over the bed. + +All the four men then left. Buddhu heard the daughter cry out, and then +ran off. When he reached the main road the other four men demanded +money. Buddhu took them to the hospital and told them to wait. He then +went back to the bungalow, where he saw the daughter crying and Clark +standing by. Buddhu told Sukhia not to worry about the money, as Clark +would pay next morning. Ram Lal came to the hospital eight times in the +morning for money. Buddhu told Clark, who asked him to take the men to +Mrs. Fulham’s bungalow, but the same evening Sukhia still complained of +not having been paid. Buddhu did not know what happened after that, as +he was arrested. + +The trial of this extraordinary case took place at Allahabad, on March +1, before the Chief Justice. Clark confessed that he was wholly and +solely to blame, and that Mrs. Fulham was acting under his directions. +He sent her the drugs and she gave them, under his influence. + +With respect to Mr. Fulham’s death he said:— + +“At first I intended making him sick by giving him small doses, so that +he should have to leave the country. The last dose made him very ill and +he was brought to Agra in a dying condition. I was sorry for his +condition, that is why I killed him. I simply administered four drachms +of antipyrine before dinner and this killed him. The injections I gave +him after dinner were ether, digitalis, and strychnine, but the dose was +too small to counteract the effects of the antipyrine. I gave him +antipyrine because Fulham was a wreck and I wanted to finish him off. +The injections were given only on the pretence of doing something for +him. I knew they wouldn’t do any good.” + +The Chief Justice.—“I understand you intended to kill him. Did you kill +him?” + +Clark.—“Yes, I took pity on his condition.” + +Mrs. Fulham was next questioned. In reply to the Chief Justice regarding +the administering of the poison to her husband she said, that Clark +suggested making him ill. She gave half or quarter doses because she +dared not give the fatal dose. The heat-stroke suggestion came from +Clark. Mrs. Fulham further said that she had no explanation to offer +regarding her letter suggesting that Mrs. Clark must also be removed. +Questioned regarding the incidents on the day Mr. Fulham died, she said +she put nothing in his dinner, but saw Clark administer a dose of +medicine before dinner. She also saw Clark give injections. + +At the conclusion of Mrs. Fulham’s statement, counsel for the +prosecution said that Clark had admitted that he was criminally +responsible for the death of Mr. Fulham, and it was for the jury to +decide whether his story was true, or whether he had made the statement +with a view to saving Mrs. Fulham. Regarding the latter, counsel +reminded the jury of passages in her letters. The prosecution did not +wish unduly to press the case against her, and he only asked the jury to +act on the plain English wording of the letters. If the jury were +satisfied that she had been a consenting party to the murder of her +husband, they must also convict her. + +The four Hindus were found guilty of the murder of Mrs. Clark; Lieut. +Clark and Mrs. Fulham were found guilty in both cases and were sentenced +to be hanged. Mrs. Fulham’s sentence, however, was eventually commuted +to penal servitude for life. + + + + + CHAPTER XXI + A CORNISH POISON MYSTERY + + +Towards the close of the year 1921 a man named Edward Black was living +with his wife and stepdaughter, Marian, a girl of seventeen, at the +village of Tregonissey, near St. Austell in Cornwall. Mr. and Mrs. Black +were married in 1914, the latter being her husband’s senior by twenty +years, and they had lived together fairly happily, though quarrels about +money matters were frequent. Black carried on business as an insurance +agent, and his affairs at this time were the reverse of prosperous. + +Mrs. Black had for some time been suffering from gastritis, for which +Black had often given her medicine and was very insistent on her taking +it. She complained more than once to a neighbour, that the medicine +given by her husband always upset her and burned her throat. + +On October 31, 1921, Black, as was his custom, prepared the breakfast +which consisted that morning of cake and bread-and-butter, and made the +tea. Within an hour after partaking of the meal Mrs. Black was seized +with vomiting and pain and was obliged to take to her bed. As her +condition did not improve, a doctor was called in, but in spite of his +efforts she died after an illness of eleven days. + +Before this happened, Black’s money troubles had come to a crisis, and +following on discoveries made by the company for which he acted as +agent, a warrant was issued for his arrest on a charge of issuing +non-existent insurance policies. + +Three days before his wife died, Black disappeared, and after a search +by the police he was finally traced to Liverpool. When arrested in that +city he attempted to commit suicide by cutting his throat, and had to be +taken to a hospital. + +Meanwhile, the circumstances under which Mrs. Black had died appeared so +suspicious that a post-mortem examination was ordered, followed by an +analysis of the organs of the body. As a result of the investigation +Black was charged at the inquest, which was deferred until he was +sufficiently recovered to be brought from Liverpool, with the murder of +his wife by the administration of arsenic. + +The trial took place at Bodmin Assizes on February 2, 1922, before Mr. +Justice Rowlatt, Mr. Holman Gregory appearing for the prosecution and +Mr. Pratt for the defence. + +Evidence was given by an assistant in a chemist’s shop in St. Austell, +that on October 29, 1921, Black purchased two ounces of white arsenic, +saying he wanted it to kill rats, and that although he was offered other +preparations for this purpose, he insisted upon having the arsenic, and +duly signed the poison register. Asked by the judge how much two ounces +of arsenic would make, the witness replied, “About a heaped teaspoonful; +it would be 960 grains,” upon which the judge observed that would amount +to nearly five hundred fatal doses. + +Counsel for the prosecution said that the fatal dose of arsenic, which +was about two grains, would just cover a threepenny bit. The effect upon +a person who had swallowed arsenic would depend upon whether it was +taken in a dry or liquid state; in liquid form on a empty stomach its +effect would be very rapid. + +The doctor who attended Mrs. Black during her last illness stated that +at the post-mortem examination, it was found that the heart was normal +and that there was nothing to account for the rapid action he had +noticed during her illness. Questioned as to the presence of arsenic in +some empty medicine bottles which had been found in the house, he +replied that it was a common thing to find arsenic in bismuth in spite +of every precaution against impurity. The amount found in the bottle, +however, was ¹⁄₂₀th of a milligram, a milligram being ¹⁄₆₅th of a grain. + +Mr. Webster, analyst to the Home Office, said he examined the stomach, +intestines, liver, and one kidney of the deceased woman, together with +6¾ fluid ounces of blood. He found arsenic in all the organs, the total +amount being ¹⁄₁₇th of a grain, equivalent to ⅙th of a grain in the +whole body. Slight traces of arsenic were found in the bottles and other +articles found in the house and brought to him by the police, but that +could not possibly account for the amount of arsenic found by him in the +organs of the deceased woman. The traces of arsenic in these things were +so small that they would not affect the system at all; to get a fatal +dose from medicine containing that proportion it would require 1,300 +bottles. + +The amounts found were consistent with the taking of a poisonous dose, +or a series of small doses which might produce poisonous symptoms. If +such doses had been taken they had probably been well diluted. There was +no direct evidence of an irritant poison to be seen in the walls of the +stomach or the intestines. It was possible, however, for all the arsenic +to have disappeared, even if a fatal dose had been taken. It would +depend upon the time the patient lived, and a considerable quantity +might have been vomited. He did not agree with the counsel for the +defence, who urged that arsenic remained in the body indefinitely. In +his opinion that was not the case; it was got rid of very quickly. +Arsenic would remain in the hair and nails for a considerable period, +but after a comparatively short time it could not be detected in the +organs. + +Sir William Willcox, Consulting Medical Expert to the Home Office, +described the symptoms of arsenical poisoning. He said that when a big +dose was taken, death usually occurred in three days, but in some cases +the arsenic damaged the organs of the body, and death might occur +several days after the taking of the last dose. He had known cases in +which some months had ensued before death. In his opinion the cause of +death in this case was arsenical poisoning. He based his opinion not +only on symptoms but on the analysis. He believed that no arsenic had +been administered to Mrs. Black within five days of her death. She had +not died from the direct effects of arsenical poisoning, but the cause +of death was exhaustion coupled with poisoning of the vital organs. + +At the suggestion of the judge, Mr. Webster made three cups of tea, one +with two grains of arsenic in it, one with one grain, and one with none, +and these cups were handed to the judge and jury for their inspection. + +Evidence was given by Mrs. Black’s daughter, Marian, and by the +neighbours, showing that Black had on different occasions administered +medicine to his wife, and that she had frequently complained of it being +“peppery” and of her dislike to taking it. + +Counsel for the defence urged the lack of motive for the crime, and +suggested that death was due to gastritis, from which disease Mrs. Black +was known to have suffered. + +On the second and last day of the trial, Black himself went into the +witness-box, and denied, as he had previously done at the inquest, that +he had ever had arsenic in his possession, or that he had purchased it +at St. Austell on October 29. He also added that on October 31 his wife +was not present at breakfast, but that it was taken up to her by Marian, +the girl. + +The judge, in summing up the case, said that it was one of +circumstantial evidence. As a rule in such cases one found motives +included, but in this case there was none. There was no doubt that +Black’s behaviour all through his wife’s illness was that of attention +to her, and not either neglectful of her or hostile to her. + +The jury, after an absence of forty minutes, returned with a verdict of +“Guilty.” Black was sentenced to death, and was executed at Exeter Gaol +on March 24, 1922. + + +In commenting on this case, in an address before the Harveian Society, +Sir William Willcox stated: + + +“it is interesting from the fact that although arsenic was present in +appreciable amount in all the organs, the total amount found in them was +considerably less than a possible fatal dose. The explanation of the +small amount of poison in the body was clearly shown by the clinical +history. The case was one of delayed arsenical poisoning, a considerable +proportion of the arsenic having been got rid of by excretion in the few +days which elapsed between the administration of the poison and the time +of death.” + + + + + CHAPTER XXII + THE ARMSTRONG CASE + + +In 1921 the little town of Hay in Breconshire became the centre of one +of the strangest poison dramas of modern times. There were practising in +the town two firms of solicitors, the head of one being Mr. Robert Rowse +Armstrong, M.A., who had held a temporary commission as major during the +war, and was Clerk to the Bench. The principal of the other was a Mr. +Oswald Norman Martin, who, after demobilization had entered into +partnership with Mr. Robert T. Griffith, who died in November, 1920, +leaving Mr. Martin to carry on the practice. + +Mr. Martin was married on June 14, 1921, to Miss Davies, the daughter of +a local chemist, and Major Armstrong was invited to the wedding +reception and sent a present. Towards the end of September a parcel +arrived at Mr. Martin’s house addressed to him in block letters, +apparently to disguise the handwriting. It contained a box of Fuller’s +chocolates that had come apparently direct from the makers. It was +noticed, however, that the ribbon securing the box had been untied and +retied in a different way, and anything that could lead to the +identification of the shop where it had been bought had been taken away. +The box was put on one side until October 8, when after a dinner party +given by Mr. and Mrs. Martin, it was handed round the table, but only +one person, Mrs. Gilbert Martin, a sister-in-law of the Martins, took +anything from it. Later that evening she was taken ill with vomiting, +and suffered from palpitation of the heart. After dinner, the box of +chocolates was again put away and nothing more thought about it, until +they were suspected of being the cause of the lady’s sudden seizure. The +chocolates were then handed over to Dr. Hincks, of Hay, who sent them to +London to be analysed. According to the report returned to him it was +found that in two of the chocolates in the upper row some holes had been +drilled about half an inch long, into each of which several grains of +white arsenic had been placed and an attempt had then been made to fill +up the ends of the holes with pieces of chocolate. + +About this time, it appears, Major Armstrong began to press Mr. Martin +very frequently to come and have tea with him, and at length Mr. Martin +agreed and went to Armstrong’s house about five o’clock on Wednesday +afternoon, October 26. When he entered the drawing-room he noticed a +three-tier cake-stand on which were apparently some buttered scones. +Major Armstrong called for a cup of tea for him and handed to his +visitor one of the buttered scones from the plate himself. He also had a +piece of currant bread and butter which was on a plate and left the +house at half-past six, but shortly after arriving home began to feel +unwell. Towards evening he got worse and about nine o’clock violent +vomiting set in which continued at frequent intervals throughout the +night. He also had attacks of palpitation and diarrhœa. On Thursday +morning the doctor was called in and he did not recover sufficiently to +return to business until November 1. The following day he met Armstrong, +who asked him if he was feeling better, and remarked, “It may seem a +curious thing to say, but you will have another attack,” to which Mr. +Martin replied, “I hope not.” + +During the following three or four weeks, Armstrong again repeatedly +asked Mr. Martin to come to his house to tea and extended the invitation +also to his office, and seemed particularly anxious that he should +accept. About this time there was some business between the two +solicitors about a sale of land, Mr. Martin acting for the purchaser and +Mr. Armstrong for the vendor. There had been very considerable delay in +completing the purchase and Mr. Martin had written, that unless the +completion took place, his clients would have to rescind their contracts +and demand the return of their deposits in each case. + +The completion had not taken place on October 20, and Mr. Martin wrote +formally giving notice to rescind the contracts and demanding the return +of the money paid on deposit and expenses, which amounted to about £456. +Armstrong asked as a personal favour if this could not be postponed. Mr. +Martin’s clients decided not to consider the suggestion, and thus the +matter stood at the time. + +On December 5 Mr. Martin wrote on behalf of his clients to Armstrong’s +firm, threatening that, unless he received a cheque for his clients’ +deposit by December 12, he would have to take proceedings. + +During Mr. Martin’s illness the doctor attending him took certain +samples for analysis which were sent up to Dr. Willcox, who found in the +specimens one-thirty-third of a grain of arsenic. Mrs. Martin, having +mentioned to her mother about her sister-in-law’s illness after eating +one of the chocolates, gave the remainder of the box to her, and she +showed it to her husband, Mr. Davies, the chemist. In examining them he +noticed that one had a little white powder scattered over one end, and +that two of them certainly had been tampered with. He thought that they +looked very suspicious and so he took them to Dr. Hincks, who sent the +box with the remainder of the chocolates to London to be analysed, the +result of which has been already stated. + +The police were then informed and commenced to make inquiries, with the +result that detectives were called in from Scotland Yard and Armstrong +was arrested. + +It was then found that Mr. Davies, the chemist in Hay, had sold +Armstrong arsenic in considerable quantities in 1913 and 1921, which he +said he required for making weed-killer, and following on what the +police discovered they were led to investigate the cause of the death of +Armstrong’s wife, which had occurred about twelve months previously. + +An order for exhumation of the body was given by the Home Office and the +internal organs were sent to London for analysis. They were found to +contain arsenic to the extent of three and one-fifth grains. + +While the charge of attempting to poison Mr. Martin was in process of +being heard before the magistrates, Armstrong was charged with the +murder of his wife. + +Mrs. Armstrong was forty-seven years of age when she died and had been +married for about fifteen years. In 1919 she had first consulted Dr. +Hincks, being troubled with neuritis in her left arm. After treating her +for this complaint the doctor did not see her again for nearly twelve +months, when he received a message from Armstrong to the effect that his +wife was suffering from pneumonia. A day or two later he found she was +suffering from delusions and that her mental condition was apparently +bad. He called in a colleague and it became apparent to them that there +was something additional to the mental trouble, as Mrs. Armstrong had +been taken ill with vomiting and complained of severe pains and heart +trouble. The doctors concluded she had better be removed to an asylum +and she was taken to Barnwood, near Gloucester. She was there confined +to bed and developed a sort of paralysis; she was treated with tonics, +and one of these contained a small amount of solution of arsenic. Her +condition improved and the doctor told Armstrong that she would be able +to go home on January 11, and Armstrong went to the asylum and brought +his wife back to Hay. On that day it was found that Armstrong had +purchased a quarter of a pound of arsenic, and at one time in +conversation with the doctor had asked him how much arsenic constituted +a fatal dose. He also asked Dr. Hincks to visit his wife occasionally +and a nurse was engaged to look after her. + +For about a month she seemed to be getting better, then in February the +sickness and vomiting commenced again. The doctor thought it was a case +of severe biliousness, but towards the end of February she got worse and +died on the 22nd of that month. The doctor certified that she died from +gastritis and heart disease and at that time had not the slightest +suspicion of foul play. + +In 1919 Mrs. Armstrong made a will leaving some £2,419, which was drawn +up by her husband and witnessed by two servants in the house. + +In a previous will made in 1917, Armstrong was to receive an annuity of +fifty pounds a year, while the property was to be divided equally +between his children, but two years later in the fresh will drawn up by +her husband, she left all her property to him. It transpired afterwards +that the second will was drawn up in Armstrong’s own writing and +purported to be signed by two witnesses. Mrs. Armstrong was not present +and the two servants who signed it at the request of Armstrong stated, +that they did not know it was a will they were witnessing. + +To all appearances and in the opinion of her medical adviser Mrs. +Armstrong had died a natural death, but on exhumation some ten months +afterwards a sufficient amount of arsenic was found in the remains to +poison her. Almost directly after his wife was buried and he had got the +property in his possession, Armstrong went to the Continent, and +immediately on his return at the end of April was talking about marriage +to another lady. It was noteworthy that a packet containing white +arsenic, not coloured, which chemists are bound by law to do before +selling it, was carried by Armstrong in his pocket on the day on which +he was arrested. Also that Mr. Martin was nearly fatally poisoned after +taking tea with Armstrong, and that the amount of arsenic, one +thirty-third of a grain, which was found in the specimen submitted for +analysis pointed to the fact, that the amount he had taken a few days +before was a little over three grains. It was also remarkable that after +Armstrong had asked Dr. Hincks “What is sufficient arsenic to cause +death?” and was told three grains, that was the exact amount that was +found in a packet in his pocket. + +Chief Inspector Crutchett, of Scotland Yard, saw Mr. Armstrong at his +office on December 31, and told him that he was investigating the sudden +illness of Mr. Martin after taking tea with him on October 26. He also +told him about the chocolates which were found to contain arsenic, and +it was known that he had purchased arsenic on January 11, 1921. He asked +him if he could account for his movements on October 26, and what became +of the arsenic that was in his possession. Armstrong then made a +statement that was taken down in writing, and which he signed. In it he +stated, that he also partook of the buttered currant loaf and scones +which he handed to Mr. Martin, who he knew had not been well before he +paid the visit to his house. He acknowledged that he purchased arsenic +in 1914, which he used for making a weed-killer consisting of caustic +soda and arsenic which he found to be cheaper than what he could +purchase. He was unable to throw any light on the finding of arsenic in +Mr. Martin’s tests or on the cause of his illness after visiting his +house. After signing the statement, Armstrong was arrested and was asked +to empty the contents of his pockets on to a desk. Among the articles +found in his possession was a small packet containing a white powder and +two or three little pellets, rather heavy, which were in a small +envelope, which also had the remains of some white powder. The small +packet was found to contain 3¾ grains of white arsenic. + +At the magisterial inquiry, Mrs. Armstrong’s sister said that her sister +was a believer in homœopathic medicines, and among them were arsenicum, +nux vomica and liquorice, which she not only used for herself, but the +household generally. The doctors who saw Mrs. Armstrong at the asylum +and prescribed for her, had ordered her a mixture containing solution of +arsenic, iron and ammonia citrate and nux vomica, the solution of +arsenic being in five-minim doses. She had taken that medicine as a +tonic up to October 4, but after that date had taken nothing which +contained arsenic. + +Dr. Hincks, who had attended Mrs. Armstrong from 1919, described her +complaint and condition; it was owing to her mental trouble that he +advised her removal to the asylum, and at Armstrong’s request he +consented to her return home. He saw her several times afterwards, but +her physical condition grew worse and she became weaker every day. On +February 16 he told her husband that her case was quite hopeless and +later he heard she was dead. He gave a certificate that death was due to +gastritis and heart disease. His opinion now was that all these +conditions were due to the presence of chronic arsenical poisoning, and +he thought the cause of death was due to the administration of arsenic. + +Dr. B. H. Spilsbury, who made the post-mortem on the body of Mrs. +Armstrong after exhumation, said he found it in an unusually good state +of preservation, allowing for the time which had elapsed since her +death. It was a condition which was found in certain cases of arsenical +poisoning, to which in his opinion her death was due. With reference to +the mixture which was prescribed for her at the asylum and taken as a +tonic for a period of some months, he stated that in that small quantity +he would not expect to find any traces of arsenic in the body, with the +possible exception of traces in the nails and hair. + +The official analyst to the Home Office, who had analysed the chocolates +sent to Mr. Martin, said that he found the box contained thirty-two +chocolates, two of which had the appearance of having been tampered +with. A cylindrical hole nearly half an inch long had apparently been +bored and filled with a white powder, and attempts had been made to seal +it up with a covering of chocolate. The white powder was found on +analysis to be arsenious oxide. He estimated that the amount in one +chocolate was slightly more than two grains. The rest of the chocolates +showed no trace of having been tampered with. He found arsenic in all +the organs of Mrs. Armstrong’s body, the total being equivalent to 3·2 +grains, which led him to believe that she must have had a considerable +amount of arsenic during the last few days of her life, and that her +death was due to acute arsenical poisoning. A quantity amounting to a +fatal dose must have been taken within twenty-four hours of her death. + +The analyst also made an examination of a number of bottles and packets +found in Armstrong’s house, most of which contained arsenic either in +solution or powder. + +Sir William H. Willcox, medical adviser to the Home Office, said the +mixture that contained arsenic prescribed for Mrs. Armstrong at the +asylum, could not have accounted for the arsenic found in her body. +Arsenic taken thus for a month would be entirely eliminated, usually in +ten days. The symptoms described in the illness of Mrs. Gilbert Martin +after eating one of the chocolates, and those of Mr. Oswald Martin, were +all consistent with acute arsenical poisoning. He was of the opinion +that Mrs. Armstrong was suffering from the effects of an irritant poison +when she was taken to the asylum in August, 1920, and on her return home +the reappearance of these symptoms showed she was again suffering from +arsenical poisoning. With respect to the distribution of the arsenic in +the organs taken from the exhumed body, he had no doubt that a possibly +fatal dose of two grains or more must have been taken within twenty-four +hours of death. He had known of cases of suicide where a large dose or +possibly two had been taken, but in this case there were obviously +successive doses, giving rise to very painful symptoms, which were not +in the least indicative of suicide. He did not believe it possible that +she could have taken the doses herself within twenty-four hours of +death, and he was confident that she was suffering from acute arsenical +poisoning when she died. + +On this evidence Armstrong was committed to the Assizes on the charge of +murdering his wife and of the attempt to murder Mr. Oswald Martin. + +Armstrong’s trial took place at the Hereford Assizes before Mr. Justice +Darling, on April 31. The case for the Crown was conducted by Sir Ernest +Pollock, K.C., and others, and Armstrong was defended by Sir Henry +Curtis Bennett, K.C. + +The nurse attending Mrs. Armstrong said, that her husband frequently +came into the bedroom the last few days of her illness when she was +confined to bed. He was alone with her on several occasions and sat in +the room when she went to her meals. She noticed that sickness occurred +about twenty minutes after her patient had taken food. Mrs. Armstrong +kept a chest of homœopathic medicines in the bedroom, but up to the +Sunday before she died she was unable to get out of bed. She said she +did not think it was possible that Mrs. Armstrong on February 13 could +have got out of bed and got a packet or bottle out of the cupboard in +the room; she had been told by the nurse who was previously in +attendance on Mrs. Armstrong, that she was afraid that she might some +time commit suicide, as she was certainly suffering from delusions. + +Chief Inspector Crutchett, who was present at the arrest of Armstrong, +said he had no opportunity after December 31 of going back to the house, +but the house had been searched and he was aware of a little drawer in +the cupboard in the study. Sir Henry Curtis Bennett then told him that a +small paper packet of white arsenic was found in that drawer by Mr. +Matthews, Armstrong’s solicitor, his managing clerk and Dr. Chivers. The +inspector declared there was no packet of white arsenic there when he +searched the drawer. Counsel remarked that there were actual traces of +arsenic in the drawer itself. In reply to the judge the inspector said, +that had the packet been in the drawer when he searched he would have +seen it. + +A feature of the scientific evidence given by Mr. Webster was the +statement that he had never, in his experience of making analyses of +organs taken from three to four hundred bodies, discovered such a +quantity of arsenic as he did in the case of Mrs. Armstrong. + +Superintendent Weaver, who searched Armstrong’s study at his house, said +that he had examined the little drawer of the bureau in which it was +stated a packet of white arsenic was found after the police search. He +distinctly remembered pulling out the drawer and placing it on the desk, +and was positive there was no packet of white powder there. + +The counsel for the prisoner in addressing the jury, asserted that the +suggestion that Mrs. Armstrong took arsenic herself, was infinitely +stronger than the case made out against the prisoner, and called +Armstrong as a witness to give evidence in his own defence. + +Armstrong gave a detailed account of his career and war service. He took +his degree as Master of Arts at Cambridge University, and had held +important and responsible positions, including that of Justices’ Clerk +of Hay. He was a partner in the firm of Cheese & Armstrong until 1914, +when Mr. Cheese died. He married in June 1907 and had three children. He +held a commission in the Volunteer Forces of the R.E. until 1914 and was +then gazetted captain. In June, 1918, he went to France, where he +remained until October of that year and was demobilized in the spring of +1919. + +Questioned about the second will in his own handwriting, he said the +reason for his wife’s deciding to make a second will was, that she had +come into some further property since the first will, owing to the death +of her mother, and she wished to make a shorter and simpler one. He drew +up the document at her request and with her full knowledge. He stated +that he first became aware that there was something wrong with his wife +on August 9, but he left her apparently in normal health when he went +out in the morning; on coming back for lunch she surprised him by saying +before the children she expected that he would have been arrested; she +had done something to cause his arrest and had told the children they +might never expect to see him again. This was the first time he had ever +noticed any active delusions, and as the delusions did not diminish he +saw Dr. Hincks and told him what had occurred. Discussing the matter +with a friend, he had made the suggestion that it would not be safe to +leave razors about near his wife, and as a matter of fact, he had +removed them from the room and also his service revolver. He denied +emphatically that there was any truth in the suggestion, that he had +ever administered arsenic to his wife prior to her removal to Barnwood +Asylum. + +Sir Henry Curtis Bennett, K.C., in his speech for the defence said: +“This case is a most extraordinary one, because the prosecution set out +to prove that in August, 1920, Armstrong started to administer arsenic +to his wife; that in January, 1921, he continued, on her return from +Barnwood Asylum, to administer poison to her; and that finally she died +as the result of poison administered by him. They set out to prove that +and in doing so, they had not been able to make any suggestion as to how +Major Armstrong administered the poison, the time he administered it, or +in what it was administered.” + +Dealing with the purchase of arsenic, counsel said Major Armstrong +bought half a pound of arsenic coloured with charcoal in June, 1919. Six +out of these eight ounces he had used for weed-killer, and the remainder +was discovered in the cupboard in the library. He bought some in 1921, +having forgotten that he still had a little left from 1919. He returned +from abroad in May and went to the cupboard and found the packet with no +string upon it, looking as though it had been opened. He divided it into +two parts. One he used by dividing it into a number of tiny packets like +the one found upon him. These little packets he used in a way advised by +a chemical company, and he carried them in his garden coat. It so +happened that on December 31, he had on that same garden coat and in one +of the pockets he had, together with his business and private letters, +that little packet of arsenic. + +What happened to the other half of that arsenic? Having separated those +packets for safety, he put that other little packet, with the blue paper +round it, in a little bottom drawer in his bureau which was not a +key-drawer at all. On December 31 he was arrested. The next day he +remembered this little packet and told Mr. Matthews his solicitor about +it. Mr. Matthews went to the house and in the presence of the +housekeeper, Miss Penn, opened the drawer, but there was no packet to be +seen. They believed the police had found and taken it. Mr. Matthews then +pressed the police for a list of things found in the house, and when he +had got it, he found that the packet of arsenic was not mentioned. On +February 9, therefore, he again went to the house, and going to the +bureau pulled the drawer out bodily, and in putting his hand in to see +if there might be a secret drawer, he found the packet of arsenic, which +had been caught up at the back. “Thus,” said counsel, “the last quarter +of a pound of arsenic bought by Armstrong was accounted for.” + +Armstrong, questioned as to what he did with the small packets of +arsenic he was said to have made up, declared that he made these little +packets simply by portioning out a small quantity with his penknife. He +had used them all for killing weeds with the exception of the one that +was found in his pocket with his letters when he was arrested. It was +his custom to drive an old file into the ground over the root and then +drop in the contents of the small packet of arsenic, so that it fell to +the bottom or stuck to the side, and he did this to any dandelion root +he wished to kill. He could not think how he used nineteen packets +instead of twenty, as he was under the impression that he had used them +all. When he was arrested and placed the contents of his pockets on the +table, he did not know the remaining small packet of arsenic was there +until he saw it and recognized it. When he saw it, he then remembered +about the two ounces that he had left in the drawer of the bureau. He +did not tell the police that they would find white arsenic in the +bureau, but he realized that the finding of the packet had placed him in +a awkward situation. + +Mr. Justice Darling questioned Armstrong very closely about the +purchase, use and discovery of the white arsenic. He replied that +previous to buying this quantity which he used for killing dandelions, +he had never had white arsenic in his possession. He had used nineteen +of the little packets on nineteen dandelion roots. + +“Did you notice what became of the dandelions, did they die?” asked the +judge. + +“They did,” replied Armstrong. + +“That was very interesting, was it not?” remarked Mr. Justice Darling. +“It was an interesting experiment to you who wanted to get rid of the +weeds?” + +“When you saw the little packet and realized you had arsenic in your +pocket, did you realize it was a fatal dose of arsenic not for a +dandelion but for a human being?” + +“No,” replied Armstrong, “I did not realize that at all.” + +“But you had been making rather a study of arsenic?” + +“No.” + +“It appears now,” said the Judge, “that if every one of these little +packets was the same as that found in your pocket it contained a fatal +dose of arsenic.” + +Armstrong replied that he realized that now but did not do so at the +time. He had not disclosed to the police that he knew the arsenic was in +the drawer, as he thought it was certain they would find it. + +Dr. F. S. Toogood, who was called for the defence, said he was of the +opinion that Mrs. Armstrong was suffering from chronic indigestion. He +thought that up to the time of her removal to the asylum, she was not +suffering from arsenical poisoning, and up to February 16 there was no +evidence of anything consistent with it. In his opinion death was caused +by arsenic taken about February 16, and if a dose was taken on that date +it would account for the amount found in the body. + +Dr. Ainslie, of Hereford, who was present at the post-mortem, said that +judging from the evidence of her last illness and that of the +post-mortem, he was perfectly satisfied that Mrs. Armstrong had died +after a large dose of arsenic which was taken about February 16 or 17. +He expressed dissatisfaction over the preliminaries in the case of the +test for Mr. Martin, and said that there might have been arsenic in the +glass of which the bottle was made, as well as in the medicines with +which Mr. Martin had been treated by Dr. Hincks. He was questioned on +the subject of arsenic being found in bismuth, and agreed that two parts +in one million was the amount allowed. He referred to the possibility of +impurity in the supplies of bismuth from America available during the +war. + +Dr. J. Steed, the last witness for the defence, said he believed that up +to the time she was taken to the asylum, Mrs. Armstrong’s condition was +undoubtedly due to some internal trouble, such as indigestion or a form +of neuritis. He believed the cause of her death was the taking of one +large dose of arsenic on February 16. + +Sir Henry Curtis Bennett, in his final address, alluded to the important +point that had been made of the finding of the white arsenic in the +bureau after Armstrong’s arrest. The evidence for the prosecution had +been that Armstrong had always purchased coloured arsenic, and this +discovery of white arsenic was of the highest importance. Supposing that +packet of white arsenic, which undoubtedly was bought from Mr. Davies, +the chemist in Hay, had not been found, the case would to a very large +extent have been made to turn upon how Armstrong came to be in +possession of white arsenic. He would have said: “I purchased it from +Mr. Davies.” And the Attorney-General would have said: “That cannot be +true, produce some of it. Davies has sworn that all the arsenic you +purchased was coloured, and all we have found was coloured.” It would +have been said: “It is all very well for you, Armstrong, to say that you +were buying your arsenic openly in your own town. You must have gone +outside to make a secret purchase of arsenic.” “And this is the +important part of the discovery of the white arsenic,” concluded Sir +Henry. + +The Attorney-General, replying on behalf of the Crown, admitted that the +case for the prosecution had changed. This, he affirmed, was a poisoning +case, and he doubted if in the history of the world the poisoned cup had +been seen to be poisoned, and when administered had been known to have +been poisoned. In the case of poisoners they would always find subtlety +and an endeavour to cover up things that were sinister. He claimed that +this case depended upon circumstantial evidence; the prosecution had +endeavoured to be fair to the prisoner. The changes in the case were due +to the fact that they now knew, as they did not know at the start, the +defence would admit that Mrs. Armstrong died of arsenical poisoning; and +they knew now, as they did not know before, that the defence was placing +no reliance upon her having taken homœopathic medicines. He did not know +before, as he now knew, that in August, 1920, Armstrong was possessed of +two ounces of white arsenic, the balance of what he had bought in 1919. +He was also unaware before, that in addition to the small packet that +was found, he had some arsenic, approximately two ounces, which he had +bought in 1920. + +The central feature of the case was the defence of suicide raised by +Armstrong himself. One person, and one person alone, was constantly +about Mrs. Armstrong in August, 1920, and again in January and February, +1921. “Let me,” said the Attorney-General, “note a remarkable piece of +evidence. When Armstrong was asked if he was alone with his wife, he +replied, ‘Yes, I was alone with her. There was milk and soda in the +room,’ and when asked ‘Did you ever put a cup to her lips, did you ever +minister to her, you the devoted, loyal, faithful, loving husband?’ his +reply was ‘No.’ Can this be believed?” + +With regard to the Martin case, the Attorney-General scouted the +suggestion that the arsenic taken from Martin came from a dirty bottle +or cork or from impure chemicals in his medicine. He believed the story +of the twenty little packets made up to kill dandelions on the lawn was +a falsehood. + +The judge, in summing up, carefully sifted the whole of the evidence +that had been given. He stated that the question to be decided was, had +the prosecution proved that Armstrong gave his wife the poison. “The +case was a deeply interesting one, and he doubted if anyone had any +recollection of so remarkable a case in its incidents. It had been said +that this case depended upon circumstantial evidence, but circumstantial +evidence was as good as any other, provided it was relevant and true. +Circumstantial evidence going to prove the guilt of a person was this: +‘One witness proves one thing and another witness proves another thing, +and all these things prove to conviction beyond all reasonable doubt, +but neither of them separately proves the guilt of the person.’ It +should be remembered that Armstrong was arrested not on the charge of +murdering his wife, but of attempting to murder Mr. Martin. Having been +arrested for an attempt to murder Mr. Martin on December 31, only then +was some one or other led to think ‘What about Mrs. Armstrong, what did +she die of?’ The symptoms were very similar, so an order was obtained +and the body was exhumed on January 2, and it was then found that there +was still in that body a large dose of arsenic, more arsenic than those +who were accustomed to dealing with these things had known in any +exhumed body before. There was no proof that there was any arsenic in +the cupboard in the bedroom, and there was evidence there was arsenic in +the cupboard in the room downstairs. It was incredible, therefore, that +a woman who was anxious to get better committed suicide, and had taken a +large dose of arsenic two days previously. It was incredible that a +woman in the condition in which she was, could get up with the intention +of taking a dose of arsenic. Where had she got it from? She could not +have taken the arsenic herself within twenty-four hours of death. If Dr. +Spilsbury’s evidence was true that was practically impossible.” + +The jury after retiring for forty-eight minutes found Armstrong guilty +on the charge of wilfully murdering his wife, and sentence of death was +passed. + +The trial lasted ten days, and the dramatic production by Armstrong’s +counsel of the packet of two ounces of white arsenic found by +Armstrong’s solicitor, wedged at the back of the drawer of the bureau in +Armstrong’s study six weeks after the police had searched and found +nothing in that drawer, was very unexpected. This packet of arsenic +became one of the outstanding features of the trial, and by the judge’s +order the bureau was brought to a room adjoining the Court, where a test +was made. Armstrong was instructed to place the packet of arsenic in the +drawer where he stated it had been, and afterwards Mr. Matthews, the +solicitor, demonstrated where he declared he had found it. + +An appeal was made to the Court of Criminal Appeal, when Sir Henry +Curtis Bennett said that both Mr. Justice Darling and the +Attorney-General had ridiculed the statement that Armstrong had made of +his method of destroying dandelions. He would produce five witnesses to +prove that, far from being incredible, it was not an uncommon custom to +give dandelions arsenic in small doses in the same manner as Armstrong +had described, when asked to account for the packet containing three and +three-quarter grains that was found in his pocket. The court, however, +ruled out any further evidence. + +The Lord Chief Justice remarked that a packet containing 3¾ grains of +white arsenic was a very unusual thing to find in a solicitor’s pocket. +Counsel observed that arsenic sufficient to kill three thousand persons +could be bought for 2_s._ 6_d._ + +Sir Henry Curtis Bennett’s speech in support of the appeal lasted twelve +hours, and in the course of his argument he said: “Mrs. Armstrong went +downstairs to get the arsenic; she knew where it was kept, and on +February 16 she had gone downstairs and was teaching her little boy.” +Both packets were in the cupboard in the room in which the boy was being +taught. Armstrong stated that in May he went to the cupboard and found +the packet in such a condition that it appeared to have been tampered +with. He suggested that on the day and in the room where she was with +the little boy, she took a fatal dose of arsenic from the cupboard. From +the point of view of the defence, he argued, the finding of the arsenic +in the bureau was extraordinarily lucky, for there was till then no +evidence that Armstrong had any white arsenic at all. The purchase on +January 11 was believed to be coloured arsenic, and if this had not been +found with the chemist’s label, there would have been a stronger case, +that in addition to the quarter-pound of coloured arsenic in January, +Armstrong, from an unknown source and for an unknown purpose, had got +white arsenic as well. + +The Lord Chief Justice consulted with his colleagues and said they were +unanimously of the opinion that the appeal must be dismissed. Armstrong +suffered the extreme penalty of the law and was hanged at Hereford. + + + + + CHAPTER XXIII + SOME POISON ASPECTS OF THE ILFORD MURDER CASE + + +The mystery surrounding the murder of Percy Thompson at Ilford caused +considerable interest in this country towards the end of 1922. On the +night of October 3rd, Percy Thompson, a city clerk, when returning from +the theatre with his wife, was stabbed to death in a dark street near +his home in Endsleigh Gardens, Ilford. His body was found propped up +against a wall and by his side in a state of hysteria stood his wife. It +was first thought by the doctor who had been called and made a brief +examination in the street by the light of a match, that death was due to +internal hæmorrhage. It was only when the body was taken to the mortuary +that it was discovered that there were twelve or fourteen wounds in the +neck and arms, and that the man must have been killed by an assailant +armed with a knife or a stiletto. A few days later Frederick Bywaters, a +young ships’ writer, was arrested and charged with the murder, together +with Mrs. Thompson, the widow of the murdered man. + +The youth of both—the man was only twenty, and the woman twenty-seven +years of age—who had apparently conspired together to carry out the +crime, impressed the imagination of the public to an unusual degree. +When the case came before the magistrates, the police produced an +alleged confession made by Bywaters, according to which he stated he had +become deeply attached to Mrs. Thompson, and attacked her husband +“because he never acted like a man to his wife.” + +From a long series of letters which had passed between Bywaters and Mrs. +Thompson which were produced in Court, the coroner, after consultation +with the Home Office, decided that the body of Mr. Thompson should be +exhumed and a post-mortem examination made. From the contents of the +letters it appeared that Mrs. Thompson had for a considerable period, +with the connivance of Bywaters, been attempting to put an end to the +life of her husband. + +These extraordinary letters, which were read in court, contained +allusions to several poisons and are noteworthy from a toxicological +point of view, as there is mention of the use of powdered glass, which +has rarely been employed for criminal purposes in this country. + +Bywaters and Mrs. Thompson were brought to trial at the Old Bailey, the +man being charged with murdering Percy Thompson and conspiring and +agreeing between June 1, 1921, and October 4, 1922, to murder him. Mrs. +Thompson was further charged with administering poison to her husband +between June 1, 1921, and October 4, 1922, and inciting to murder, also +with soliciting and proposing to Bywaters, her fellow prisoner, to +murder her husband and agreeing with him to murder her husband. + +According to the Solicitor-General, who opened the case for the Crown, +although Bywaters’ was the hand that struck the blow, Mrs. Thompson’s +was the mind that conceived the crime, and it was under her controlling +influence that Bywaters murdered the man. + +The story as revealed at the trial was one of love and passionate hate, +recorded in the letters of Mrs. Thompson to her lover, who, strangely +enough, had preserved them, and thus stored up indisputable evidence +against them both, of their nefarious plot against the life of the +unfortunate man. + +“He complained that it tasted bitter, as if something had been put into +it,” is an extract from one letter of Mrs. Thompson to Bywaters. + +“I am going to try the glass again occasionally when it is safe. I have +an electric light globe this time” is from another. + +Again she wrote “I used the light bulb three times; the first time he +found a piece, so I have given it up until you come home.” + +That Bywaters had been aiding her was evidenced in another letter in +which she remarks, “I do not think we are failures in other things and +we must not be in this. The dose was enough for an elephant, but you did +not allow for the taste making a small quantity to be taken. I was +buoyed with the hope of the light bulb and I used a lot of big pieces, +but it had no effect.” ... “Would not the stuff make small pills coated +with soap, and dipped in liquorice. Try while you are away.” + +In other letters many suggestions were made by the woman to encompass +her husband’s death, and in one which is worth noting she alludes to a +novel entitled “Bella Donna,” and quoted a passage which says +“Digitaline is a cumulative poison, harmless if taken once; frequently +repeated, it becomes deadly.” She referred constantly in other letters +to this book. In another she asks “Have you thought of bichloride of +mercury?” + +In a later letter allusion was made to aromatic tincture of opium which +she said her husband had in his possession. + +In the cross-examination of Bywaters he stated that what Mrs. Thompson +alluded to in the letter was simply quinine, and it was that to which +she alluded when referring to the dose being enough for an elephant. + +Mrs. Thompson, giving evidence on her own behalf, denied ever having any +of the poisons mentioned in her possession or using them. + +Mr. Webster, analyst to the Home Office, said he had examined the organs +from the body of Percy Thompson which was exhumed and found traces of an +alkaloid giving a reaction for morphine in the liver and kidneys, but no +other poisonous substances whatever. + +Counsel recapitulated a remarkable list of the chemical substances that +had been mentioned in this case which included hyoscine, cocaine, +potassium cyanide, antimony tartrate, bichloride of mercury, digitalin +and aromatic tincture of opium, all of which Mr. Webster had defined as +poisons. Counsel, when referring to the allusion to ground glass, asked +the analyst if he called that destructive and injurious, to which he +replied in the affirmative if the powder was in fragmentary form. +Administered as such it had been known to cause death. He further added, +that ground glass if taken in any quantity might have a serious effect +on the linings of the stomach and intestines. He found no evidence of +any quantity having been taken in this case. Aromatic tincture of opium +contained morphine and was used as a sedative to relieve pain. + +Dr. Spilsbury, who made the post-mortem examination, said he found no +signs of poisoning or scars in the intestines. Asked “If glass was +administered, would you necessarily expect to find indications of it in +the organs?” he replied that he would not, and went on to explain that +the administration of broken glass and powdered glass produced different +results. Large fragments of glass might produce injury by cutting the +wall of the gullet or intestines, and if not fatal, scars might be found +afterwards. + +Given in powdered form, the immediate effect of powdered glass would be +to produce innumerable minute injuries to the delicate membranes of the +stomach and would result in illness. If the person recovered, the glass +would disappear entirely, with the possible exception of the appendix, +where it might lodge and remain for a long time. He found no indication +of ground glass in the appendix in this case. + +The Solicitor-General asked: “Is the negative result of your examination +consistent with glass having been administered?”—Dr. Spilsbury replied: +“Some time previously, yes.” + +“Is it possible that large pieces would have passed through the system +without injury to the organs or without leaving any signs behind?”—“It +is possible,” was the reply. + +“Is the negative result of your examination also consistent with +powdered glass passing through the system?”—“Yes.” + +Regarding the poisons, Dr. Spilsbury said he would not expect +necessarily to find indication of them if they were administered a +considerable time ago. Some poisons left no trace at any time; others +produced an effect that might last a few days, or even a few weeks, but +after that, there were few poisons which would leave indications, except +those that were corrosive or irritant. Hyoscine and cocaine were not +irritant poisons. Cyanide of potassium was irritant, but he doubted if +it would leave any permanent damage. + +Counsel for the prisoner asked: “All that comes to this, that there is +no trace whatever, post-mortem, of any glass having been +administered?”—“That is so,” replied the witness. + +The judge, in summing up the case, said the question the jury would have +to consider was, was it arranged between Bywaters and Mrs. Thompson that +the murder should be committed. “If you think,” he continued, “that the +letters of this woman are genuine and mean what they say, that would +mean that she was inciting the man Bywaters to assist her in poisoning +her husband. It might be that they found poisoning was no longer +possible, and they might naturally turn their minds to some other means +to effect their object. These letters form a very strong case, that the +woman was writing to this man, asking him to assist her to remove her +husband by the administration of poison. If they are accurate, she +administered it, but the important part is that she was plotting and +planning.” + +The jury returned a verdict of “Guilty,” and both prisoners were +sentenced to death. + +This case is noteworthy from the fact that the evidence of attempted +poisoning was entirely circumstantial. No one had ever seen Mrs. +Thompson in the possession of the poisons mentioned in her letters, with +the exception of the aromatic tincture of opium, and there was no +evidence to prove that she had ever purchased them or administered them +to her husband, beyond that contained in her letters. + + +From this study of some of the more famous poison trials of the past +hundred years, it is clearly demonstrated that the toxicologist and +scientific chemist are the most formidable enemies of the criminal +poisoner. + +It may be safely said, that the days have gone by when a person could +administer a poison with intent to kill, without much fear of detection. + +In the course of the past century, as science has advanced and new +poisonous substances have been discovered, the chemist has been able to +find a means of detecting nearly every poison known to science. Even in +those cases where the poisoner has been one with skilled knowledge, and +had the means of choosing the most subtle weapon of its kind and +selected it with the greatest cunning, chemical experts have yet been +able to find and reveal the cause of death. + +The criminal poisoner, like other murderers, generally leaves some +indelible traces that eventually prove his guilt. Such traces, as +instanced in many cases, remain detectable even after the lapse of +years. Thus the chance of successfully evading detection is gradually +being reduced to a minimum, and as time goes on it is hoped that it will +be brought to a practical impossibility. + + + + + INDEX + + + Abano, Petri de, 52 + + Aconite, 70 + + — how gathered, 72, 73 + + Act passed making poisoning high treason, 186 + + Agra poisoning case, the, 372 + + Agrippina, 35 + + Ainos of Japan, 22 + + Albany, Duke of, poisoned, 142 + + Alexander, Prince, mysterious death of, 108 + + Alexander the Great, 37 + + Alexander VI, Pope, death of, 133, 134 + + Alexipharmica, 42 + + Alfonso, Duke of Bisceglie, 129 + + Algaroth’s powder, 98 + + “All Hallow E’en,” superstitions connected with, 214 + + Alraun, 67 + + American poison mysteries, 329 + + Andrew, Sir Euseby, strange case of, 171 + + Antidotes to poison, 41, 42 + + Antimony, 98 + + — cups, 99 + + — in human beings, 99 + + — preservative properties of, 342 + + Aqua Toffana, composition of, 125 + + Aquetta di Perugia, 126 + + Armstrong case, the, 385 + + Arrow poisons, 16 + + Arsenic, history of, 88 + + — against plague, 90 + + — as an amulet, 90 + + — contamination, risk of, 222 + + — eaters, 94 + + — — investigation of, 94 + + — for cosmetic purposes, 93 + + — in sweets, 94 + + — in wall-papers, carpets, and fabrics, 93 + + — use of in India, 89 + + — white, 89 + + Assay cups, 59 + + Atholl, Earl of, poisoned, 143 + + + Bacon, Lord, on poisoning, 186 + + Bacteria, criminal poisoning with, 230 + + Banes, 16 + + Baroda, Gaekwar of, charged with poisoning, 108 + + Bartlett, Adelaide, trial of, 303 + + Bezoar stones, 60, 61, 62 + + Bhang, 248 + + Black case, the, 381 + + Blessis and his death mirrors, 199 + + Boiling alive, penalty for poisoners, 188 + + Borgia, Cesare, 129 + + — family, 128 + + — Lucrezia, 129 + + — poison, composition of, 140, 141 + + Borri, Giuseppe Francesco, 178, 179 + + Botulism, 219 + + Boughton, Sir Theodosius, poisoned, 265 + + Bouillon, Duchesse de, 160 + + Boyle, Robert, 97 + + Bravo case, the, 282 + + Brinvilliers, Marquise de, life and career of, 150 + + — — arrest and trial of, 156 + + Brittannicus poisoned, 35 + + Bull’s blood, 32 + + Bushmen, Australian, arrow poisons, 17 + + — African, arrow poisons, 17, 18 + + + Calabar bean, 24 + + Canaby case, 318 + + Cantarella, La, 140 + + Carlyle and “Grey Powder,” 246 + + Carr, Robert, 104 + + Catharine de’ Medici, 146 + + Celts, poison used by the, 17 + + Cesare Borgia, 129 + + — — crimes of, 130 + + — — death of, 138 + + — — prepares a poison, 131, 132 + + _Chambre Ardente, La_, 149, 159, 160 + + Chapman, or Klosowski, case of, 337 + + Charms against poisons, 53 + + Chatillian, Cardinal, poisoned, 106 + + Chinese, poisons used by the, 38, 39 + + Chloral hydrate habit, the, 246 + + Chlorodyne habit, the, 242 + + Chloroform taking, 240, 241 + + Chlorpicrin, 225 + + Christison, 95 + + Cicuta, 31 + + Clark, Lieut., case of, 372 + + Cluny, Prior of, 145 + + Cocaine habit, the, 242 + + — and morphine, wholesale smuggling of, 245 + + — smuggling, 243 + + — — cunning methods employed in, 243 + + — traffic, 245 + + Condorcet, suicide of, 205 + + _Conium maculatum_, _see_ Cicuta + + Cornelia and Serpi, 34 + + Corneto, Cardinal de, 132 + + Cornish poison mystery, A, 381 + + Cotta, Dr., 171 + + Council of Ten, 121 + + Cream, Neill, 314 + + — — his stethoscope and medicine case, 316 + + Crippen case, the, 350 + + + D’Albret, Jeanne, 145 + + Dalkeith coffee poison case, the, 369 + + D’Annunzio and his “Pharmic Liberator,” 126 + + D’Astrées, Gabrielle, death of, 146 + + Devereux case, the, 347 + + Di-chlorethyl sulphide, 225 + + Dioscorides, poisons mentioned by, 32, 33 + + Di-phosgene, 225 + + Donellan, Capt., executed, 271 + + Draconites, 62 + + Dri, a Romany poison, 87 + + Dumas, his description of poisons, 255, 256 + + Dunbar, Earl of, poisoned, 144 + + + Egyptians, poisons used by the, 28 + + Electrum, 62 + + Elizabeth, Queen, attempt to poison, 116 + + — — and Amy Robsart, 165 + + English surgeons experiment on criminals, 111 + + Essex, Earl of, poisoned, 106 + + Ether drinking, 242 + + Exali, 148 + + + Fallopius, tests on criminals, 110 + + Fenning, Elizabeth, case of, 271 + + Fiction, poisons in, 254 + + Francis II, 145 + + Fresenius’ work on arsenic, 95 + + + Ganja, 248, 249 + + Gas helmets, 224 + + — mustard, 225 + + — shells, 224 + + Geber, _see_ Jábir ibn Háyyan Gherian ware, 60 + + Gilbert, Jeanne, case of, 321 + + Ginseng root, 215 + + Girard, Henri, case of, 322 + + Glaser, 148 + + Gold leaf, suicide by, 38 + + Goldsmith and “James’ Powder,” 247 + + Greeks, poisons used by the, 28, 29 + + Gula, Babylonian poison goddess, 26 + + + Hashish, 248 + + — antiquity of, 249 + + — effects of, 250, 251 + + — smoking, in India, 248 + + Hebrew poisons, 28 + + Hellebore, black, 74 + + Hemlock, 31, 74 + + Henbane, 75 + + Henrietta Anne of England, death of, 146, 147 + + Henry VIII apprehensive of poison, 103 + + Hermes Trismegistos, 28 + + Hewitt case, the, 280 + + Hindus, poison used by, 37 + + Hofrichter, Lieut., charged with poisoning, 193, 194 + + Horsford case, 291, 325 + + Hyoscine hydrobromide, 357 + + Hyoscyamus, 75 + + + Ilford murder case, 401 + + Indians, North American, poisons used by, 21, 22 + + — Californian, poisons used by, 22 + + — Jivaro, of the Amazon, poisons used by, 21 + + — South American, poisons used by, 21, 22 + + Inoculation with tuberculosis bacilli, 227, 228 + + Irish poison mysteries, 345 + + Italian school of poisoners, 120 + + + Jábir ibn Háyyan (Geber), 89 + + Japanese, poisons used by, 38, 39 + + Jean Douglas, Lady Glamis, charged and condemned, 142 + + John, King, and Maud FitzWalter, 101 + + John of Ragusa, a professional poisoner, 121 + + + Kermes Mineral, 98 + + Kwang Su, Emperor, death of, 38 + + + Lafarge, Madame, case of, 273 + + Lambeth poison mysteries, 314 + + Lamson, Dr., case of, 298 + + Laudanum, 81 + + La Vigoureux, 160 + + La Voisin, 149, 160 + + Lawford Hall, mystery of, 265 + + Leicester, Earl of, 105 + + “Leicester’s Cold,” 107 + + Leopold I, Emperor of Austria, attempt to poison, 178 + + Le Sage, 160 + + Locusta, 35 + + Louis XVIII, attempt to poison, 162 + + Love charms, 215 + + — philtres, 211 + + — — danger of, 212 + + — — native, 215 + + — — plants used in, 214 + + — — poison in, 215 + + — — strange ingredients composing, 213 + + Lucrezia Borgia, 129, 130 + + — — death of, 140 + + Luxembourg, Marshal de, 161 + + + Macchiavelli, death of, 117 + + — his magic potion, 117 + + Malay poisons, 19 + + Mandrake, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68 + + Mantua, Marquis of, letters, 135 + + Mark Antony, 36 + + Marsh’s test for arsenic, 95 + + Maybrick case, the, 308 + + —, Mrs., her statement in court, 310 + + Mayerne, Sir Theodore Turquet de, 97 + + Medicine-men, 16, 24 + + Melampus root, 74 + + Mercury, history of, 96, 97 + + — as a charm, 98 + + — first used in treatment of syphilis, 97 + + Mescal buttons, 82 + + Methods employed by secret poisoners, 198 + + Molineux, Roland B., case of, 329 + + Moray, Earl of, poisoned, 142 + + Morphine taking, 239 + + Moulton, Lord, on the Maybrick case, 313 + + Muavi, 23 + + + Nicander of Colophon, 42 + + — — — poisonous substances mentioned by, 43 + + Nigger Caeser’s cure for poison, 48 + + + Opium, 76, 77 + + — eating, 79, 238, 239 + + — introduction into India of, 78 + + — smoking, 80 + + — use of in India, 80, 81 + + Orange, Prince of, attempt to poison, 205 + + Ordeal poisons, 23 + + Orfila, 95 + + — and the Lafarge case, 277 + + Orkney, Earl of, poisoned, 144 + + Orpiment, 88 + + Ovambos, arrow poison used by the, 18 + + Overbury, Sir Thomas, poisoning of, 103 + + Oxford, Vice-Chancellor of, 195 + + + Palmer, execution of, 291 + + Parysatis, Queen, 36 + + Pearson and Black, case of, 345 + + Persians, poisons used by, 36 + + Petrograd case, 230 + + Phocion, 29 + + Phosgene, 224 + + Pigmies, Central Africa, arrow poison of the, 18 + + Pimlico mystery, the, 303 + + _Pocula emetica_, 99 + + Poison, definition of, 15 + + — duel between Court physicians, 36 + + — from a ceiling, 346 + + — gas, 223 + + — — attempted murder with, 229 + + — habits, 238 + + — in a wooden leg, 208 + + — in beer, 216, 217 + + — in chocolates, 222 + + — in cocoa, 221 + + — in foods, 219 + + — in glass, 222 + + — in honey, 220 + + — in the chalice, 114 + + — laws in ancient times, 40 + + — — in Italy, 40 + + — mysteries, in France, 318 + + — plots, 186 + + — — against Austrian officers, 193 + + — — against cavalry horses, 228 + + — — against Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, 186 + + — — against Ministers of State, 189 + + — — against the Chief Commissioner of Metropolitan Police, 195 + + — — in Lima, 189 + + — — in Malta, 188 + + — rings, 203, 204, 207 + + — — a cardinal’s, 207 + + — — Cesare Borgia’s, 206 + + — — stories of, 207 + + — symptoms and signs of, 35 + + Poisoned bed, 209 + + — boots, 199 + + — candles, 182, 200 + + — chocolates given to ’bus girls, 228 + + — coins, 146 + + — court plaster, 227 + + — cup, 199 + + — flowers, 209 + + — lavender, 208 + + — robe, 201 + + — shirts, 200 + + — — test by Dr. Nass, 200 + + — slipper, 201 + + — soup-powder dropped by enemy aircraft, 226 + + — sweets dropped by enemy aircraft, 225, 226, 227 + + — torch, 208 + + — wine, 198 + + Poisoners of Rome, 122 + + Poisoning, dread of wholesale, 186 + + Poisonous grass as a defence, 87 + + — boot-blacking, 203 + + Poisons used by ancient and primitive races, 15 + + — concealed in flowers, 194 + + — dropped by aircraft, 225, 226 + + — in mythology, 27 + + — in warfare, 223 + + — preventive methods against, 49 + + — tried on criminals, 109 + + — used in France in seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, 162 + + Pontæus, a quack, challenges the physicians of Oxford, 111 + + Porta, Baptiste, on poisons, 122 + + _Poudre de succession_, 161 + + Pritchard, Dr., case of, 293 + + + Raspail and the Lafarge case, 276 + + Ravenna, Cardinal-Archbishop of, 110 + + Reinsch’s test for arsenic, 95 + + Rhinoceros horn, 58 + + Robsart, Amy, mystery of the death of, 164 + + — — burial of, 166 + + — — inquest on, 167 + + Roman Poison Laws, 40 + + Rome, mysterious deaths by poison in, 34 + + Royal and historic poisoners, 101 + + Rugeley mystery, the, 287 + + + Sainte-Croix, 150, 151 + + — — casket found after death of, 154 + + — — contents and letter in casket, 154 + + — — death of, 153 + + — — poisons used by, 155 + + Sassy bark, 23 + + Scotiney, Sir Walter de, 102 + + Scottish poison mysteries, 142 + + Scythians, poisons used by the, 17 + + Seddon case, the, 362 + + Seneca, 29 + + Sentence for poisoning, revision after twenty-five years of a, 91 + + Sheffield, Lord, 107 + + Signs of death from poison, 41 + + Sirani, Elisabetta, death of, 118 + + Slow poisons, 15 + + Slow and time poisons, 113 + + — — — — origin of the tradition about, 113 + + Smith, Madeline, case of, 279 + + Socrates, death of, 29 + + Soissons, Comtesse de, 160 + + Somali, poisons used by the, 18 + + Somerset, Countess of, 103 + + Southwark poison mystery, the, 337 + + Spara, Hieronyma and her crimes, 115, 126 + + + Spiders, poison lore of, 87 + + Stas’ process, 95 + + State poison of the Greeks, 29 + + Stevenson, Dr., proves the presence of aconitine, 299 + + Suicides by poison, would-be, 92, 93 + + Superstitions connected with poisonous plants, 53 + + Sussex, Earl of, 107 + + + Tariff for poisoning, 121 + + Tartar emetic, 99 + + Terra Sigillata, 49 + + — — how it was tested, 50 + + Theophrastus, poisons mentioned by, 33, 34 + + Theriaca, 42, 43, 44 + + — ceremony of compounding, 46 + + — Galen’s test of, 45 + + — importation to London of, 47 + + — Mithridates’, 44 + + — Philonium, 45 + + — of Andromachus, 45 + + — of Bologna, 46 + + — of Cairo, 47 + + — of Damocrates, 46 + + — of London, 47 + + — of Montpellier, 48 + + — of Venice, 46 + + — Zopyros’, 44 + + Thoth, 28 + + Throgmorton, Sir Nicholas, 106 + + Toads, poison lore of, 84 + + — poisonous, principles extractedfrom, 84 + + Toadstone rings, 54 + + Toadstones, 54 + + Toffana, 122 + + Trial of venoms in 1432, 110 + + Trigg, Mr., and Miss Loeser, the mysterious case of, 332 + + + Unicorn’s horn, 55, 56, 57 + + — — Coronation Chair of, 58 + + — — cups made of, 56 + + Upas-tree, 20 + + + Visconti, Primi, 159 + + + Westminster, Abbot of, poisoned, 102 + + Wheeldon trial, 190, 191 + + Willcox, Sir William H., on the Seddon case, 368 + + — — — — Black case, 384 + + Witch-doctors, 24 + + Witches’ hallucinations, 63 + + Women poisoners, 198 + + Wondreton’s commission to poison, 120 + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + + + + + TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES + + + Page Changed from Changed to + + 88 in Greece and Hungary. in Greece and Hungary. + Dioscorides knew it in its later Dioscorides knew it in its + form latter form + + 224 poisons vapours, and they poisonous vapours, and they + introduced the gas shell, of introduced the gas shell, of + which which + + 322 become popular among a wide became popular among a wide + circle in the district in which circle in the district in which + + ● Fixed typos; non-standard spelling and dialect retained. + ● Enclosed italics font in _underscores_. + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 78589 *** |