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About The Chemawa American (Chemawa, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (April 7, 1920)
T H E C H E M A W A A M E R IC A N PAG E 4 I D E A S OF P O IS O N S U ntil a ce n tu ry or tw o ago most people believed in w itches and the so-called “black a r t ” w hich th e y were supposed to p ractice. E v e ry th in g th at happened was attrib u ted to the m ysterious power of some w itch u n less it was obviously d u e to some fam iliar n atu ral cause. W itches, it was understood, were in league w ith the devil and th ro u g h th e co-operation of th e la t ter they w orked all m anner of evil in th e most subtle, insidious w ays. T h ey were supposed to possess the pow er to look into th e fu tu re , to recall the past and to com m unicate at will w ith departed sp irits. N atu rally , therefore, everyone feared and dreaded them . It was com m only believed th a t th ey learned from the evil one form ulas and recipes for the preparation of various concoctions each of w hich, according to its n atu re, was capable of b rin g in g about certain e x tra o r d in a ry m ental or physical conditions, of gov ern in g the affections, in d u cin g special kinds of dream s or c a u s ing d eath . U n til about 200 years ago it was q u ite a com m on th in g for a person w ith m u rd er in bis h eart to consult a w itch to learn how to go about the d as ta rd ly business he contem plated and to o btain a d ead ly poison w hich could be counted on to kill his victim in ju s t the m anner he desired. O ne of these w itches, an Italian w om an nam ed To- fana, had a rep u tatio n all over E u ro p e for possessing peculiarly fiendish pow ers. She had clients from all co u n tries and th e poisons she supplied them or told them how to m ake, it is declared, killed no less th an 6U0 people. O ne of her favorite concoctions was know n as the “ aqua della T o fa n a .” It was adm inistered by p u ttin g six drops into wine or other beverage to be d ru n k by th e u n su sp ectin g victim . In m ost cases, it was u n d e r stood, this poison w ould cause d eath th ro u g h its ac tion on the vital organs. If the victim , because of unusual resisting pow er or for some other reason, did not die from th e poison w ith in a sh o rt tim e, it was supposed to affect his m ind, cau sin g the most frig h t ful visions to be co n ju red up and so sh ocking him to death. Y oung gypsy women of tribes living in Italy and H u n g ary were supposed to carry a peculiarly deadly poison under th e ir finger-nails. It was understood th at they obtained th is by th e invocation of sp irits of persons who had com m itted suicide. T hey poisoned in ten ted victim s w ith it by cleverly scratch in g them w ith th eir nails w hile tellin g th eir fortunes. T h is subtle poison was not supposed to cause d eath d ire c tly ; it acted on the brain in such a m anner as to induce grad u al paralysis and create an irresistible desire to com m it suicide and lead others to do likew ise. T h ere are m anv th in g s that doctors and chem ists of m odern tim es d o n ’t know* but th eir know ledge is v a st ly m ore extensive and accu rate th an that of their p re decessors of a few centuries ago. T h e latter fell into nu m erous erro rs and doubtless killed more than they cu red . T hey had various potions and filters w hich th ey believed in im plicitly b u t w hich we know today absolutely w orthless—or w orse, positively harm ful. S hakespeare was a man of e x tra o rd in a ry learning, h av in g at his fingers’ ends th e lore of the medical e x p ert, th e chem ist, the law yer, the m erchant and al m ost everyone else. B ut, as was quite n atu ral, of course, he knew no more th a n the ex p erts in these various fields and labored u n d er th e same m isappre hensions as thev on some points. It w as com m only believed in those days th a t the effects of poisons introduced into the system th ro u g h th e ear were peculiarly deadly. T h u s we find S h ak e speare m aking th e ghost of H a m le t’s father sav th at C laudius poured the “ juice of cursed hebenon ( h e n bane) into th e porches of his e a rs .” T he fact is, this poison could do no harm , adm inistered in th is way, because it could not possibly penetrate a sound e a r d ru m . T h e death of K ing F ran cis of F ran ce was long be lieved to have been due to th is poison, introduced by way of his ear. It is now’ knowm, how’ever, th a t he died of m eningitis resu ltin g from an inflam m ation of th e in tern al ear. A V IA T O R OTJTFLEW E A G L E A B ritish aviator was clip p in g along at 100 miles an h o u r in a scout plane, flying from P aris to M adrid, w hen he saw in th e faint lig h t of early dawm a big eagle soaring upw ard tow’ard him from the Pyrenees. A t first th e m an was am used to th in k th a t the bird a p p aren tly was about to give him a race b u t w hen it oc curred to him th a t if it were evilly disposed it m ight attac k him and m ake him lose control of his m achine, th u s causing him to fall on the rugged rocks beneath, the th in g was a n y th in g but fu n n y . Even if the eagle did not deliberately attack , he reflected, it m ight easily collide by accident w ith his m achine and the results be equally unpleasant and disastrous. T h e big bird rose higher an d h ig h er and at length approached w ithin a few’ yards of th e airplane. T h e av iato r th ro ttled dowm his engine and flew at about the sam e rate as the eagle and they skim m ed along side by side, each stu d y in g th e other and try in g to divine his purpose. A t len g th th e eagle began circling and rose h ig h er and higher above the m achine. T h e avia tor started up after him and then suddenly opening his th ro ttle, turned the nose of the m achine down and looped rig h t over th e bird. Down shot the eagle, using every ounce of his stre n g th to catch up. A pparently he had b itten off considerably m ore than he could chew for w ithin a sh o rt tim e his stre n g th failed perceptibly, th en his w ings gave a final feeble flap and he nose-dived e a rth w ard, for all th e world like a shot ar.d disabled air plane. T h e bird-m an followed close after him to as certain th e outcom e and at len g th saw him flatten out and effect a lan d in g in th e foothills, evidently com pletely’ done up.
