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.