Tag: poison
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Fugu—Japanese delicacy or death?
In Japan, fugu has been a “captain of these men of death” for generations, causing an exitus that is “rapid and violent.” There is at first numbness around the mouth, then paralysis, and, as with curare, consciousness persists until the very end. The poison interferes with the transmission of signals from nerves to muscles by…
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Agatha Christie’s poisons: Better dying through chemistry
Howard FischerUppsala, Sweden “Everything is a poison. Nothing is a poison. It is all a matter of dose.”– Claude Bernard, French physiologist (1813–1878) Agatha Christie (1890–1976) wrote sixty-six detective novels, fourteen collections of short stories, and three plays. She is the best selling fiction writer ever published, with two billion books sold. Her works have…
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Poison at the dinner table
Putting poison in food has long been an expeditious way of disposing of one’s enemies. The many poisons traditionally available for this purpose include hemlock, aconitum, arsenic, cyanide, belladonna, and strychnine. Using food tasters to avoid such an undesired outcome was once a reasonably effective measure, as perhaps was King Mithridates’ approach of building tolerance…
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King Wamba’s poisoning with cytisine
Nicolas Roberto RoblesBadajoz, Spain In AD 409, the Iberian Peninsula was invaded by the Suevi and the Vandals (of Germanic stock) and the Alans (of Asian origin). The Visigoths came next. They had entered into an alliance with imperial Rome with the purpose of ejecting these invaders from Iberia, and after several years of warfare,…
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Mozart and Salieri: From Pushkin to Shaffer
James L. Franklin1Chicago, Illinois, United States La CalunniaLa calunnia è un venticello,Un’auretta assai gentileChe insensibile, sottile,Leggermente, dolcemente,Incomincia a sussurarPiano, piano, terra, terraSottovoce, sibilando,Va scorrendo, va ronzandoS’introduce destramenteE le teste ed I Cervelli . . . Calumny is a little breezeA gentile zephyrWhich insensibly, subtly,Lightly and sweetly,Commences to whisper,Softly, softly here and there.Sottovoce, sibilantIt goes gliding,…
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The death of Zachary Taylor: The first presidential assassination or a bad bowl of cherries?
Kevin R. LoughlinBoston, Massachusetts, United States Zachary Taylor was a true Southerner born into a prominent family of plantation owners in Orange County, Virginia, on November 24, 1784, During his childhood his family moved to Louisville, Kentucky. In 1808 he obtained a commission as a first lieutenant in the army. In 1810 he married Margaret…
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“Love Tea” and The Antelope Wife
Sarah BahrIndianapolis, Indiana, United States Klaus Shawano’s abduction of the Ojibwe woman Sweetheart Calico in Louise Erdrich’s novel The Antelope Wife is hardly a congenial affair. He leads her to his van — nervous, not speaking — and gives her a cup of hot tea, which he refers to as “a sleep tea, a love…
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Mithridates, “deadly poison” in history, and a classic misdiagnosis
Hugh Tunstall-PedoeDundee, Scotland Mithridates VI of Pontus (136-63 BC), a formidable enemy of the Roman Empire, was vanquished after several wars. Intrigue and treachery in pursuit of power were then commonplace. Following the poisoning of his uncle, he usurped, imprisoned, or murdered his mother and other relatives, and used knowledge of poisons for attack and…