That arsenious acid is taken regularly into the system, by certain persons in Styria, in quantities usually supposed sufficient to produce immediate death.” Maclagan 507 had reached similar conclusions. That arsenious acid is well known to and widely distributed amongst the peasants of Styria. One of the best early accounts was that of Roscoe, 673 who concluded: “I. 30 The origins of this custom are difficult to trace. The complex folklore surrounding arsenic might provide us with an example of man's supposed ability to tolerate the element, inasmuch as peasants in the Styrian Alps of Austria during the nineteenth century were said to consume arsenic habitually as a means of promoting physical stamina. In the few cases apparently leading to a contrary inference, there was sufficient evidence of ignorant administration, or injudicious perseverance on the part of the patient.” The heyday of arsenical chemotherapeutics occurred in the early part of the twentieth century, when Ehrlich discovered Salvarsan (arsphenamine), which was effective in treating human venereal diseases but the use of these compounds declined after World War II, with the advent of the more specific antibiotics. When given in a judicious manner, it did not even induce serious temporary effects.
Alchemy symbol for death professional#
870 The prevailing professional opinion at that time concerning the medicinal use of arsenic was summarized as follows: 29 “Arsenic is a safe medicine none of the respondants having found it permanently detrimental. The possibility that arsenic compounds were prescribed for Napoleon reveals another side of arsenic-its widespread use in eighteenth-and nineteenth-century medicine as a tonic, or “alterative.” At about the same time that Flaubert was writing Madame Bovary, there were a half-dozen “official” arsenicals listed in the U.S. 260, 744 However, the evidence of chronic arsenic poisoning of the Emperor was described as “unsatisfactory, irritating, and tortuous.”104 Another viewpoint was that Napoleon may indeed have received arsenic, but “only in an honest endeavour to help him.” 836 105, 132, 337, 370, 666, 667, 865 The original hypothesizers later analyzed additional hair samples attributed to Napoleon and found a distribution of arsenic along the length of the hair shaft that indicated a periodicity of exposure that coincided relatively well with the course of his disease. An editorial concerning this controversial hypothesis 577 set off a large measure of debate. Neutron-activation analysis of hair reputedly taken from Napoleon's head showed considerably more arsenic than samples from unexposed people. 259 concluded that the Emperor had suffered intermittently from chronic and acute arsenic poisoning. After analyzing compilations of Napoleon's signs and symptoms during his later years, Forshufvud et al. 423 Although arsenic was only one of three poisons used by the Brewster sisters to dispatch their guests, “Strychnine and Old Lace” or “Cyanide and Old Lace” would not have had as great an impact on the public.Ī famous case of hypothetical arsenic poisoning was the alleged attempt to do away with Napoleon Bonaparte on several occasions during his exile on St.
Arsenic has also been referred to in more recent literature, such as Kesselring's drama, Arsenic and Old Lace. 255 Flaubert's extensive account of Emma Bovary's prolonged death throes must have made a vivid impression on many a reader. For example, an almost clinical description of acute arsenic poisoning appears in the novel Madame Bovary. Anxiety about arsenic is not difficult to comprehend, inasmuch as arsenic compounds were the preferred homicidal and suicidal agents during the Middle Ages and arsenicals have been regarded largely in terms of their poisonous characteristics in the nonscientific literature. The alchemists' symbol for arsenic, a menacing coiled serpent, probably symbolizes very well the element's prevailing evil reputation.
That you faithfully keep watchful guard over me But prepare me correctly, and take great care
0 kommentar(er)
