Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1871-08-01
POISONING.
The Quickest and Most Subtle POisOns-
Ancient and Modern Facilities
for Sudden Death.

AprOpOs of the cases of poisoning
recently brought to light in various
Darts Of the country, the following
from the New York Sunday Mercury,
will have interest for the readers OF
the APPEAL:
The history Of T~OXicolOgy furnishes
us at different periods with a variety
of examples OF poisonous action.
From the hellebOTe that Socrates
1 drank. down TO the swift lightning
stroke loft acqua tCfana manipulated
bv Lucretia BOrgia, and since then
onward to the vulgar strychnlne,
/ prussic acid, arsenic, tartar emetlc,
corrosive sublimate, Paris green,
laudanum, etc, of the most recent
DAVIS, the world has been tamIllarlzed
bv crime with the utmost diversity OF
results. Some pOisOns are quick and
( agouiZing in their action, and leave
LITTLE doubt on the mind Of the skillful
| physician as to the nature Of the SUI
ferer's ailment. Others are Supplying,
sDd perform their deadly work with
ont any very demOnstratiye reVela'
lions, A third class again are either
simultaneously rapid, or slow, IN
sidiOus, and undermining, according
to the Intent of the wicked or despair
ing hand that administers them.
D9ring the middle ages in Italy, when
the reputed deaths by poisoning sOme-
times rose in q single year TO a quarter
of a million, fatal drugs were CON
cesled in bouquets, so that the very
inhalation of the fragrance from
the flowers composing the nose
cav carried death to the
%Tecipient. This was literally fulfilling
the conditions of POpe's celebrated
reference to dying of a rose in arc
mstic main. Other Italian essences
were so subtle that if clothes, Jewels,
! cloves. or n other article that came
! in contact with the moist skin, were
saturated with them, the person
using them long enough was sure to
| he taken suddenly i'll and perish.
Whether these frightful genealogical
/ preparations were known only 10 the
| chemistry and pharmacy OF the aD'
! strusest order are not, we AVE sum
| cent data, sustained by the personal
/ observation of distinguished Swans
/ and the testimony OF eminent travel
/ ers, to convince us that there exist,
and are actually employed in both
| hemispheres, pOisOns as certain, as
terrible, and as deceptive as ever were
/ discovered by the most wicked and
/ most skillful generations gone before
( The case of Mrs. Rayel illustrates
| fhis. and the medical faculty are we'll
| aware that very minute infusjOns OF
| certain Oriental and American veg
] efabIe poisons may be administered
] i'm such a way as TO d~isOrganize some
mental and physical functions in a
| partial and temporary way. Then,
| as the patient begins TO recover, an
! other small dose may be given, and
| so renewed so as to keep alive the
| disorder, until at length after weeks
or months, according to the gradua-
lion observed. death superVeneS. The
mere fact that human beings and ami
mails may learn to take large quantities
of arsenic or opium, with perfect inn
Dunity. Is a sufficient answer TO the
| absurd objection that the action OF
Doison is Zone and indivisible."
The next inquiry that arises is: what
are those terrible drugs used by the
uObi' men and other occult pOisOners
with such fatal but varying effect?
Here we might present a list that
would strike the ordinary reader VINO
has not examined the mass o fauthOri'
ties with fear and dismay. Our limited
space, however, fOrbids US to do more
than mention the most remarkable,
First and foremost, then, there is the
bean Of st. Ignatius, the produce OF 3
diminutive tree peculiar to the Phil
ippines. Twenty beans or more are
found together in a hbrOus thick cas-
ing like an oval, pear-shaped fruit
Thev are round and convex on one
I side. and ridgy and many-faced on thC
other. The inside substance is horn
: like. half transparent, brOwnish, anC
very hard, but Opaque, and the sur
face covered with a dark, grayish eff
|, -forescence which can be easily serapet
f of. The bean is very bitter, but in
|, odorous; and it contains three time
!. as much ~strychnine as the strychno
nux yOmica. The bean OF st. 1gnatiu
Ia mentioned by Pelletier and Caren'
I ton. Duclos, Gurbourt, the great Or
i. fila. and others; and its pOisOns b.
swallowing, absorption, or injection
: into the blood.
j., The upas tienta is used ythe native
!, of lava TO poison their arrows, and
} of two kinds-the upas antiar and tn
!. bohun upas. The juice Of this tree ha
a galvanic, spasm0dlc action, ana al
rectly and pOtently affects the intel
> Iect, The false argostura is next Oh
: the death-dealing list. The powders
} bark produces symptoms similar t
q tennus or lOekjaw. Marc, the iamou
t PSYCHOLOGIST, once poisoned himsel
/ with it by way Of experiment, an
Z recovered by the use OF aeetic ethe
{ and laudanum.
The above belong to the Asiati
g family of plants. Let us now turn I
e this hemisphere for some terrlbl
t members of its fora. First in orde
e we have the Woorara, or arrow poisO