The Forrest City times., 1891-04-17
MYSTERIOUS POISONS.
THE DEADLY CROWTH9 AND
 DRUGS ABOUNDlNG.
The Truc Stories About Them Are Morc Wonderful Than arc Any of the False eOnes-Vegctable and
 Mineral Poisons.

Mineral Pofsons.
 Not long ago daily newspaper con- tained d paragraph dated New London, | Conn, which told how farmer and his wife were overpowered by the noxious fumes of n stick of poison alder which had been thrown int to the kitchen stove, and how physician had hard struggle to save their lives. A reporter showed it to a well- l known scientist who has made the study of toxicology, a speciality, and asked him whether there could possibly be any truth in it. Hero is what the professor said:
 "Young man. take out your note book, sit down and listen and will tell you something about subject that the public knows less about than any other subject in the world. That story isn't true. and nothing like it ever was true or ever will be true. It is of exactly the same character as tho following myths which am going to relate to you.
 "On the island of Java grows the VNHN's 0PNS uCC, WHlCu OWGS US notoriety to Foersch, a surgeon in the employ of the Dutch East India com pany, who, nearly hundred years ago, told some wonderful stories about it. He related how the emanation of this tree killed all animals that ap- preached it; how tho birds that flew too near it fell dead; how criminals that were condemned to death were allowed to collect leaves from the tree. md that only two out of twenty ever returned; how it grow in valley, with no tree or plant within ten miles of it, all being a barren waste, strewn with human and other bones. It was beautiful story and the world believed it. Scientists discovered in 1910 that the upas was a very poisonous tree. whose effects were similar to those of poison ivy.
 Next is the manchineel, poison ous evergreen tree which grows in the West India Islands. This tree is said to be moro deadly than tho Upas. and { 1t was generally supposed that drop of its juice falling upon the skin had the same effect as the application of a red-hot iron. The milky juice of this tree is undoubtedly highly poison ous, but such stories as the above are highly exaggerated. This poison. like our poison sumach, affects some persons moro seriously than others. It is said that the smoke from burning manchineel wood produces temporary blindness. This is true in n measure, though 1t does not affect every one in the same way. Berthold Seemann, the botanist, was blind for a few days after he had gathered some of the leaves of the tree on the coast of Florida, and some of the crew wore blind for nearly n week from having made fire of somo of the wood.
 "Dramatists as rule don't know the first thing about poisons. Nathaniel Lee. in his tragedy of Alexander makes one of his characters adminis- ter a poison to the conqueror of the world. which.
 Mixed with his wine, a single drop gives
 death.
 And sends him bowling to tho shades
 belowo
 After swallowing this terrible mix ture, Alexander goes through the lat ter part of the fourth and most of the fifth act, kills man. makes a fine speech, raves wildly, recovers his senses, and. after fine dying address, goes of. Now there isn't poison in the world which can produce such m effect. There is a poison little known 10 play wrights which has much moro won derful effect than this. but very few people know anything about it. After it is swallowed the person walks about for time varying from half an hour to two hours; then his skin. and even the whites of his eyes. become of strange purplish. livid color. He may feel perfectly well, when suddenly acute pain will set in. and in few moments he dies. This effect is produced by nitro benzine.
 ''rhen there is Philip Massinger who in his play. The Duke of Milan, shows that he doesn't know the first thing about toxicology. One of the characters scatters poisonous powder over flower. which is aftorward given to female. Some of tho powder falls on her hand. and when her lover sal utes the tips of her fingers he dies. Pure aconitine itself. the most power full of all known vegetable poisons. would hardly produce that effect
 The most powerful and deadly poi son in the world and at the same time the oldest one known to mankind is prussic acid. To illustrate it's antiq- uity: An Egyptologist has read on an Egyptian papyrus preserved at tho Louvre. Pronounce not the name of J. A. o. under the penalty of the peach The only poison which can be distilled from the peach is prussic ac(d. so that it must have becn known to the Egyptian. A knight in tho reign of Tiberius, accused of high treason. swallowed poison and fell dead at the feet ot the Senators. No poison but prusslc acid. and that only in con- centrated state, would have had this effect. The prussie acid that is sold in drug stores is only tho diluted stun. containing small percentage of the real acid. Prussic acid Is mado only in chemical laboratories. and it is SO powerful that were a person to inhale tue fumes arising from it in ono good whifY he would drop dead.
 Another interesting poison is tho dhatoora of the Hlndoos. a species of iclladonna which these people admin afa Sn -S .-l