The Carbon advocate. [volume] (Lehighton, Pa.) 1872-1924, 1891-08-29

From the story of the physician in the
"Arabian Nights who impregnated th'
leaves of book with a subtle poison
which the unjust king absorbed through
wetting his fingers TO turn the leaves
down to the most recent story in the dime
novel series novelists have reveled in the
notion Of poison which is silent but in
simultaneously fatal, at the same time
leaving no trace of its presence. The
stories of the crimes of the Borgias, of the
death dealing work of the Marquise de
Brinvillers, of the well known success
ion powders of England, of the aqua to-
fana of Italy, all rest upon this assump-
ton.
Modern science, however, with il rea-
listic icnoclasm, has interfered seriously
with the operations of this tool of the
novelist's trade. The subject of toxicol-
ogy has been closely and exhaustively
studied, the result being that science
now declares that one can not be poisoned
without the cause of death being made
certain by an autopsy, and more than
this, that the kind of poison used may
be named with almost as much certainty
as though the chemist or analyst had
seen it administered. No longer can the
novelist put his characters out of the
way with pinch of powder dissolved in
glass of wine, nor cause them to sink
insensible from the inhalation of poison
hidden in bouquet of flowers. The
man of science comes with his test tubes
and apparatus for analysis and makes
out so clear a case that even a trial jury
can not escape the conclusions which he
draws.
A very cursory review of modern SEN
sational fiction will show that the novel
lists have learned to ,jreciate the limita-
tions which science has imposed on their
fancy in this respect. Instead OF the ia
miliar white powder, or anything of that
sort, the writer of fiction is now com
PEELED to go farther afield for his poisons,
and to procure them from strange lands
and comparatively unknown countries.
He has to introduce an agent for his pur-
pose from Africa or The Indies or the in
terror of South America, where the prop
perties of the flora are comparatively un-
known. His logic is sound. He reasons
that in default of accurate knowledge on
the subject it can not be affirmed that
some vegetable poison may not exist pos
sessing just the qualities which the exi
gencies of his story demand; and so hC
produces hispoison, bestows upon itsomt
foreign sounding name, and endows il
with the attributes of silence, instanta
neity and indiscoverability, and his work
is done.
With mineral poisons the writer of fic
ton must be more cautious if he desire
to preserve the unities. The minera
kingdom has been so sothoroughly explored
that it is hardly possible, within reason
to make the imaginary discovery of ;
mineral possessing the required toxi'
qualities. The same minerals, roughl,
speaking, are found in one quarter of tn,
globe as in another, and the effects o
their chemical combinations on the sys
tenn are thoroughly well known. Ar
senic, antimony, corrosive sublimate
phosphorous, sugar of lead, and othe
mineral poisons produce the same effect
in one country as in another, and tn
symptoms of this kind of poisoning ar
so well known as to be unmistakablC
Who can say, though. that the researche
of the experimental chemists of the pres
ent day may not result in the discover
of poison which shall comply exactl
with the conditions demanded by tn
novelist?
There are so many more things in heave
and earth than were ever dreamed of
philosophers of a quarter of a century age
that it is not beyond the range of poss
bility that some toxic agent may be dh
covered which shall extinguish the Wit,
spark with lightning like rapidity an
yet leave no distinguishablo trace of i
presence. Until that discovery is mad,
however, the novelist who finds it abst
lutely necessary TO rid himself of h
characters by poison will be wise TO COZ
fine himself TO generalities or bring upo
the scene some unknown substance Il
existence and qualities Of which can n,
be tested by cold and unromantic scienc
-[San Francisco Chronicle.