The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-09-03
FAMOUS ITALIAN PRISONERS.
Hundreds of Lives with Arsenic.
From the CHICAGO Herald

From the Chicago HsrdId.
The most famous compound Of arsenic is
arsenious oxide, or "white arsenic" known
TO the general public simply as arsenic. 1t is
used exclusively in the arts. IL is very
poisonous and in the sixteenth and seven
teenth centuries was commonly used In re-
moving persons who were conceived by
their enemies to have outlived their useful
ness. Nearly all OF the great poisoners in
those times were women. In 1859 q secret
society of young wives was discovered in
Rome, some OF whom belonged 60 the first
families Of the city, the sole or chief object
OF which was to make way with the hus-
bands OF the members. They met at the
house of Hisronyma Spara, a woman
who was reputed 10 be a witch,
and who provided them with the
poison ami instructed them in the use of it.
When the existence of the society was dis
covered, the hardened old bag, La Spara,
passed the ordeal of the rack without CON
tesslon }" but another woman yielded up the
secrets of the sisterhood and La Spara and
twelve other women were hanged, and many
others, guilty in a lesser degree, were pub
licly whipped through the streets of the
city. Equally notorious, and far more
destructive in hex operations, was another
woman named Tophsnia, native of
Palermo, who, In shat city and subsequently,
| IA AN1Eicoi bOAu q IuHhbeElOuh POISON OF 1eT
own ooncoction to wives plagued with OBJ
! noxious husbands.
-Four drops or this preparation were suffi-
Client TO give spouse his quietus, and so
extensively was il sold that it was known
throughout the country as aqua TophaRIa g,
or aquetta di Napoi II is now known to
have been solution OF white arsenic. 1"
We are asked TO believe that this creature
Of wickedness carried on her nefarlous trade
from gtrlhood until nearly 70 years OF age
without ever having fallen into the meshes
OK the law, and that upward Of 800 persons
were poisoned through her lnstrumehtality
Tophania was more artful than La Spara,
She dealt only with individuals, after due
| safeguards had been built up, and she
changed her abode 30 frequently and
adopted so many disguises that her detection
was rendered very difficult. She also called
in the aids OF religion and superstition.
Her aquetta she sent forth in small walls
labeled "Manna Of st. Nicholas of Barr, )"
and those who were uniuitiated in the his
tory of the potent elixir imagined it to be a
certain miraculous oil, which was supposed
to ooze from the tomb of the saint in aues-
ton. When the manufacture and sale of
poison had at last been traced TO Tophania,
che took refuge in a convent, from which
the abbess aud archbishop refused to give
her up. After some time the convent was
broken into bya body Of soldiers, Topha-
nAa was EeulONeus LOTbuTeu until sne con-
fessed, and strsngled. Der body was thrown
into the garden Of the convent, from which
she had been taken.
Detection almost certainly awaits the
poisoner Of to-day who uses arsenic. Marsh's
test for 1t, described In all books on chemis-
try, will prove the presence of incredibly
small amounts Of 1t. In cases of death from
poisoning the greater amount Of the arsenic
Is found In the liver aud intestines The
prominent symptoms Of acute arsenical
poisoning come on half an hour or 30 after
the substance is swallowed. Faiutness and
feeling Of depression are followed by an
intense burning pain in the stomach. Maui
sea and vomiting usually follow, but no
relief comes from the election Of the con-
tents OF the stomach. Purging follows next,
blood being frequently disbnguishable in
the excavations. The victim is thirsty, his
pulse is feeble and irregular and his skin is
clammy and damp. Death usually results
10 from eighteen TO seventy-two hours. The
treatment consists IN the use OF the stomach
pump. the administration OF emetics, large
| amounts Of magnesia emulsion and either
freshly precipitated ferric hydrGts or the
solution known as dialized iron.