The Ronan pioneer. [volume] (Ronan, Mont.) 1910-1970, 1912-04-19
ART OF POISONING
ToxicoIogy Made a Record In the
Seventeenth Century.
SECRETS NOW HAPPILY LOST

The basis Of most poisons in the six.
teenth and seventeenth centuries was
arsenic. 1t was extremely easy to pro
cure. the taste was easy to hide. and
until MarShs test was discovered
about hundred years ago its traces
were difficult to discover. In the sew
enteenth century toxicology reached
heights that it has never since attain
ed The laboratories of the prisoners
in France and Italy contained secrets
happily lost today.
The preparation of the potions used
during the reigns Of Louis Nlll. and
XIV. may be briefly described An
arsenic. After death the liquids of the
body were carefully distilled. and the
resultant WIS of extreme virllenre.
being composed of the virus of ar.
cenr and the alkaloidS of dpcnmW,Si.
ton When the Hnimal thus killed was
credited With Il bodily venom the dis
titled liquid was Il concentration OF
three poiSons inStend of two. For this
reason the toad was the favnrite sub.
ject OF experiment. This was the poi.
son used uy Mrle. de BrinviIl!ers
Against it medical skill was almost
helpless.
The list of mnnarchs whose deaths
were attributed by popular gossip to
the effect of poison is a long one
Catherine dc AIedici was Il known POI
soner. surrounded by prisoners. and
her two sons. Francis H. and Charles
TX. were probably hurried to their
end by the administration of drugs us
we'll as by their feeble state of health.
There are some grounds for the as
sertion that Louis XIII. died Of poi
son. His mother. Marie de- Medici.
was said to he the greatest poISoner
Ut her age The comment in Parts
was that the king was we'll or i'll as
he agreed or quarreled with the queen
mother The state ministers ran des
perate risks. Richelieu suffered from
many curious illnesses. He knew his
danger and took every precaution.
Mazarin's death cannot wholly be ex
planned by natural causes. The death
OF the sister of Charles H. of Eng
land is also a matter of mystery.
The chief accomplish of Nine. de
Brinviliers and perhaps actually the
instgator of many of her crimes was
Gandln de Sante Croix. than whom a
more sinister scoundrel does not cross
the pages of the century.
He was sent to the Bastille. liberated
and met mis- death before Nine de
Brinvilliers herself was brought to
trial. The accounts OF his end are
conflicting and illuminating. Accord
ing to one of them. SainteCroix was
endeavoring to discover a poison the
emanations alone of which would be
able to kill. He had heard of the poi
soned napkin with which the young
Dauphin. elder brother Of Charles VII.
had wiped his face while playing at
was sufficient to kill. Then there was
the gossip about the gloves belonging
to Jeanne d'Albret, which had been
prepared by one of the italian poison
ers in the train of Catherine de- Me-
dici, a crime which was never brought
home to it's instigators. The secrets
of these poisons had been lost. and
Sainte-C roix wished to find them.
There came to pass one of those
strange events which seem rather to
be punishment from heaven than an
accident. At the moment when
Sainte- Croix. leaning over his stove.
watched his fatal mixture reach Its
highest state of intensity, the glass
mask which covered his face and pre-
served him from the mortal exhala.
tons which escaped from the liquor
became unfastened and dropped Off.
Sainte-Croix fell to the ground as If
struck by thunderbolt.
After the death of Safnte-C roix Nine
de Brinvilliers took fight and found Il
refuge in London and afterward in the
Netherlands. Her arrest was affected
by stratagem. and she was brought
back to Paris to stand trial. The
most damaging testimony against her
was that Of the tutor. Brnincourt. who
had been in Il measure her unwilling
accomplice. In one part Of bis evidence
the episode must have suggested to
xJullluS OtlC SCGue NCcu ~
and I.ady'de Winter described in '"rhe
Three Musketeers" Mime DE- Brinvil
liers was condemned and full con.
fesSion of her crimes was wrnng from
her by the application OF the torture
of the water. She remained seven
hours In the torture chamber and she
avowed all her crimes. but denied that
she had any accomplices.
The trial. torture and execution Of
Nine. de Brinviiiers served as useful
lesson. Poison did not disappear. but
its practitioners were taught to curb
their malevolent enthusiasms. The
pursuits of astrology and alchemy
waned for time to reappear in the
next century in the richest fruition In
the person of that astonishing arch i'm
postor. Observation-Disclosures Review
Of Mime. Rrinvilliers and Her Times"