Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1922-06-08
They Cannot Escape.


CUT none Me less determined war has
oeen going on between the subtle art
OF poisoning and the more subtle art
OF discovering and locating poisons in
the human body.
In the old days fortunes awaited
awaited those who could prepare some
coneoction that would remove people
from this world without LEAVING traces
oil how II was done. Poisoning, as un-
derStood BY CATERING dc Medici, was
grand art. Today il is a lost art,
for science has practically won the
long fight and is now able to discover
and classify every known poison even
months after the victim has succumbed
to its effects.
within the last generation almost
every Kind of poison has come within
the scope of the ever-increasng expe-
rience Of medico-legal experts who have
been called to give evidence in i'm.
portant cases from the hyoscya,nine
Of the Crippen case to the arsenical
hypaper of the Seldom affair.
Arsenic, anthony, prussic acid, car
bolic acid, oXalic acid, mercury, BELLA
donna, opium, heroin, morphia. calabar
bean, croton seed, nitric acid, pyrididne,
that most deadly poison found in mi
mute quantities in dirty tobacco pipes
all have been traced, tabulated and
, chained by the patient, cmotionless de-
tective, Science.
SO highly has the work Of scientific
detection been developed that the pres
ence of arsenic may be discovered even
years after il has been taken. No more
delicate tests in chemistry. and at the
same time no more infallible ones, can
be used than the tests for arsenic and
antimony In the former poison the
tests are so severe that one part in
sixty millions can be revealed.
II is to the Borgia that one must 20
TO hear about the incredibly subtle poi
sons which could be detected, but the
light OF modern science proves that
much which is credited TO that family's
knowledge Of the art of poisoning was
really impossible Of accomplishment I'M
less we concede-which is just pos
sible-that they knew more about tox-
Zoology than do modern savants
There was one particular poison
which the Borgias are credited with
using which has remained a secret
1t was tasteless, could kill the victim
quickly or leisurely, as the poisoner
willed, and it left no trace discernible
to the chemists OF that time.
The lists Of mobiles and dignitaries
Of the church who died by this subtle
means is believed to be formidable. II
was used in two ways, powder and
liquid, and its method OF manufacture
was related by an obscure scientist Of
the period.
The powder form OF the poison was
white like -four, with taste like sugar.
1t was called Contarella. Its compo-
sition was never known, but the liq-
uid was prepared in the following
way:
A wild boar was caught, and to it
was administered a strong dose OF ar
senic. AS soon as the poison began
to take effect the boar was hung up
by the heels. Commissions came on,
and a froth, which ran from its jaws,
was collected in a silver dish and then
was transferred TO a bottle which, after
some Contarella was added, was her
metically sealed. This was kept for a
certain time and the result was the
notorious poison.
Certain it is that no poison known
today is secret. Chemistry and sci
ence can provide the means OF dedec-
ton, and can often supply the anti
dote.