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poisons-art - 8/30/94

"THE SILENT WEAPON - Poisons and Antidotes in the Middle Ages" by Gunnora Hallakarva.

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From: Gunnora.Hallakarva at f555.n387.z1.fidonet.org (Gunnora Hallakarva)

Date: 29 Aug 94 02:56:00 -0500

Newsgroups: rec.org.sca

Subject: 01 medieval poisons

Good gentles... over the course of past weeks, I have noticed the

many letters on poisons in period. For your information _only_ I

present my research into the subject...

The Viking Answer Lady, aka Gunnora Hallakarva

THE SILENT WEAPON

Poisons and Antidotes in the Middle Ages

There are many substances readily available that will kill.

Usually "poison" is used to refer to a substance which destroys the

health or life of a living being by reason of its chemical

constitution, and usually a poison will kill in very small

quantities. Poison was usually classed with medicaments in the

Middle Ages, and was numbered "in the fourth degree of medicament,

wherein the destruction or death of tissue is produced."[1]

The Greeks attributed the discovery of poisonous plants to

Hecate, the goddess of sorcery. The Assyrians knew of both

vegetable and mineral poisons as long as 3000 years ago. The ninth

century Arabs brought poisoning to an art form (not a remarkable

feat, when one considers the highly spiced foods that are consumed

in the Near and Middle East, all the better to hide noxious

substances in!). Galen, Dioscorides and Nicander provided the

Classical world with descriptions of poisons, their actions and

treatment. These writings were then preserved and enlarged upon

by Muslim physicians such as Ibn Wahshiya in his _Book on Poisons_

or the Rabbi Moses Maimonides's _Treatise on Poisons and their

Antidotes_.

European works on poisons were largely based on the remnants

of classical works available, and on the works of the Arabs. While

many innocuous substances were often numbered in the lists of

ingredients thought to be poisonous, these were side-by-side with

many truly deadly plants and minerals known to such authors as

Petri de Abano, who in the 1300's listed mercury, gypsum, copper,

iron, rust, magnetite, lapis lazuli, arsenic sublimate, litharge,

lead, realgar, cateputria, cucumber, usnea, coriander, hellebore,

mezereon, fool's parsley, bryony, nux vomica, colocynth, laurel

berries, cicuta, serpentary, and cantharides as poisons in his

work, _De Remedis Venenorum_. Similarly, Magister Santes de

Ardoynis mentions arsenic, aconite, hellebore, laurel, opium,

bryony, mandrake, cantharides, leopard's gall, cat's brains, and

menstrual blood among the poisons in his _Book of Venoms_, written

in 1424.[a]

Poisons were employed historically for many reasons. Albertus

Magnus was interested in insecticides, describing a recipe using

"arsenic brayed in milk" to kill flies, as well as recommending

that one whitewash one's home with a mixture of white lime, opium

and black hellebore, "when thou wilt that Flies come not nigh thy

house." Another preparation described by Albertus was for animal

control: "Take thou this herb [henbane] and mix it with realgar

and hermodatalis [Snake's Head Iris] and put them in the meat of

a mad Dog and he will die anon."[2] Poisons are often used

beneficially in medical treatments, albeit in very small quantity.

Oftentimes one poison will be antidotal to another, such as

belladonna, which is used as the antidote for poisoning by any of

the Amanita mushrooms. Henbane, a deadly poison, was recommended

by Pliny for use in earache, though he warns that it may "temptat

mentem," or cause mental disorder. A fourteenth century medical

treatise gives this procedure for treating dental abscesses:

Si vermes Corrodunt Dentes

Take the sed of henne-bane and the sed of lekys and recheles

and do these III thyngys vp-on an hot glowyng tilstoun; and

make a pipe that hath a wyd hende and hold hit ouer the smoke

that hit may rouse thorwe the pipe into thy teyth and hit

schal sle the wormes and do a-uey the ache.[3]

Since poisons were readily available for legitimate uses,

those who would use them for less scrupulous ends had no trouble

in obtaining their materials. Poison has been used since the very

earliest times as a means to remove undesirable competitors or

enemies. To poison a foe was the easiest means of getting rid of

him, and the clever poisoner could work in stealth and so avoid the

vengeance of relatives or friends of the deceased. To further

remove oneself from suspicion, one could hire a poisoner, as was

the killer in Marlowe's _Edward the Second_:

You shall not need to give instructions;

'Tis not the first time I have kill'd a man;

I learned in Naples how to poison flowers

To strangle with lawn thrust down the throat;

To pierce the windpipe with a needle's point

Or, whilst one is asleep, to take a quill,

And blow a little powder in his ears;

Or open his mouth and pour quick-silver down.[b]

Much of the lore of poisons was incredibly accurate, with

descriptions of the symptoms and often the treatments themselves

little changed from medieval manuscript to today's toxicology text.

Let us look at a few medieval poisons:[c]

ACONITE (Aconitum napellus) or Monk's-Hood was known even in Anglo-

Saxon times, when it was called "thung". "Thung" became the word

used for any very poisonous plant. The Greeks termed it

"lycotonum" or Wolfs-Bane, and believed that aconite was the first

poison created, made by Hecate from the foam of Cerberus. Gerard,

a herbalist of Queen Elizabeth's time, wrote, "There hath been

little heretofore set down concerning the virtues of aconite, but

much might be saide of the hurts that have come thereby."

ARSENIC is mentioned twice in Shakespeare's works. There is an

account of an arsenic poisoning in King John Act V Sc 6, and the

following is an excellent description of the symptoms of arsenic

poisoning from Part Second of King Henry IV Act I Sc 1:

In poison there is physic; and these news

Having been well, that would have made me sick

Being sick, have in some manner made me well;

And as the wretch, whose fever weaken'd joints,

Like strengthless hinges buckle under fire

Impatient of his fit, breaks like a fire

Out of his keeper's arms; ...[d]

BELLADONNA (Atropa belladonna) or Deadly Nightshade takes its name

from the practice of certain women who would use eyedrops of the

substance to dilate their pupils. This was thought to enhance

their beauty, hence "bella donna" or beautiful woman. In Chaucer's

time, it was known as "dwale" from the French "deuil" for "grief."

Marc Anthony's troops were supposedly poisoned with belladonna in

the Parthian Wars, and according to Buchanan's _History of

Scotland_, when Duncan I was King of Scotland, Macbeth's soldiers

poisoned a whole army of Danes with a liquor treated by an infusion

of dwale. Atropine is the chief chemical constituent of

belladonna, from the Greek Atropos, the Fate who held the shears

that cut short the thread of human life. Symptoms of belladonna

poisoning include extreme dryness of the mouth and throat, scarlet

rash and convulsions. The symptoms very closely resemble those of

rabies, but may be distinguished by the dilation of the pupils.

Much of the lore of poisons was incredibly accurate, with

descriptions of the symptoms and often the treatments themselves

little changed from medieval manuscript to today's toxicology text.

Let us look at a few medieval poisons:[c]

ACONITE (Aconitum napellus) or Monk's-Hood was known even in Anglo-

Saxon times, when it was called "thung". "Thung" became the word

used for any very poisonous plant. The Greeks termed it

"lycotonum" or Wolfs-Bane, and believed that aconite was the first

poison created, made by Hecate from the foam of Cerberus. Gerard,

a herbalist of Queen Elizabeth's time, wrote, "There hath been

little heretofore set down concerning the virtues of aconite, but

much might be saide of the hurts that have come thereby."

ARSENIC is mentioned twice in Shakespeare's works. There is an

account of an arsenic poisoning in King John Act V Sc 6, and the

following is an excellent description of the symptoms of arsenic

poisoning from Part Second of King Henry IV Act I Sc 1:

In poison there is physic; and these news

Having been well, that would have made me sick

Being sick, have in some manner made me well;

And as the wretch, whose fever weaken'd joints,

Like strengthless hinges buckle under fire

Impatient of his fit, breaks like a fire

Out of his keeper's arms; ...[d]

BELLADONNA (Atropa belladonna) or Deadly Nightshade takes its name

from the practice of certain women who would use eyedrops of the

substance to dilate their pupils. This was thought to enhance

their beauty, hence "bella donna" or beautiful woman. In Chaucer's

time, it was known as "dwale" from the French "deuil" for "grief."

Marc Anthony's troops were supposedly poisoned with belladonna in

the Parthian Wars, and according to Buchanan's _History of

Scotland_, when Duncan I was King of Scotland, Macbeth's soldiers

poisoned a whole army of Danes with a liquor treated by an infusion

of dwale. Atropine is the chief chemical constituent of

belladonna, from the Greek Atropos, the Fate who held the shears

that cut short the thread of human life. Symptoms of belladonna

poisoning include extreme dryness of the mouth and throat, scarlet

rash and convulsions. The symptoms very closely resemble those of

rabies, but may be distinguished by the dilation of the pupils.

CANTHARIDES or Spanish Fly is a powerful urinary irritant, much

used as an aphrodisiac. Cantharides can cause burns and blistering

all through the digestive and urinary tracts. Overdoses may result

in convulsions like those produced by tetanus.

CYANIDE may be easily obtained from bitter almonds, the pits of

plums, apricots or cherries, and from apple seeds.

HELLEBORE (Helleborus niger) from the Greek "elein, to injure" and

"bora, food". Pliny reports the use of hellebore as much as 1400

years before Christ by a man named Melampus, a soothsayer and

physician. For this reason, one will occasionally see hellebore

referred to as Melampode.

HEMLOCK (Conium maculatum) comes from the Anglo-Saxon "hem, shore"

and "leac, a plant". The scientific name, conium, is derived from

the Greek "konas, to whirl about," since hemlock causes vertigo.

Hemlock, like many poisons, is antidotal to another, and is used

to treat strychnine poisoning. Poisoning by hemlock is

characterized by a peripheral numbness which spreads inward until

the heart and lungs are paralyzed. Hemlock was the State Poison

of Athens, and was the death decreed for Socrates, according to the

account by Plato:

After reproving his friends for indulging in loud

lamentations, he continued to walk as he had been directed

until he found his legs grow weary. Then he lay down upon his

back and the person who had administered the poison went up

to him and examined for some little time his feet and legs,

and then squeezing his foot strongly asked whether he felt

him. Socrates replied that he did not. He then did the same

to his legs and proceeding upwards in this way, showed us that

he was cold and stiff, and he afterwards approached him and

said to us that when the effect of the poison reached his

heart, Socrates would depart. And now the lower parts of his

body were cold, when he uncovered himself and said, which were

his last words, "Crito, we owe Asculapius a cock. Pay the

debt and do not forget it.[6]

HENBANE (Hyoscamus niger) is a poison related to belladonna. The

symptoms are similar to those of nightshade, and are described by

Gerard:

The leaves, the seeds and the juice, when taken internally,

cause an unquiet sleep like unto the sleep of drunkenness,

which continueth long and is deadly to the patient. If it is

used in sallet or in pottage, then doth it bring frenzie, and

whoso useth more than four leaves shall be in danger to sleep

without waking.

Albertus Magnus attributed the effects of henbane to the influence

of the planet Jupiter, and named it Acharonis. The dead in Hades

were supposedly crowned with henbane, and the ghost from Hamlet (I,

5, 69-70) was killed by having henbane poured into his ear:

Sleeping within my orchard

My custom always of the afternoon

Upon my safe and secure hour thy uncle stole

With juice of cursed hebona [henbane] in a vial

And in the porches of my ears did pour

The leprous distillment whose effect

Holds such an enmity with blood of man

That swift as quicksilver it courses through

The natural gates and alleys of the body.[e]

POISONOUS MUSHROOMS such as those in the Amanita family and others

are easily identified by their white gills, warty cap and hollow

stem. They may have a milky juice, and often change color when cut

or broken. Symptoms of mushroom poisoning include prostration,

headache, stupor, wild delirium and fever. Death occurs due to

cardiac paralysis. Several cultures utilize hallucinogenic

mushrooms in their rites. Eating these mushrooms may well cause

one to see visions of God, or die, or possibly both, so extreme

caution should be used by any who wish to pick their own mushrooms.

OPIUM is the juice of the unripe seed capsules of the poppy

(Papaver somniferum). Morphine is the alkaloid derived from opium,

and is named for the Greek god Morphus, deity of sleep. Opium

causes a deep sleep and gradual paralysis of the heart and lungs,

resulting in death. An intense itching of the nose is sometimes

an important symptom of opium poisoning. Opium has many medicinal

uses.

SOLANUM (Solanum dulcamara), known as Bittersweet, Garden

Nightshade (Solanum nigrum) and the common potato are all members

of the same family. Any competent medieval herbalist examining a

potato plant would have immediately recognized its strong

resemblance to the other, toxic solanum species, and hence assumed

that it, too, was poisonous. This is the major reason potatoes

were not swiftly incorporated into the European diet after their

discovery. Bittersweet and Garden Nightshade have poisonous

berries, and in fact the very young shoots of the potato may also

contain the toxin.

TARES (Lolium temulentum) is a grass with poisonous seeds.

Medieval peasants were sometimes poisoned with tares when they

failed to follow the Biblical injunction to separate the weeds from

the grain.

While any individual poison can kill, many people, especially

the Arabs, had a preference for compound poisons. These might

contain some very unlikely ingredients, along with some very toxic

ones. A compound poisoner's pantry might contain such ingredients

as swamp frogs, cantharides, chicks stung to death by hornets,

cinnabar, venomous spiders and snakes, ammonium chloride, nenuphar

oil, iron sulphide, verdegris, sal ammoniac, crocodiles stung to

death by asps, asafetda, salamanders, sulphur, rabid dogs, cherry

pits, poppies, black crows drowned in brine, and pennyroyal.[f]

A compound poison was most effectively administered in highly

spiced foods where the ingredients were minced or chopped fine.

Curries, meat pies and haggis were all particularly suitable for

the concealment of poison. Here, then, are a few of the simpler

period recipes for compound poisons, taken from _The Book on

Poisons_ of Ibn Wahshiya, written in the ninth century:

Recipe 1

Using one part minim (white lead), one part litharge (peroxide

of lead), one tenth part oleander leaf, and one tenth part of

black hellebore, cook the ingredients with sesame oil and

rosewater. This mixture is supposedly fatal in about one day.

Recipe 2

Using one mouse stung to death by scorpions, pulverized

euphorbium, spurge and its leaf, hellebore, oppoponax and

mustard, combine all ingredients in a lead crucible, cover

tightly and bury in a dungheap for two weeks. Then grind all

the ingredients well, being certain to reduce the mouse bones

to a fine powder. Add a little saffron. This is supposed to

kill in one day, or two.

Recipe 3

Again using a mouse stung to death by scorpions, ten dirhams

each of opium, black hellebore, hemlock seed and extract, one

dirham of eel brains, prepare as in #2. This mixture is

supposedly fatal in one day.[f]

These last two recipes are true examples of overkill. Assuming

that the scorpion venom and various toxic herbs did not do your

victim in, the lead compounds developed during the seasoning in the

dung heap or ptomaine from the dead mouse, or tetanus from the dung

could only add to his misery.

Now having this battery of toxins, how to administer the fatal

dose to one's victim? The usual method was to conceal the poison

in either food or wine. Although this method is exceedingly

simple, it works very well. A bribe to the proper servant could

mean the demise of the victim, or the murderous banquet-goer might

conceal a small quantity of poison in his ring. While most of the

so-called "poison rings" were used to hold _memento mori_, such as

a lock of hair from a deceased loved one, the practice of

concealing poison in rings goes back to ancient Rome.[7] If this

did not suffice, the assassin might poison the fruits in a garden,

to catch the prudent person who ate only foods that they themselves

had picked. The Emperor Augustus was reported to have been so

poisoned by the figs in his own garden. In later periods, the

devout (and highly placed) worshipper might be given poison

concealed in the Eucharist or in sacramental wine.

Since nosegays and pomanders were often used by the gentry to

protect their delicate noses from the unwashed masses, flowers were

often poisoned in the fields, and pomander balls made ideal

receptacles for finely powdered poisons. One of the strangest

methods of olfactory poisoning was that of Pope Clement VII, who

is reported to have died of the fumes of a poisoned torch (although

why the torch-bearer was not affected is not explained.)

Another method of poisoning was through the victim's clothing.

Gloves, boots, shirts and other garments might be impregnated with

poisons such as corrosive sublimate, arsenic or cantharides. If

the absorption of the poison through the skin was not enough to

kill the victim outright, often it would produce syphilis-like

lesions. This doesn't seem so bad until one realizes that the

standard medieval treatment for syphilis was draughts of mercury...

another poison.

If none of these methods sufficed, or none caught the fancy

of the would-be killer, perhaps specially-made tableware might be

the answer. One might present one's host with a goblet impregnated

with poison, especially arsenic, which would gradually do him in.

Or one might use the more ingenious and cunning method of the

poison knife. Such an implement used a blade connected to a pivot

in the handle. When the slightest pressure was placed on the

cutting edge of the blade, three small, envenomed, needle-sharp

spikes were driven into the hand. The poison would ideally act

immediately, and the tiny punctures would not even be noticed,

leaving coroners to postulate heart attack or stroke as the cause

of death.[g]

Since poisoning was so widespread, it became a matter of great

concern to protect oneself from such a fate. The best way to avoid

poisoning was to follow the advice of Maimonides:

As for food of irregular taste such as bitter food, acid, sour

and the like, and any food giving off a bad odor, nothing

should be partaken of them without prior examination of their

reliability.... Care should also be exercised with regards to

foods common in these parts [Moorish Spain]... obviously sour,

pungent or highly-flavored, also ill-smelling dishes... or

those prepared with onion or garlic. All these foods are best

taken from a reliable person, above all suspicion, because the

way to harm by poison is open only with those foods which

assimilate the poisonous taste and smell, as well as the

poison's appearance and consistency.... The proper defense

against such mechanisms is to eat only from the hand of him

in whose services one has the greatest confidence. The trick

is easily done by mixing the poison with wine, because the

latter as a rule covers up a poison's appearance, taste and

smell, and speeds it up on its way to the heart. Whoever

drinks wine about which he has reason to suspect that someone

has tried to outwit him is certainly out of his mind.[h]

In addition, persons of note often employed tasters, who ate

and drank of their employers food and wine. If, after a suitable

period of time, the taster was still alive and well, the food was

declared safe. Many people had dishes and goblets made of various

substances "guaranteed" to tarnish or otherwise warn when poison

was placed within them. In the sixteenth century, it was believed

that beakers of Venetian glass would explode if poisoned wine were

placed within. More highly prized than Venetian glass were vessels

made of the fabled unicorn's horn. Unicorn's horn has been

recommended as a detector or remedy for poison since the time of

Aristotle. Ctesias wrote in 390 B.C. that "drinking vessels were

made from the horn and those who used them were protected against

poisons... provided that, just before or just after taking the

poison, they drank wine or water from the cup made of it." In

1553, a unicorn's horn was brought to the King of France, and it

was valued at 20,000 sterling. Another princely price was given

for the gold cup which Edward IV gifted to the Duke of Burgundy,

which was set with jewels and had a piece of unicorn's horn worked

into the metal. Most "unicorn's horns" were actually narwhal

tusks, although the spiralling horns of various African gazelles

and antelopes were often passed off as the magical horn as well.

The horn of the Indian rhinoceros was used in the same manner as

unicorn's horn, and was believed to have many of the same

properties. The Society of Apothecaries adopted the rhinoceros as

its crest in 1617 for this reason.

For those who could not afford unicorn horn, many gems and

stones were reputed to neutralize the effects of poison. Emeralds

were the best gem to use. Maimonides reported that powdered

emerald in wine would counteract any poison, although he cautions

that the gem must be large and of good quality. Emerald, when

waved over suspicious food or drink, was believed to render it safe

likewise from poison. Amethyst was also reputed to be effective

agai8nst poison. It was said that poison placed in a cup carved

from a single amethyst would be harmless, and those who drank from

such a cup would not become drunk.

While gemstone were more affordable than unicorn's horn, the

good stones of sufficient quality to be assumed effective were not

inexpensive, and even if the buyer had sufficient funds to allow

him to purchase and powder stones worth a king's ransom, oftentimes

stones of the necessary quality were just not available. This was

not a cause for despair however, since beozar and toadstones were

available and very nearly free for the taking. Beozar stones were

to be found in the stomachs of deer, which were supposedly fond of

dining on venomous snakes. Bezoars could also be found in the

stomachs of gazelles, antelopes, and other such creatures. In

fact, "stones" formed of lime and magnesium phosphates can be found

in the digestive systems of various ruminants. Bezoar stones were

first used in Persia, called _pad-zahr_ or "expeller of poison."

Bezoar stones were placed in goblets to protect against poison.

Toadstones had similar properties. To obtain a toadstone, one

was directed to place a large toad on a red cloth, and then wait.

Eventually the toad was supposed to spit out his stone on the

cloth, which was then to be quickly snatched away. One medieval

researcher complained that all he got for a long night's vigil with

a toad was an evil disposition from lack of sleep and a surly

toad.[8] Another method for obtaining toadstones was "to put a

great or overgrown toad (first bruised in divers places) into an

earthen pot; put the same into an ant's hillock and cover the same

with earth, which toad at length the ants will eat, so that the

bones of the toad and his stone will be left in the pot."[9]

Toadstones were used in rings, such as the one described in Ben

johnson's "Fox": "Were you enamored on his copper rings, / His

saffron jewel, with the toadstone in't?" Mary Queen of Scots had

a toadstone that appeared in a 1586 inventory as "a little silver

bottle containing a Stone medicinable against poison."

If, despite all precautions, one was poisoned, there were many

remedies. Not surprising, when one considers the amount of

poisoning going on, some of these remedies were not only highly

effective, but in the case of Rabbi Maimonides, they might be

almost identical to modern medical practice.[10] This was his

advice:

Anybody who took food containing poison or who suspects that

what he had taken was tinged with poison is advised first to

try and vomit the food by drinking warm water boiled with

anethum [Peucedanum graveolens, dill] and mixed with much oil.

This is to be drank lukewarm and the whole stomach purged

there with. This is to be followed by much milk, freshly

milked, and repeated vomiting; after a while butter and cream

should be had and vomited again.... Oily substances, such as

milk and fat, neutralize the harmful effect of poison and act

as a protective barrier between the poison and the tissues....

the usual procedure against poisoning... is: application of

vomitives followed by treatment with the simple and compounded

remedies such as rennet, natron [sal nitri or vegetable soda],

asafetida, cabbage seed, ashes of the fig tree, essence of

mulberry leaves...[h]

Maimonides then gives specific instructions for various types

of poisonings. For henbane or hemlock, he recommends the bark of

the mulberry tree, boiled in vinegar to induce vomiting, followed

by milk. For datura poisoning, the rabbi suggests causing vomiting

with vegetable soda and warm water with oil, followed by butter,

then wine spiced with grated pepper and cinnamon. If the patient

had dined on poisonous mushrooms, Maimonides suggests that he take

an ounce of barley gruel mixed with two drams borax and half a dram

of Indian salt. After he has vomited, he should drink oxymel (a

drink of honey and vinegar) and the juice of radish leaves, and

vomit again. Next the patient should drink milk and vomit, and

lastly he should drink unmixed wine, slowly.

Later medieval antidotes might not be so effective. The best

course of action in most cases of poison is to remove as much of

the toxin from the body as quickly as possible. Having the victim

vomit, then washing the stomach or treating with emetics or

purgatives, while unpleasant for the patient were often found to

save his life. While certain medieval antidotes were supposed to

counteract the poison of their own properties, the best remedies

purged the victim. Three remedies are given here:

Who-so hauyth y-dronke poyson other venym - Take dragance

other glandyne [Iris pseudacorus, yellow flag] and mynte, of

all y-lynche moch and stampe hym and tempere hym with wyn and

drynke hit.

For each manner venym and poysonn - Take the mylke of a goote

and sethe it with the seede of chaune [Cannabis sativa, Indian

hemp] to the third dendell and drynke it thre dayes and vnder

heuen is none betere medecyne ne none se goodee.

For poysonn and venym also - Take the iuys of morell and

herhoune and drynke it with old vyne; so he shal caste oute

that venym and fro the poysunn be saued.[11]

Another antidote that was claimed to be effective was Confection

of Cleopatra, which was made my macerating musk, aristolochia

[probably Aristolochia longa or A. clematis, birthwort], and

scorpions together in wine.

The last forms of antidote commonly employed in the Middle

Ages were amulets and talismans. These were introduced by the

Jews, although it was not uncommon for a Gentile to ask the local

rabbi for some protective token. An amulet was an item or a piece

of parchment upon which certain holy names were written. An amulet

must be constantly carried upon the individual's body if it was to

retain its power. Talismans were very similar to amulets, but were

on the borderline of what a faithful Jew could use, since the

talisman was in some respects similar to an idol. The book of

Arnald of Villanove, written at the end of the thirteenth century,

states that "the image of a man holding a dead serpent in his right

hand and its tail in his left is an antidote against poison."

The Silent Weapon... poison was a justly feared killer in

antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the Renaissance. Poisoning was an

unfortunate business, whether the victim lived or died, and the

fear of falling victim to the nasty type of death a poison brings

was, in some places and at various times of the period, a daily

fact of life. No hospitals, no comforting toxicologist in his

gleaming white coat was there to save you from the burning in your

belly. Oftentimes the cure was worse almost than the illness, and

might mean additional suffering before the victim died anyway.

For me, the pomp and beauty of the period is foremost in my life

in the Current Middle Ages, but to truly understand the people

whose lives we dream, it is well sometimes to look as well at the

darker nightmares they knew as well...

--- Gunnora Hallakarva, Bjornsborg, Ansteorra.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Anderson, Frank J. _An Illustrated History of the Herbals_. NY;

Columbia UP, 1977.

Bodin, F. and C.F. Cheinisse. _Poisons_. London; World University

Library. 1970.

Grieve, Maude. _A Modern Herbal_ 2 vols. Darien Conn.;Hafner

Publishing. 1970.

Gruner, O. Cameron. _A Treatise on the Canon of Avicenna_. NY;

Augustus M Kelley, Pub. 1970.

Henslow, G. _Medical Works of the Fourteenth Century_. NY; Burt

Franklin. 1972.

Magnus, Albertus. _The Book of Secrets_. Oxford;Clarendon. 1973.

Maimonides, Moses. _Treatise on Poisons and their Antidotes_.

Philadelphia; J.B. Lippincott. 1966.

Riley MD, Cassius Marcellus. _Toxicology: the Nature, Effects, and

Detection of Poisons_. Philadelphis; P. Blakiston's Son & Co.

1906.

Scarborough, John. _Roman Medicine._ Ithaca NY; Cornell UP. 1969.

Simpson, Robert R. _Shakespeare and Medicine_. London; E & S

Livingstone Ltd. 1959.

Thompson, C.J.S., _Poisons and Poisoners_. NY; Macmillan. 1931.

Ibn Wahshiya, Ahmad Ibn Ali. _The Book on Poisons_. Philadelphia;

American Philosophical Society. 1966.

Wainwright MD, John W. _The Medical and Surgical Knowledge of

William Shakespeare_. NY; published by author. 1907.

Zimmels, H.J. _Magicians, Theologians and Doctors_. London; Edward

Goldstein & Son Ltd. 1952.

NOTES

[1] O. Cameron Gruner._ A Treatise on the Canon of Medicine of

Avicenna_. 355.

[2] Albertus Magnus. _The Book of Secrets_. 10, 92-93.

[3] G. Henslow. _Medical Works of the Fourteenth Century_. 8.

[4] H. J. Zimmels. _Magicians, Theologians and Doctors_. 24.

[5] John Scarborough. _Roman Medicine_. 95.

[6] C.J.S. Thompson. _Poisons and Poisoners_. 23-24.

[7] _Ibid._

[8] _Ibid._ 46-47.

[9] _Ibid._

[10] While Maimonides' advice is good, if you suspect a modern

poisoning, do not look for these directions!! Call your local

poison control center or 911 IMMEDIATELY!! It is also good to

keep a chart around (often available from the poison center

or from your family doctor) detailing common poisonings and

the appropriate first-aid measures... follow these ALWAYS IN

CASE OF SUSPECTED POISONING!

[11] G. Henslow. 17, 83.

-----

{I must note here that this paper was prepared quite early in my

academic career, when my standards of footnoting were not so high.

All information presented in this paper is indeed to be found in

the bibliography listed above, however, I did not always note

sources where I should have done so. Recently I have gone back

through my notes (such as they now are, 15 years later), and

attempted to indicate the source, at least, of various items, even

when I can no longer remember the page numbers. Most of the works

cited are to be found in the library of the University of Texas

Health Science Center at San Antonio. Perhaps one day soon, if

time permits, I shall try to go back and correct my notes to a

much higher academic standard.}

[a] These lists are probably to be found in G. Henslow _Medical

Works of the Fourteenth Century_.

[b] This is from one of the two listed sources on medical items

to be found in the works of Wm. Shakespeare, Robert R.

Simpson, _Shakespeare and Medicine_, or John W. Wainwright,

MD, _The Medical and Surgical Knowledge of William

Shakespeare_.

[c] Much of the information contained in this section is from

Grieve's _A Modern Herbal_.

[d] Again, this information is from one of the two listed sources

on medical items to be found in the works of Wm. Shakespeare,

_Shakespeare and Medicine_, or _The Medical and Surgical

Knowledge of William Shakespeare_.

[e] _Ibid_.

[f] The information of compound poisoning was gleaned both from

Ibn Wahshiya's _The Book on Poisons_ and from Rabbi

Maimonides' _Treatise on Poisons and their Antidotes_.

[g] Although I am very unsure of this tidbit, I believe the poison

knife was described in C.J.S. Thompson's _Poisons and

Poisoners_.

[h] Rabbi Moses Maimonides, _Treatise on Poisons and their

Antidotes_.

---------

Gunnora Hallakarva