poisons-art - 8/30/94

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

NOTE: See also the files: poisons-msg, punishments-msg, p-police-msg, p-herbals-msg, med-law-art, p-medicine-msg, Pest-Control-art.

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Thank you,
    Mark S. Harris                  AKA:  THLord Stefan li Rous
                                          Stefan at florilegium.org
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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

<the end>
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