From: Alan Hall <oldeddoc**At_Symbol_Here**GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Former student sentenced to seven years for poisoningco lleague
Date: Wed, 26 Dec 2018 11:31:19 -0600
Reply-To: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU>
Message-ID: CALDugaYwa+b3qi6KqOALL_QC_iekAw2cSEkxDv2URKDEpnx6FA**At_Symbol_Here**mail.gmail.com
In-Reply-To <297009354.10278648.1545842039615**At_Symbol_Here**mail.yahoo.com>


Et al,

Has anyone else read about Mitradities ("The Poison King")? It appears he came close to actually conquering the Roman Empire at one point in history.

He had developed a myriad concoction called "Mitraditum" which he took every day in the mistaken belief that one could build tolerances to various poisons by taking low does before being exposed to a high dose (homeopathy, anyone?). According to some medical historians, this concoction or at leas tsomething sold under the same name was available until, historically, reasonably recent times.

Arsenic, of course, has a long history of use in assassinations and homicides because it is odorless, colorless, and tasteless. It's signs and symptoms may mimic certain medical conditions such as Guillain-Barre' Disease. One interesting aspect of thallium poisoning is that it causes hiar loss of the eyebrows and eyelashes; the only poison I recall at this moment to do so.

I recall one case from our embassy/consulate in one of the South American Guineas where it was supposed that most of the staff had been poisoned with thallium. After a great deal of investigation, it turned out to be a hoax plus a mass hysteria incident (and yes, Virginia, mass hysteria incidents do occur -- you just can't discount them without a thorough investigation).

Best wishes to all for a happy holiday season and a prosperous and happy New Year.

Alan
Alan H. Hall, M.D.
Medical Toxicologist

On Wed, Dec 26, 2018 at 10:54 AM Monona Rossol <0000030664c37427-dmarc-request**At_Symbol_Here**lists.princeton.edu> wrote:
So interesting. As someone who recreates by studying Chinese history and who is known to recite all the dynasties in order to NY Chinese taxi drivers, I know there is a long tradition of poisoning as a method of regime-change in China. Even though the Chinese invented gun powder, I know of no emperor or high official in the later Dynasties or from Mao to today that was ever assassinated with a gun. If someone knows of a case, I'd love to hear about it.

Obviously there are vastly more incidents of one student in the US shooting or stabbing another.

It's not the weapon, but the objective that needs looking at.

Monona


-----Original Message-----
From: ILPI Support <info**At_Symbol_Here**ILPI.COM>
To: DCHAS-L <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU>
Sent: Wed, Dec 26, 2018 10:39 am
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Former student sentenced to seven years for poisoningco lleague

Following up on this thread, this article just appeared about a 1994 Chinese thallium poisoning case, which appears to be one of several cases now of Chinese students poisoning rivals. Two more to add to the previous discussion:



And it's not just chemistry, either.



Of course, murder of rivals and deliberate poisoning is not confined to China as myriad history books and a quick web search will attest. All such incidents are a reminder to always be cognizant of cultural and social issues/pressures; profiling, of course, is not useful/acceptable, but there are usually behavioral warning signs and proactive measures that can be taken when they are spotted..

Rob Toreki

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