I did a quick search to see if anyone had already discovered this, but I didn't find a match, but if anyone has found this before me - sorry about the re-post, but I think it's worth noting, if not.
I had an idea to see if the old Harper's magazine Lizzie was reading might have mentioned prussic acid. However, the first one I looked at (downloadable for free at archive.org) is the June 1892 issue. There is an article in it:
Montana: The Treasure State
It talks about how wealthy the towns are from the mining and it specifically mentions Anaconda, where she lived, and on the following page, it mentions that domestic servants are paid a minimum of $25 per month. I'm downloading all of 1890 - 1892 to see if I find anything interesting.
Harper's Magazine
Moderator: Adminlizzieborden
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Lorcan
- Posts: 194
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- Real Name: Paul Murphy
Re: Harper's Magazine
Prussic Acid is in Harpers twice, but very early, 1850 and 1852. I think it might have been widely known as a poison, so this might not mean much, but:
December 1850 Harper's
The subject which has excited most attention at the meetings of the
Academy has been the inquiry made in Algiers, by Bernard and Pelouze,
upon the fearful poison called the Woorari. The composition of this
deadly matter has long been kept a mysterious secret among the priests
and sorcerers of the Rio Negro and the Amazon. It was analyzed by
Humboldt, and the experiments that have now been made confirm his views.
It is a watery extract from a plant of the genus Strychnos. A weapon
with the smallest point covered with the matter kills as instantaneously
as prussic acid. Various experiments have been tried upon animals that
show how immediate is its action, and the singular changes that result
in the blood, which in a moment becomes of a death-black color, and does
not, after death, on exposure to air, recover its usual redness.
February 1852 Harper's
The above particulars, communicated by a contributor residing
in Germany, are curious only inasmuch as they refer to poisons of
a peculiarly quick and deadly nature. Our ordinary “indulgences”
in this country are the same in kind, though not in degree, for we
are all poison-eaters. To say nothing of our opium and alcohol
consumers, our teetotallers are delighted with the briskness
and sparkle of spring-water, although these qualities indicate the
presence of carbonic acid or fixed air. In like manner, few persons
will object to a drop or two of the frightful corrosive, sulphuric
acid (vitriol), in a glass of water, to which it communicates an
agreeably acid taste; and most of us have, at some period or
other of our lives, imbibed prussic acid, arsenic, and other deadly
poisons under the orders of the physician, or the first of these
in the more pleasing form of confectionary. Arsenic is said by
Dr. Pearson to be as harmless as a glass of wine in the quantity
of one-sixteenth part of a grain; and in the cure of agues it is
so certain in its effects, that the French Directory once issued
an edict ordering the surgeons of the Italian army, under pain of
military punishment, to banish that complaint, at two or three
days' notice, from among the vast numbers of soldiers who were
languishing under it in the marshes of Lombardy. It would seem
that no poison taken in small and diluted doses is immediately
hurtful, and the same thing may be said of other agents. The tap
of a fan, for instance, is a blow, and so is the stroke of a club;
but the one gives an agreeable sensation, and the other fells the
recipient to the ground. In like manner the analogy holds good
between the distribution of a blow over a comparatively large
portion of the surface of the body and the dilution or distribution
of the particles of a poison. A smart thrust upon the breast, for
instance, with a foil does no injury; but if the button is removed,
and the same momentum thus thrown to a point, the instrument
enters the structures, and perhaps causes death.
December 1850 Harper's
The subject which has excited most attention at the meetings of the
Academy has been the inquiry made in Algiers, by Bernard and Pelouze,
upon the fearful poison called the Woorari. The composition of this
deadly matter has long been kept a mysterious secret among the priests
and sorcerers of the Rio Negro and the Amazon. It was analyzed by
Humboldt, and the experiments that have now been made confirm his views.
It is a watery extract from a plant of the genus Strychnos. A weapon
with the smallest point covered with the matter kills as instantaneously
as prussic acid. Various experiments have been tried upon animals that
show how immediate is its action, and the singular changes that result
in the blood, which in a moment becomes of a death-black color, and does
not, after death, on exposure to air, recover its usual redness.
February 1852 Harper's
The above particulars, communicated by a contributor residing
in Germany, are curious only inasmuch as they refer to poisons of
a peculiarly quick and deadly nature. Our ordinary “indulgences”
in this country are the same in kind, though not in degree, for we
are all poison-eaters. To say nothing of our opium and alcohol
consumers, our teetotallers are delighted with the briskness
and sparkle of spring-water, although these qualities indicate the
presence of carbonic acid or fixed air. In like manner, few persons
will object to a drop or two of the frightful corrosive, sulphuric
acid (vitriol), in a glass of water, to which it communicates an
agreeably acid taste; and most of us have, at some period or
other of our lives, imbibed prussic acid, arsenic, and other deadly
poisons under the orders of the physician, or the first of these
in the more pleasing form of confectionary. Arsenic is said by
Dr. Pearson to be as harmless as a glass of wine in the quantity
of one-sixteenth part of a grain; and in the cure of agues it is
so certain in its effects, that the French Directory once issued
an edict ordering the surgeons of the Italian army, under pain of
military punishment, to banish that complaint, at two or three
days' notice, from among the vast numbers of soldiers who were
languishing under it in the marshes of Lombardy. It would seem
that no poison taken in small and diluted doses is immediately
hurtful, and the same thing may be said of other agents. The tap
of a fan, for instance, is a blow, and so is the stroke of a club;
but the one gives an agreeable sensation, and the other fells the
recipient to the ground. In like manner the analogy holds good
between the distribution of a blow over a comparatively large
portion of the surface of the body and the dilution or distribution
of the particles of a poison. A smart thrust upon the breast, for
instance, with a foil does no injury; but if the button is removed,
and the same momentum thus thrown to a point, the instrument
enters the structures, and perhaps causes death.
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Inspector
- Posts: 383
- Joined: Tue Mar 04, 2025 7:27 am
- Real Name: Star Johns
Re: Harper's Magazine
Strangely I was just thinking about this yesterday, and remembered reading about a book Lizzie had, that was marked, or the binding parted at an article concerning this poison.
Could be an old myth, but I think about it when I look at the sitting room photo with the book stand.
Could be an old myth, but I think about it when I look at the sitting room photo with the book stand.
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camgarsky4
- Posts: 1813
- Joined: Sat Aug 01, 2020 8:05 pm
- Real Name: George Schuster
Re: Harper's Magazine
I never thought to look at the Harper's volumes from when she would have been reading them. Great idea!
The book open to poison is a myth. Supposedly the book was in the sitting room. I've forgotten which 'novel' introduced that tidbit....pretty sure it is another Victoria Lincoln 'hot take'.
The book open to poison is a myth. Supposedly the book was in the sitting room. I've forgotten which 'novel' introduced that tidbit....pretty sure it is another Victoria Lincoln 'hot take'.