Arsenic poisoning recent times

Napoleon Bonaparte died on the island of St Helena where he was Imprisoned. He suspected that he had been poisoned, asserting that I die at the hands of my enemies . Arsenic was a poison commonly used at the time and It Is known that arsenic will localize in hair, where it can be detected. Locks of Napoleon s hair exist and have been analysed for arsenic. Sure enough, arsenic was detected in some of the specimens, in some cases at apparently high levels, but more recent evidence has not shown such high levels. Furthermore, Napoleon did not show the classic signs of arsenic poisoning in the skin, and the post-mortem revealed that he had a large tumour in his stomach. 

This technique was applied in the early 1960s to a lock of hair taken from Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) on St. Helena. Arsenic levels of up to 50 times normal suggested he may have been a victim of poisoning, perhaps on orders from the French royal family. More recently (1991), U.S. President Zachary Taylor (1785-1850) was exhumed on the unlikely hypothesis that he had been poisoned by Southern sympathizers concerned about his opposition to the extension of slavery. The results indicated normal arsenic levels. Apparently, he died of cholera, brought on by an overindulgence in overripe and unwashed fruit. 

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