Italian poisoners

National Association of the Chemical hidustry (ANIQ), 262 National Biochemicals Corporation, 239 National Capital Poison Center, 312-313, 318 National Chemical Corporation, 260 National Chemicals Inspectorate, 264 National Envhonmental Health Association (NEHA), 279 National Federation of Italian Chemical Manufacturers (FEDERCHIMICA), 261 National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), 279 National Gypsum Company, 240 National Health hiformation Center (NHIC), 286 National histitute for Environmental Studies (NIES), 283 National histitute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), 286... 

A third historical strand that has helped to create modern toxicology consists of the labors of occupational physicians. Some of the earliest treatises on toxicology were written by physicians who had observed or collected information on the hazards of various jobs. The man some have called the father of the field of occupational medicine was Bernardino Ramazzini, an Italian physician whose text De Moribus Artificum Diatriba (1700) contributed enormously to our understanding of how occupational exposure to metals such as lead and mercury could be harmful to workers. Ramazzini also recognized that it was important to consider the possibility that some poisons could slowly build up in the body and that their adverse effects do not make themselves apparent for a long time after exposure begins. 

Imberti, R., Calabrese. S.R., Emilio. G, Marchi. L. Giuffrida, L. (1987) Acute poisoning with solvents chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbons. Minerva Anestesiol., 53, 399-403 (in Italian)... 

The Maestro scowled, because Italians are notorious as the poison experts of Europe, the Venetian Council of Ten has the same reputation within Italy itself, and the Council of Ten has been known to... 

Daniele E. 1964. Blood clotting alterations in chronic laboratory tetryl poisoning. Folia Medica 8 767-776. (Italian)... 

Tatarelli, G. 1946. Cumulative chlorine poisoning on board a submarine. Ann. Naval. Colonial Med. 51(3) 337—348. (Translated from Italian by Leo Kanner Associates for Information Services Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Redwood City, CA. March... 

Meier, J., Meunier-Durmort, C., Forest, C., Triller, A., Vannier, C. (2000). Formation of glycine receptor clusters and their accumulation at synapses. J. Cell. Sci. 113 2783-95. Migliaccio, E., Celentano, R., Viglietti, A., Viglietti, G. (1990). Strychnine poisoning. A clinical case. Minerva Anestesiol. 56 41-2. (In Italian)... 

Belladonna, also called deadly nightshade, gets its name from its ability to dilate the pupils of the eyes. In the past women used belladonna for this purpose because they felt it made them more attractive. The word means beautiful lady in Italian. The plant is a mediumsized herb with long, dark green leaves and small purple flowers. The alkaloids in the plant come from the leaves and the root. Scopolamine and atropine are the main substances used from belladonna in medicine. They have been used as analgesics, anesthesia, and are especially useful in examining eyes. Atropine is also an antidote for some poisons. 

The first name commemorates its success as a homicidal poison, for it is derived from the senior of three legendary Fates, Atropos, who cuts with shears the web of life spun and woven by her sisters Clothos and Lachesis (there is a minor synthetic atropine-like drug called lachesine). The term belladonna (Italian beautiful woman) refers to the once fashionable female practice of using an extract of the plant to dilate the pupils (incidentally blocking ocular accommodation) as part of the process of making herself attractive. 

Perhaps the most notorious poisoner of the seventeenth century was an Italian woman named Madame Giulia Toffana. She invented an arsenical solution in 1690, called Aqua Toffana , which she sold in phials bearing the representation of a saint, usually Saint Nicholas of Bari (Bari was a town whose water was supposed to have had healing properties). The phials were sold to women under the pretence that Aqua Toffana was good for a woman s complexion (as arsenic is), but Toffana also sold her solution to women who wanted to rid themselves of their husbands. It was apparently colorless, tasteless, and miscible with wine, and therefore very easy to administer. Toffana is said to have been responsible for as many as 600 murders and for this she was executed in Naples in 1709. However, Toffana had... 

Then I traveled about, up and down in Italy, and came to an Italian tradesman, and a Jew, who understood German. These two made English Tin look like the best fine Silver, and sold it largely I offered to serve them. The Jew persuaded the Trader to take me as a Servant, and I had to attend the fire, when they operated with their art I was diligent, and they kept nothing from me, as I pleased them well. In this way I learnt their art, which worked with corrosive and poisonous materials, and I stopped with them fourteen weeks. 

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