Saint Helena

The common mynah has been introduced to various places in the tropics beyond its natural range, including islands in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic Oceans. This species now occurs in Madagascar, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, the Hawaiian Islands, Saint Helena, Mauritius, Fiji, Tahiti, the Marquesas, Singapore,... 

Saint Helena-Napa Valley Hwy. 29 Grayson at Crane Park Napa, CA b 707-252-2105 Seasonal - Friday... 

Returning to Napoleon s hairs Italian physicists made a concerted effort to study them in 2008. They used a scientific method called neutron activation analysis the sample was irradiated with neutrons for some time (a nuclear reactor is usually needed for this), which caused the formation of short-lived radioactive atoms, the amounts of which could be easily measured without actually destroying the object being studied. An advantage of this method is that very small amounts of elements can be detected. The particular hairs were carefully selected in this study. Contemporary human hairs were chosen randomly. From museums around Europe, the scientists obtained hairs both from King of Rome Napoleon II (1811-1832) and empress Josephine (1763-1814), the son and first wife of Napoleon Bonaparte, and of course from Napoleon himself, not only from the island of Saint Helena, bnt also form his childhood (age of 1) in Corsica and from the island of Elba, the scene of Ms first exile. The arsenic content of these samples is shown in Table 4.2. 

These findings do not imply poisoning by any means. There is no dramatic difference between the arsenic contents of the hairs of Napoleon and his son. Historical records show that Napoleon 11 died of tuberculosis, and there was no reason to suspect poisoning, let alone murder with arsenic. Even more revealing is the fact that hairs from Napoleon himself at the age of 1 already contained high amounts of arsenic compared to today s average values. Napoleon could not have been poisoned on Saint Helena—at least not with arsenic. Had this actually happened, hairs form Saint Helena would show a much higher arsenic content than earlier ones. 

The Constantine analogy receives a further twist in Persons s The King ofSpaines receiving when Philip s daughter, the Infanta, is hkened to both Constantine s mother, the saintly Helena, and to his daughter, Constantia. ... 

Longwood House on Saint Helena Island, where Napoleon lived in exUe, had a particular green floral pattern. Wallpaper of that time was made vivid green by using copper arsenite (Scheele s green) in the paint. When copper arsenite becomes damp (not unlikely, considering that the house was on an island), it is converted by molds into trimethylarsine gas, and it is most likely that it was this gas, not an assassin s poison, that was the source of the arsenic found sequestered in Napoleon s hair. 

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