Stomach cancer may be what carried off H. P. Lovecraft. And it may be what Napoleon’s doctor put on his death certificate, but new findings strengthen the case that it wasn’t what carried off French emperor Napoleon.
Poison was.
Specifically, arsenic.
Some time ago, hair samples from Napoleon were found to contain abnormally high traces of arsenic, leading to speculation that he was poisoned.
Some of the speculation centered on the idea that the abnormally high levels of arsenic might be due to environmental factors, such as the use of arsenic in certain kinds of wall paper at the time.
But new findings suggest that the arsenic in his hair was absorbed from his bloodstream, indicating frighteningly high serum concentrations of arsenic and thus a deliberate poisoning.
EXCERPTS:
The toxic form of arsenic, used for centuries as rat poison, was found in Napoleon’s hair samples at 37 to 42 times above the normal level in the new study.
"I can’t imagine Napoleon fed himself rat poison, even if he wasn’t a gourmet," joked Damamme of Montreal-based INS.
"The arsenic was in the ‘spinal cord’ of the hair, which implies that it came from the blood and food ingested," he said.
"Somebody in his circle gave him arsenic in small doses to poison him little by little to avoid another violent uprising by those who still supported the emperor in France," Damamme said.
Now if they just had biological samples from the emperors Augustus and Claudius to verify the poisonings that reportedly did them in.
Ancient Romans (the pagans) were usually cremated. So getting samples from the emperors would not be possible.
The old arsenic in the soup trick! Well, it beats being done in with a long, pointy knife…