Month: July 2021

Ambition Pills

Drugs, Medicine

19th-century ‘Ambition Pills’ were supplements for men that promised to get rid of a variety of problems: impotence, sleeplessness, enlarged veins, and nervous debility. 🤒 Unsurprisingly, a few decades after the introduction of those pills, a study found that their ingredients were questionable. In 1918, the Journal of the American Medical Association found that each pill contained “a little over one-thirtieth of a grain of strychnin” and that it was “possible for any one to purchase enough strychnin in a single box of Wendell’s Ambition Pills to kill an adult.” ☠️

Arsenic Paper

Medicine

I know you’ve all been waiting for the great comeback of our favorite poison – arsenic. â˜ ď¸

In 1874, a surprising medical case investigated by doctor Wintreberg was described in “Revue de ThĂŠrapeutique MĂŠdico-Chirurgicale.” One of Wintreberg’s patients was suffering from recurring and painful anal ulcers, and there was no indication as to what could have caused them. Lotions, enemas, special diet – nothing helped for long. After some time it turned out that a few other members of the family started experiencing the same symptoms, which gave Wintreberg a clue as to what was going on. After a brief “investigation” it turned out the culprit was … green poster paper the family used in their latrines. đŸš˝ Tests confirmed that the poster paper contained copper arsenite! đŸ’€ Fortunately, it was enough for the family to throw the paper away to ease their symptoms. 

You can find his and other bizarre stories about arsenic in “Kolor śmierci, odcień grobu czyli 50 odcieni morderczej zieleni” by a friend of mine, Wiktoria Król. Unfortunately, the book is only available in Polish right now, but who knows what the future holds!