Earlier this year, RCSI Heritage Collections was delighted to receive the very generous donation of the archive belonging to the well-known chemists, Hayes, Conyngham & Robinson.
We have only recently begun to explore the collection, but we can already tell it is a treasure trove, an unparalleled insight into a profession undergoing a century of relentless change. Given that Halloween occurred last week, Project Archivist, Erin McRae – who will be cataloguing this collection – has looked into HCR’s bottles, ledgers and recipe books to bring us this blogpost on one potentially ghoulish aspect of the pharmacists’ trade: the use of poisons.
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| An apothecary in his laboratory concocting a mixture. Wood engraving by F.Mc F(?), 1876, after H.S. Marks. Wellcome Collection |
Poisons and their Uses: From High Fashion to Medicine
In the popular imagination, poisons, and their potential to cause death has long been a source of morbid fascination. Poison is defined as “a substance that is capable of causing the illness or death of a living organism when introduced or absorbed". But not all poisonings throughout history have been intentional; rather, many have been accidental, and it was only through the onset of highly unpleasant symptoms that the poison was eventually uncovered. |
| Queen Elizabeth I (Unknown artist) Oil on panel, c1575. National Portrait Gallery, London. |
Queen Elizabeth I of England provides a famous example of inadvertent poisoning. She used Venetian Ceruse as a cosmetic, the main ingredient of which was a mineral called cerussite. It was ground into a powder and then mixed with vinegar to create its face-paint-like consistency. Unfortunately, cerussite contained white lead, and lead poisoning can cause symptoms such as loss of memory, nausea, irritability, fatigue, irritated skin, and loss of hair. Did this cause the Queen’s death? This is a leading theory amongst some historians – but owing to the Queen’s refusal to allow a postmortem to be carried out on her body, we may never know for sure.
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| 'The Arsenic Waltz' representing the effect of arsenical dyes and pigments in clothing and accessories. Wood engraving, 1862. Wellcome Collection. |
Poisons found in the natural world have commonly been used in the development of medicines. For example, belladonna [Atropa Belladonna] has historically been used to treat asthma and common colds while small doses of opium [Lachryma Papaveris], mandrake [Mandragora] and also of henbane [Hyoscyamus niger] and hemlock [Conium maculatum] have been used as a numbing mechanism for pain management; Strychos [nux vomica] has historically been used to help with digestive issues as well as with anxiety or migraines; while foxglove [Digitalis] has been used in treating conditions involving heart failure.
The mid-nineteenth century brought with it the first synthetic drugs, starting with chloral hydrate which was discovered in 1869 and used as a sedative-hypnotic. Salicylic acid, the active ingredient in aspirin, is derived from the white willow tree. Salicylic acid on its own has a very bitter taste which was improved by a chemical modification and resulted in acetylsalicylic acid, the aspirin we know today. And in the twentieth century, the introduction of Barbiturates were introduced as sleeping aids, anaesthetics, and anticonvulsants.
Poison Dispensed: Legislation and Poisons in the Irish Chemists’
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| RCSI Hayes, Conyngham & Robinson Pharmaceutical Chemists Collection |
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| Hayes, Conyngham and Robinson Pharmaceutical Chemists Collection |
Next time you find yourself in the pharmacy, check some of the various medicine bottles and their labels and see if you can spot some of these ‘poisons’, how they are being used and what ailments they purport to treat.
References
- Howes, Melanie-Jayne R., Eliot Jan-Smith and Georgina Hills. Kew Pocketbooks: Poisonous Plants. London: Kew Publishing, 2024.
- Hsu, Charlotte. “Foxglove plants produce heart medicine. Can science do it better?” April 13, 2020. https://www.buffalo.edu/news/releases/2020/04/013.html.
- Isaac, Susan. “Arsenic: a domestic poison.” Royal College of Surgeons of England (blog). Last modified October 12, 2018. https://www.rcseng.ac.uk/library-and-publications/library/blog/arsenic-a-domestic-poison/.
- Jones, Alan Wayne. “Early drug discovery and the rise of pharmaceutical chemistry.” Drug Testing and Analysis 3, no. 6 (2011): 337-44. Accessed October 4, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1002/dta.301.
- O’Murchu, Seamus. “Halloween in Ireland.” discovering Ireland. Accessed September 26, 2024. https://www.discoveringireland.com/newsletter-halloween-09/.
- Singh, Ajeet, Ritul Choudhary, Satyaki Ganguly. “Podophyllin in Dermatology: Revisiting a Historical Drug.” Indian Dermatology Online Journal 13 no.1 (2022):167-171. doi: 10.4103/idoj.idoj_225_21. PMID: 35198500; PMCID: PMC8809147.
- Tilley, Sloane K., and Rebecca C. Fry. “Chapter 6 – Priority Environmental Contaminants: Understanding Their Sources of Exposure, Biological Mechanisms, and Impacts on Health.” In Systems Biology in Toxicology and Environmental Health, edited by Rebecca C. Fry. Amsterdam: Elsevier Inc., 2015.
- “poison.” Oxford Languages. Accessed September 26, 2024. https://languages.oup.com/google-dictionary-en/
- “How did Elizabeth I die?” Royal Museums Greenwich. Accessed September 26, 2024. https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/topics/little-known-or-unknown-facts-regarding-queen-elizabeth-death.
- “Stoichiometry: Beauty is Pain.” University of Toronto Mississauga. Accessed October 21, 2024. chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.utm.utoronto.ca/pbl/media/200/download?inline.
- “Chloral Hydrate.” Science Direct. Accessed October 11, 2024. https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/chemistry/chloral-hydrate
- “Gelsemium.” Science Direct. Accessed October 21, 2024. https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/pharmacology-toxicology-and-pharmaceutical-science/gelsemium.
- “Barbital.” Science Direct. Accessed October 11, 2024. https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/neuroscience/barbital.
- “Strychnine: Biotoxin.” The National Institute for Occupational Health and Safety (NIOSH). May 12, 2011.https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/ershdb/emergencyresponsecard_29750018.html#:~:text=Strychnine%20is%20a%20toxic%20alkaloid,%2C%20northern%20Australia%2C%20and%20Hawaii
- “Hockin, Wilson, & Co.'s Liquor Podophyllin et Pepsin, etc.,” Edinburgh Medical Journal 33, no. 8 (1888): 771. Accessed October 4, 2024. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5285248/?page=1.
- “Belladonna.” National Library of Medicine. October 2, 2023. https://medlineplus.gov/druginfo/natural/531.html.
- “Nux Vomica.” Science Direct. Accessed October 11, 2024. https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/pharmacology-toxicology-and-pharmaceutical-science/nux-vomica.
- “Drug Fact Sheet: Morphine.” Department of Justice/Drug Enforcement Administration. April, 2020. chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.dea.gov/sites/default/files/2020-06/Morphine-2020.pdf
- “Opium Poppy.” The Drug Enforcement Administration Museum. Accessed October 11, 2024. https://museum.dea.gov/exhibits/online-exhibits/cannabis-coca-and-poppy-natures-addictive-plants/opium-poppy#:~:text=Opium%20was%20known%20to%20ancient,pleasurable%20effects%20were%20also%20noted.