Word: poison
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...your review of Barbara Tuchman's book A Distant Mirror [Sept. 18], you mention that it was widely believed at the time that the bubonic plague of the 14th century was caused by poison put into the wells by Jews...
...patriotism: "It was like in World War II. They tell you to go to the draft board and sign up. Well, I signed up." Besides, he had a grudge to settle against Castro for closing down the casinos after seizing power in 1959. According to Trafficante, the mobsters considered "poison, planes, tanks. I'm telling you, they talked about everything." Eventually they chose poison pills, but for reasons that have not been fully explained, the would-be assassins, two Cubans, failed to carry out the plot. Trafficante told the committee that he knew nothing of any attempts by Castro...
...exhibit such warning signs as dramatic changes in school performance, insomnia, irritability and a tendency to be involved in mishaps. Says Paulson: "Serious accidents happening to any child over six require a social evaluation of the family to see if there are family stresses provoking a child to drink poison or run into traffic...
...Matthew Meselson, professor of Biology at Harvard, published an alarming study showing that dioxin is present in beef fat at levels that have killed laboratory animals. Cattle graze on the sprayed rangelands and ingest the herbicide. He also found disturbingly high levels of dioxin in mothers' milk which may poison nursing children. While Meselson cautions that his study involves too small a sampling to be conclusive, he is nevertheless concerned about the continued use of the herbicide: "The EPA should have insisted on getting good chemical data on how much dioxin people are getting...
When it came to the plague, sufferers were treated by various measures designed to draw poison or infection from the body: by bleeding, purging with laxatives or enemas, lancing or cauterizing the buboes, or application of hot plasters. None of this was of much use. Medicines ranged from pills of powdered stag's horn or myrrh and saffron to potions of potable gold. Compounds of rare spices and powdered pearls or emeralds were prescribed, possibly on the theory, not unknown to modern medicine, that a patient's sense of therapeutic value is in proportion to the expense...