POISONING, SECRET, a mode of taking away life by poisons so slow in their operation that the gradual sinking of the victims under their influence closely resembled the effects of disease or the ordinary decay of nature. It has been practiced in all ages, and several undoubted and unmet ous supposed instances of it are mentioned by 'Greek. and Boman writers, It was not, however, till the 17th c. that this atrocious practice became of frequent occurrence; but from this time it rapidly increased, spread over western Europe like an epidemic, and became gradually a regular branch of education among those who professed a knowl edge of chemistry, magic, or astrology. These persons regarded the knowledge of the mode of preparing secret poisons as of the highest importance, and many of them real ized large sums by the sale of their preparations, and occasionally of the secret of their composition. It was in Italy and France that this art was chiefly practiced and brought to the highest perfection; but it seems also to have prevailed in England to a considera ble extent, for we find that in the 21st year of Henry VIII.'s reign an act was passed declaring the employment of secret poisons to be high treason, and sentencing those who were found guilty of it to be boiled to death. The only undoubted instance of this crime which appears prominently in English history is the murder of sir Thomas Overbury (q.v.) by viscount Rochester (the favorite minion of James VI.) and his wife,, the divorced countess of Essex; though many suppose, and with some show of proba bility, that James VI. himself was a victim to similar nefarious practices on the part of duke of Buckingham; and undoubtedly such was the popular impression at the time, for Dr. Lamb, a conjurer sold quack, who was believed to have furnished Buck ingham with the poisons, was seized bv the angry populace in Wood street, Cheapside, London. and beaten and stalled to death. But it was in Italy where this mode of poisoning was most prevalent. There, judging from the writings of various authors, it seems to have been looked upon as a not unjustifiable proceeding to get rid of a rival or enemy by poison; and from the time of the Lombard invasion down to 11v 17111 c. Italian history teems with instances which sufficiently show that poison was both the favorite weapon of the oppressor, and the protection or revenge of the oppressed. The Borgias are generally singled out and held up to the horror and detestation of mankind; but as far as their poisonings are concerned, they merely employed this method of destroying their adversaries a little more frequently than their neighbors. To show the popular feeling on this subject, we may instance the case mentioned in the memoirs of Henry II., fifth duke of Guise„-of a soldier who was requested to rid the duke of Gen naro Annese, one of his opponents in Naples. Assassination was the mode proposed to
the soldier, but he shrank with horror from the suggestion, stating at the same time that he was quite willing to poison Annese. It was shortly after the date of lids story (164S) that secret poisoning became so frequent; and the Catholic clergy, despite the rules of the confessional, felt themselves bound to acquaint pope Alexander VII. with the extent of the practice. On investigation it was found that young widows were extra ordinarily abundant in Rome, and that most of the unhappy marriages were speedily dissolved by the sickness and death of the husband; and further inquiries resulted in the discovery of a secret society of young matrons, which met at the home of an old hag, by name Hieronyma Spara, a reputed witch and fortune teller, who supplied those of them who wished to resent the infidelities of their husbands. with a slow poison, clear, tasteless, and limpid, and of strength sufficient to destroy life in the course of a day, week, month, or number of months, as the purchaser preferred. The ladies of Home had been long acquainted with the "wonderful elixir" compounded by La Spara; but they kept the secret so well, and made such effectual use of their knowledge, that it w as only after several years. during which a large number of unsuspected victims had perished, and even then through a cunning artifice of the police, that the whole pro ceedings were brought to light. La Spara and thirteen of her companions were banged, a large number of the culprits were whipped half-naked through the streets of Borne, and some of the highest rank suffered fines and banishment. About half a century afterward the discovery was made of a similar erganizaiion at Naples, headed by an old woman of three-score and ten, named Toffania, who manufactured a poison similar to that of La Spara, and sold it extensively in Naples under the name of acrpretia, and even sent it to all parts of Italy under the name of "manna of St. Nicola of Bari," giv Mg it the same name as the renowned miraculous oil of St. Nicola, to elude discovery. This poison, now best known as the "acquit Tonna" or "aqua di Perugia," is said by Hahnemann to have been compounded of arsenical neutral salts; while Garen' states that it was crystallized arsenic dissolved in a large quautity of water; but both agree that it produced its effect almost imperceptibly, by gradually weakening the appetite and respiratory organs. After having directly or indirectly caused the death of more than COO persons, toffania was at length seized, tried, and strangled in 1719. From this time the mania for secret poisoning gradually died away in Italy.