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Show The Art of Poisoning "Poisoning the Public," by Russell Rus-sell C. Erb says: The "art of poisoning" poi-soning" was known to primitive man. He dipped his arrows and his spearheads into toxic plant juices and serpent venoms for the purpose of insuring the fatality of ' wounds produced by such weapons. The first god to whom poisons were sacred was worshiped by the Su-merians Su-merians as early as 400 B. C. The Egyptian priesthood was acquainted acquaint-ed with the poisonous characteristics characteris-tics of hydrocyanic acid, hyoscya-mus, hyoscya-mus, aconite and hemlock. Legal significance was early attached to poisons as a means of state execution. execu-tion. By such means was Socrates removed from public life, being condemned con-demned to drink the poison hemlock. |