
The Worlds DEADLIEST Poisons
Poisoning was the favoured method for housewives dispatching
their husbands in the Victorian era. Commonly used was cyanide – a rat poison
widely available at the local chemist! Asides from it’s availability and
deadliness, cyanide was also favoured for being – at the time – quite difficult
to detect after death. The decline of cyanide poisoning came about with the
invention of the Prussian Blue test, a relatively straightforward way of
testing for the presence of cyanide.
The poisons we’ll be looking at here are a little different
though. The most potent poison on this list is up to 50,000 TIMES more potent
than cyanide.
Strychnine
Strychnine, like most poisons, comes from a plant – Strychnos
Nux-Vomica. It causes the muscles to spasm uncontrollably and is known for
causing an excruciating death. Due the effect that Strychnine has on muscles,
victims often end up with what is called a ‘Rictus Grin’, where the muscles in
the face contract to make it look like the affected person is smiling. It’s
known as the poison of...