ABOUT ACONITE AND HEMLOCK
ACONITE, or monk's-hood, whose purple flower, shaped like a helmet or
monk's hood, is a familiar feature in our country gardens, ranks as one
of the most ancient of vegetable poisons. The name aconite was derived
from Akon, a city of Heraclea, and the plant, owing to its deadly
nature, was supposed by the early Greeks to have originated from the
foam of the dog Cerberus. Aconite was largely used as an arrow poison
by the ancients, and also employed for that purpose by the Chinese
and the wild hill tribes of India. It was used by the ancient Greeks
and Romans to destroy life, and they believed they could cause death
to take place at a certain time by regulating the dose of poison.
Thus Theophrastus writes: "The ordering of this poison was different
according as it was designed to kill in two or three months, or a
year." The poison cup of the ancients was probably a compound, of
which hemlock and aconite were the chief ingredients. This was used
for carrying out the criminal death penalty, and also for purposes
of suicide when so desired. A curious relic of this ancient custom
was practised at Marseilles, where a poison was kept by the public
authorities of which hemlock was an ingredient. A dose of this was
allowed by the magistrates "to any one who could show a sufficient
reason why he should deserve death." Valerius Maximus observes, "This
custom came from Greece, particularly from the Island of Ceos, where I
saw an example of it in a woman of great quality who, having lived very
happy ninety years, obtained leave to die this way, lest, by living
longer, she should happen to see a change of her good fortune."
Theophrastus states, "Thrasyas, a great physician, invented a
composition which would cause death without any pain, and it was
prepared with the juice of hemlock and poppy together, and did the
business in a small dose."
When vice and dissipation were at their height in Rome, suicide was
most common, and it was often met with among the Greeks, after they
had been contaminated by Roman manners and customs. When the Greeks
and Romans recognised the impossibility of suppressing suicide, they
decided to establish tribunals, whose duty it should be to hear the
applications of those persons who wished to die. If the applicant
succeeded in showing what the tribunal considered good cause for
quitting life his prayer was granted, and he destroyed himself under
the authority of the court. In some instances the court not only
sanctioned the suicide, but supplied the means of self-destruction in
the shape of a decoction of aconite and hemlock. If any one applied
for permission to end his life and was refused, and in defiance of the
decision committed suicide, his act was illegal. The Romans in such
cases confiscated the property of the deceased; the Greeks held his
memory as dishonoured, and treated his body with indignity.
The aconite now used in medicine is derived from the _Aconitum
napellus_, chiefly grown in Britain; it is also found in the
mountainous districts of the temperate parts of the northern
hemisphere. It grows on the Alps, the Pyrenees, the mountains of
Germany and Austria, and also in Denmark and Sweden. On the Himalayas
it is found at 10,000 to 16,000 feet above the sea level. Both the
root and the leaves are used medicinally. The tap root of the aconite
has been frequently eaten in mistake for horse-radish with fatal
results. Aconite contains several active principles, all of which are
powerful poisons. The chief of these is aconitine--probably the most
deadly poison known--the fiftieth part of a grain of which has nearly
caused death. Indian aconite, known as _Bish_, is chiefly derived
from _Aconitum ferox_--a native of high altitude in the Himalaya
regions--and is mentioned by the Persian physician, Alheroi, in the
tenth century, also by many early Arabian writers on medicine. Isa
Ben Ali pronounced it to be the most rapid of deadly poisons, and
describes the symptoms with tolerable correctness. The chief symptoms
of poisoning by aconite are heat, numbness and tingling in the mouth
and throat, giddiness, and loss of muscular power. The pupils become
dilated, the skin cold, and pulse feeble, with oppressed breathing,
and dread of approaching death. Finally, numbness and paralysis come
on, rapidly followed by death in a few sudden gasps. The poison being
extremely rapid in effect, immediate action is absolutely necessary in
order to save life.
Several species of aconite grow plentifully in India, where it has been
used for centuries. It is found growing at an elevation of 10,000 feet
above the level of the sea, and among other places in the Singalilas,
a mountain range which forms the watershed boundary between Nepal
and British territory, northwest of Darjiling. _Aconitum palmatum_
is collected in abundance at Tongloo, the southern termination of
the Singalilas; but _A. napellus_, which is more poisonous, requires
a higher elevation in which to thrive. The natives, especially the
hill tribes, take aconite in the crude state as a remedy for various
ailments, and every Bhotiah has a few dried roots put away in some
secure corner of his hut. The method of collecting is thus described.
"Early in October, when the aconite root has matured, one of the
leading men of the village organises a party composed of both sexes.
He, for the time, becomes their leader, settles all disputes and
quarrels while out in camp, and, while keeping an account of the
general expenses, supplies to each, all necessaries in the way of
food. Before starting, he has to obtain a 'permit' from the Forest
Department, the charge for which is 15 rupees. Carefully wrapping the
pass up in a rag, and placing it in his network bag of valuables, he
collects his band together, and they set out for the higher ranges.
As soon as they arrive at the slopes, where aconite is growing
plentifully, they at once set to work to build bamboo huts about five
feet high, roofing them with leaves. After the morning meal they all
set off for the lower slopes, each with basket and spade over his
shoulder. But before the actual work is commenced, a ceremony has to
be performed. The Bhotiahs, like the Nepalese, have a belief that the
presiding demon of the hills imprisons evil spirits in the aconite
plant, which fly out as soon as it is dug up and inflict dire calamity
on the digger. In order, therefore, to counteract this, every morning,
before the digging commences, the lama or headman, standing on a
convenient hill with his followers around him, makes a fire and burns
some _dhuna_, a native resin, then, inserting two fingers in his mouth,
blows several shrill whistles. All wait in breathless silence till an
answering whistle is heard, which may be an echo or the cry of some
bird. Whatever it may be, it is taken as the dying dirge of the evil
spirits, and digging begins at once.
"The roots, after being shaken from the soil, are placed in the
baskets, which on return to the encampment are emptied and formed into
heaps, and covered with bamboo leaves to protect them from the frost.
During the day they are spread out in the sun to dry. When a sufficient
quantity has been collected and dried thus, bamboo frames are fixed
up with a fire below, on which the aconite is placed when the flame
has died out. The one who looks after this drying process has a cloth
tied round his head covering the nose, as the constant inhalation of
the fumes causes a feeling of heaviness and dizziness in the head.
This process is carried on three or four days until the roots are
dried. When sufficient have been collected and dried, they are packed
in baskets. These are shouldered, and with their cooking utensils
and blankets on the top, the whole band set their faces homeward. On
arrival at the commercial centre at the termination of their march
the results of the expedition are soon sold, and each man is handed
his share of the profits, according to the amount of aconite he has
collected."