The Do's and Don'ts of Writing a Story

HOW TO: Poisons

Poisoning is one of the oldest murder tactics in the books. It was the old equaliser, and while it's often associated with women, historically men are no less likely to poison you. This is purely as a fictional aid, not for use in the real world, you murderous wankers. 

 - hemlock (conium maculatum) - is one of the famous ones, used in ancient times, most notably in Socrates' forced suicide execution. The plant has bunches of small, white flowers and can grow up to ten feet tall. It's a rather panicky way to die, although it wouldn't show, so the case of death is most often asphyxiation due to respiratory paralysis, although the mind remains unaffected and aware. 

 - Belladonna (atropa belladonna) - is also called deadly nightshade. It has pretty trumpet-shaped flowers and dark, shiny berries that actually look really delicious which is ironic because it's the most toxic part of the plant. The entire plant is poisonous, mind you, but the berries are the most. One of the most potent poisons in its hemisphere, it was used as a beauty treatment, so the story says, and rubbed into the eyes to make the eyes dilate and the cheeks flush. Hence the name 'beautiful lady'. The death is more lethargic than hemlock, although its symptoms are worse; dilated pupils, sensitivity to light, blurred vision, tachycardia, loss of balance, staggering, headache, rash, flushing, severely dry mouth and throat, slurred speech, urinary retention, constipation, confusion, hallucinations, delirium, and convulsions. It's toxic to animals, but cattle and rabbits can eat it just fine, for some reason. 

 - Strychnine (strick-nine) - is made from the seed of strychnos nux vomica and causes poisoning which results in muscular convulsions, and eventually death through asphyxia. Convulsions appear after inhalation or injection - very quickly, within minutes - and take somewhat longer to manifest after ingestion, around approximately 15 minutes. With a very high dose, brain death can occur in 15 to 30 minutes. If a lower dose is ingested, other symptoms begin to develop, including seizures, cramping, stiffness, hyper vigilance, and agitation. Seizures caused by strychnine poisoning can start as early as 15 minutes after exposure and last 12 - 24 hours. They are often triggered by sights, sounds, or touch and can cause other adverse symptoms, including overheating, kidney failure, metabolic and respiratory acidosis. During seizures, abnormal dilation, protrusion of the eyes and involuntary eye movements may occur. It is also slightly hallucinogenic and is sometimes used to cut narcotics. It also notably has no antidote. In low doses, some use it as a performance enhancer. 

 - Curare (chondrodendron tomentosum) - is lesser known than its famous cousins, but it kills in a very similar way to hemlock. It is slow and terrible, as the victim is aware and the heart may beat for many minutes after the rest of the body is paralysed. If artificial respiration is given until the poison subsides, the victim will survive. 

 - Wolfsbane (aconitum) - has several names; monkshood, aconite, queen of poisons, women's bane, devil's helmet, and is a pretty purple plant with gourd shaped flowers. The root is the most potent for distillation. Marked symptoms may appear almost immediately, usually not later than one hour, and with large does death is near instantaneous. Death usually occurs within 2 to six hours in fatal poisoning. The initial signs are gastrointestinal including nausea, vomiting, and diarrhoea. This is followed b a sensations of tingling and numbness spread to the limbs. The plant should be handled with gloves, as poison can seep into the skin. 

 - Foxglove (digitalis) - is large with trumpet shaped flowers that can be many colours, but usually a pinkish shade. It may be termed as 'foxes-glew' which can be translated to fairy music. Intoxication causes nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea, as well as sometimes resulting in xanthopsia (jaundiced or yellowed vision) and the appearance of blurred outlines (halos), drooling, abnormal heart rate, cardiac arrhythmias, weakness, collapses, dilated pupils, tremors, seizures, and even death. Slowed heartbeat also occurs. Because a frequent side effect of digitalis is reduction of appetite and the mortality rate is low, some individuals have used the drug as a weight loss aid. It looks a bit like comfrey, which is an aid for inflammation.