Corpse poison - myths and real danger. Hell Pot Recipe

Christopher Marlowe

Maltese Jew

Translation by V. Rozhdestvensky

Characters

Farnese is the ruler of Malta.

Lodovico is his son.

Selim Kalimat is the son of the Turkish Sultan.

Martin del Bosco - Vice Admiral of Spain.

Matthias is a nobleman.

Giacomo |

Bernardin |

Barabbas is a rich Jew.

Ithamore is a slave.

Piglia Borso is Bellamira's servant.

Two merchants.

Three Jews.

Nobles, ambassadors, officials,

guards, slaves, messengers, carpenters.

Katharina is Matthias's mother.

Abigail is the daughter of Barabbas.

Bellamira is a courtesan.

Abbess of the monastery.

Nuns.

Machiavelli - as the reader of the prologue.

The location is Malta.

Machiavelli enters.

Machiavelli

Let them think - Machiavelli is dead;

His soul flew over the Alps.

After the death of Guise, leaving France,

He came here to his friends.

Perhaps some people hate me

But with friends I will find protection.

Let everyone know: I am Machiavelli.

What are people to me and what are their words to me?

I am admired and hated.

It is in vain to reject my writings

They are read to achieve

The Papal Throne; And if not

I will pass on my poison to my students.

I consider religion a toy

And I affirm: there is no sin, there is stupidity.

Or will the birds in the sky expose murder?

I would be ashamed to listen to such nonsense.

What can we say about the right to the crown?

And did Caesar himself have the right to power?

The throne is established by force, the law,

Like a Dragon, it is strong only in blood.

He who holds power tightly reigns longer,

Something is indicated by the terms of the letters.

Phalaris himself held such opinions...

He didn’t scream “bull” in the red-hot

He made the envious people in him scream.

Let them envy me, and to hell with pity!

Where should I go? After all, I have arrived

Not to lecture the British,

And to play the tragedy of the Jew,

Who is happy that he has become rich,

Putting my principles into action.

So let him be appreciated

And they will not blame because

He looks like me...

(in his office in front of a pile of gold)

That's all I managed to get.

Yes, the third part of the Persian ships

I more than returned the invested amount.

Not the Samnites or the people of Utsa

With Spanish oil, with Greek wine!

Here I made a pittance profit.

Thank you at least to the Arabs for being so generous

Pay bills with gold!

Yes, I'm counting down the day

What would be enough for others for the rest of their lives,

Not the pathetic, despised poor man,

Aspiring to get such a sum!

No, the one whose chests are always full

And who has done nothing but this all his life,

That he was counting his wealth,

In old age he won’t work like that,

To drive yourself to death for a pittance...

He is like a merchant of Indian mines,

Trader of pure smelting metal,

The rich Moor, who is in the depths of the eastern rocks

He can earn his wealth

Raking diamonds like a simple cobblestone

Take them for free, sell them by weight

Bags of opals, blue sapphires,

Topazes, amethysts, emeralds,

Scarlet rubies, light diamonds

And expensive stones of such a price,

That one of them - and a small one,

Some carat will be enough,

To redeem from captivity in misfortune

Even a famous king.

Yes, here it is, my product, my wealth!

This is how people of common sense multiply

Property of despised trade

And gradually in a cramped kennel

They collect untold riches.

But how are things going?

Where does the alcyone put its beak?

Hey! To the East! Yes, weather vane to the east

Turned through the south. O ships,

Fly to the Egyptian shores!

You have reached the winding Nile,

Already left Alexandria,

Under sail, with a load of silk, spices

Ride the waves along Candia

Getting closer to Malta by the Mediterranean Sea,

But who comes here?

The merchant enters.

Well how are you?

All your ships have arrived, Barabbas,

And they dropped anchor in the roadstead of Malta.

Your goods arrived to us safely.

The merchants sent me to find out

Will you go and pay the customs yourself?

So did all the goods arrive without loss?

Well, go and ask the merchants,

So that they themselves pay the duty;

My credit is high enough there,

And my presence is not needed.

Give me sixty camels, thirty mules

And twenty trucks to bring the goods.

Aren't you the trusted one on the ship?

Are you not vested with my authority?

But the fee is much higher

Than the entire treasury of the city merchants,

And therefore it will exceed my loan.

You will say that I sent you.

Everyone at customs knows my name.

So here comes something

What ship did you come from?

I'm from Speranza.

Haven't you seen

My other ships in Alexandria?

After all, when leaving Egypt, I could not

You pass the very places where the sea

The Nile pays tribute with a submissive wave,

And that means he was heading towards Alexandria.

I didn't see them, didn't ask about them.

But still the sailors were surprised,

Why did you risk such a rich cargo

Trust a boat like this.

Fools! I know it's reliable.

Go and unload the ship quickly,

To deliver the cargo to its place on time.

The merchant leaves.

What about the other ships?

The second merchant enters.

Second merchant

The ship that left Alexandria

Now I have dropped my anchor here, off Malta.

Countless riches came with it:

Persian silk, and gold, and pearls.

But how did you come without ships,

Leftovers in Africa?

Second merchant

I haven't seen them.

Perhaps they went to Candia

For oil or some other product?

I was careless alone

You should go on such a dangerous path.

Second merchant

But we were accompanied by the Spanish fleet,

Without leaving all the time for a league.

Turkish galleys were chasing him.

They were on their way to Sicily.

Go and ask my people

Go ashore and hurry to unload.

When organic liquids and substances decompose, cadaveric poison is formed. The mechanism of its appearance is as follows: after death, many biochemical processes are instantly launched in the body, during which cadaveric bacteria die and decompose. This is how toxic substances appear - cadaverine, putrescine, neurin, which make up what we call cadaveric poison. It is they who have a nasty “sweetish” corpse smell, which causes a gag reflex in many.

The higher the ambient temperature, the faster the processes during which the above-mentioned substances are formed. For this reason, cool conditions are maintained in morgues in order to slow down the processes of rotting and decomposition.

The phrase “cadaveric poison” in the 21st century is no longer correct; toxicologists prefer the term “ptomaines”, which comes from the Greek language, where the word ptoma is translated as corpse or dead body.

Ptomains are a group of biogenic amines - the end product of the breakdown of amino acids and proteins. They are formed when the body starts rotting processes of dead organisms. These substances appear in a corpse approximately 3-4 days after death, but these are approximate figures, since much is dictated by the temperature and humidity of the environment.

What is the danger of corpse poison

To answer the question of why cadaveric poison is dangerous, let’s take a closer look at the substances it consists of:

• Cadaverine is a colorless, low-toxic liquid that easily dissolves in alcohol and water and has a specific odor. This ptomaine appears not only during rotting, decomposition of proteins, it is also found in beer and various plants, such as soybeans, belladonna, ergot horns, boletus, fly agarics.

Cadaverine is the most studied ptomain, on the basis of which experts say that this substance in itself does not pose a health threat. Moreover, in the large intestine of a healthy person, processes constantly take place, the result of which is, among other things, the formation of cadaverine.

• Putrescine is a toxic substance, but it is also formed in small quantities in the large intestine in a healthy person.
• Neuron is the most toxic ptomaine; it is formed in nerve cells and has a syrup-like consistency. Experiments on monkeys showed that a dose of 11 mg/kg is sufficient for poisoning and death. However, in rotting remains this substance is formed in negligibly small quantities, which means that it is impossible to be poisoned by it upon contact with a corpse.

Let us add to this picture that the listed poisons cannot live long outside a corpse; for them this environment is fundamentally important. The body of a living person presents aggressive conditions for them, and these toxins cannot do much harm to a living organism. Also, cadaveric poisons are not airborne, so the most dangerous thing about a cadaverous smell is the gag reflex that it can cause. To neutralize this “aroma” in the professional sphere, a special chemical is used - keslivol.

However, there are stories among people that a person may be poisoned with cadaveric poison. And in ancient times, warriors smeared their arrows with it to make them poisonous, and the wounded enemy actually died. How to explain this?

• In ancient times, they did not know what to do if cadaveric poison got into an open wound. The most they could do to help the victim was to quickly cauterize the wound, but if time was lost, the person died.
• Death generally occurred not from the cadaveric poison itself, but from the pathogenic bacteria contained in it. If the “source” of the poison suffered from meningitis, pneumonia, or sepsis, the bacteria of these diseases continued to live in his corpse. And once it enters the bloodstream of a living person, it actively reproduces. Particularly dangerous are the corpses of those who died from pneumonic plague and anthrax.

So, the person wounded by a poisoned arrow died not from a cadaveric disease, but from the fact that his immunity was lowered due to the injury, and the bacteria of the disease from which the “source” of the ptomains died multiplied in the blood. For a healthy person with normal immunity, even these bacteria do not pose a particular threat.

It is also difficult to get poisoned by ptomains for two more reasons:

• entering the bloodstream, they are neutralized in the liver,
• Putrescine and cadaverine are neutralized in an acidic environment, therefore, if they were, for example, in meat, they were decomposed by gastric juice.

The human body has ideal mechanisms for neutralizing cadaveric poison. Touching a corpse poses no danger to it.

Another myth about cadaveric poison says that if it gets into drinking water, the person who tastes it dies in agony. Why is this a myth? Because it was already said earlier: ptomaines are neutralized in the acidic environment of the stomach. For their toxic effect, you need to drink a barrel of such water in one sitting.

The danger is not ptomains, but other bacteria adjacent to them, for example, botulism, staphylococcus.

If cadaveric material gets on an open wound, the likelihood of inflammation and sepsis developing is very high due to the above-mentioned bacteria. The most common is staphylococcus. Biogenic amines themselves do not pose a danger, as any pathologist will confirm.

Symptoms of poisoning and assistance to the victim

Most often, this symptomatology is observed by pathologists. Although they know about safety measures, they put on gloves and masks before opening, sometimes infection cannot be avoided. When this happens, cadaveric tubercles form on the fingers. However, that’s where it all ends - they go away on their own, although they are quite painful. This phenomenon is unpleasant, but has no consequences.

Neuron is the most toxic ptomaine. Although a negligible amount of it is formed in a corpse, it can provoke the following reaction in sick, weakened people:

• vomiting
• cough with copious sputum,
• strong salivation
• pneumonia,
• swelling of the lymph nodes,
• convulsions.

If a person is actually poisoned by neurin, the outcome is often fatal. When cadaveric materials get into large incised wounds, from where blood literally gushes, the ptomains are washed out with it. But if the cadaver stick gets into puncture, small, lacerated wounds, scratches or hangnails, it can provoke a slight inflammation, which goes away without consequences.

If it happens that a person with an open wound came into contact with a corpse, the following must be done:

• rinse the wound with running water,
• cauterize it with an acidic solution of vinegar, sulfur or nitrogen,
• lubricate with iodine to completely neutralize the poison.

If these measures are taken on time, then even inflammation will not appear.

Prevention of poisoning by biogenic amines

A person with normal immunity is not in any danger from the body of a deceased person, even if it remains in his house for quite a long time. However, when health is weakened by any illness, it is better to refrain from observing the tradition and not kiss the deceased.

When the deceased has been removed, the room where he was located must be wet cleaned using disinfectant solutions. Moreover, everything must be washed - the walls, the floor, the table where the coffin with the deceased stood, and the rag must be thrown away. Then you need to take a shower yourself using soap and no longer worry about the danger. If the smell of a corpse does not disappear in the house for a long time, order professional disinfection. Specialists can use not only keslivol to neutralize the odor, but also ultraviolet emitters, thanks to which the room can again breathe freely.

Corpse poison and meat

If it is stored incorrectly, protein breakdown products will certainly appear in it, and other toxic compounds will also form, such as:

• skatole,
• urea,
• indole,
• phenol.

It is these compounds that give that nasty smell, which they try to get rid of by processing the meat in various ways - soaking it in an acidic solution, seasoning it generously with spices.

These deli meats pose health risks. The fact that a person has been poisoned by them can be determined by:

• headache,
• weaknesses,
• dizziness,
• nausea, vomiting,
• diarrhea.

Help for the victim in such a situation is the same as for ordinary poisoning:

• flush the stomach
• give sorbent,
• provide plenty of fluids,

Some indigenous inhabitants of the Far North have dishes whose recipes are not entirely common for our people. The meat is buried in the sand near the surf, leaving it there for several weeks, or even months. After this period, it is considered a delicacy that is eaten with pleasure.

There are also similar traditions in Greenland and Chukotka, where they take a seal, stuff it and bury it for 7 months, and then eat it. In Iceland, similar manipulations are carried out with shark sharks. The Chukchi in Russia are preparing a soup with venison, which has spent several weeks in a barn. And such a dish as kopalhem - a deer buried in a swamp for a rainy day - for them is both a delicacy and a sacred food.

We do not advise you to try such dishes if your menu previously consisted of exclusively fresh products. The stomach “will not understand” such experiments. After all, the body of the listed peoples gets used to such food from childhood and is immune to the toxic substances contained in it. And for another person, such dishes threaten severe food intoxication.

We conclude: if you did not grow up among the peoples of the Far North, it is better to refrain from eating stale meat, as well as other products. In other situations, contact with decaying organic matter does not threaten you. We just need to follow the rules of sanitation and hygiene, which we are taught since kindergarten, this will help neutralize all the consequences of contact with cadaveric poison.

Today it is quite difficult to understand what was true and what was fiction in stories about poisoning that have come down to our days through the centuries. After all, at that time there were no tests or forensic examinations, and there were more than enough stories about mysterious poisons. In our review we are talking about the most legendary poisons, the existence of which has not yet been proven.

1. Yad Gu

Gu is an ancient Chinese poison with magical properties. According to legends, this poison was created by placing poisonous animals - snakes, lizards, scorpions, centipedes and various insects - in a jar. These poisonous creatures devoured each other until only one remained, which was oversaturated with the toxins of all its digested brethren. Poison was then extracted from the creature and used to kill, cause illness, or cast a love spell. Victims of gu poisoning died from vomiting blood. It was rumored that Gu could even kill from a distance.

2. Poison on Parysatis' knife

Parysatis, mother of the Persian king Artaxerxes II (435 or 445 BC - 358 BC). did not get along with her daughter-in-law Stateira. Parysatis was simply jealous, it seemed to her that Statira “took up all the thoughts of her son and he began to love his mother less,” so she figured out how to get rid of her. She could not simply poison her daughter-in-law, since both women distrusted each other and were afraid of being poisoned. Therefore, they ate the same dishes from the same dishes.

But Parysatis came up with the following move: she smeared one side of the knife with an unknown poison, and then cut herself a piece of chicken (with the clean side) and handed the knife to her daughter-in-law. As a result, she died a painful death, but Parysatis’ victory turned out to be Pyrrhic. While on her deathbed, Statira convinced her husband that his mother was to blame for the murder. Artaxerxes exiled Parysatis to Babylon, and they never saw each other again.

3. Yad Eitr

In Scandinavian mythology, the liquid eitr was both the source of life and death. When fragments of ice from Niflheim (the original kingdom of ice in the north) met sparks from Muspelheim (the original kingdom of fire in the south) in Ginnungagap (primary chaos, the world abyss), the ice melted. This liquid was eitr, the primordial substance from which the primordial being was born - the giant Ymir.

The gods created the Earth from Ymir's flesh, the oceans from his blood, the mountains from his bones, the trees from his hair, the clouds from his brain. Midgard, the kingdom of men, was made from Ymir's eyebrows. Eitr was thus responsible for the entire world and all life in it, but it was also a deadly poison, strong enough to kill the gods. According to Norse mythology, at the great final battle of Ragnarok, the great serpent Jormungandr, which encircles Midgard, will rise from the ocean to poison the sky.

Thor will kill Jormungandr, but since his blood consists of eithr, Thor will die from poison after walking only nine steps. In Scandinavian folklore, the legendary liquid of life and death has become synonymous with deadly toxins. In Old Icelandic the word "Eitr" meant "poison", and in modern Icelandic the word "Eitur" means the same thing.

4. White Borgia powder

The Borgia family is today inextricably linked with poison. It all started with Cem, the half-brother of the Ottoman Sultan Bayezid II. After the death of their father, Sultan Mehmed II, the brothers quarreled and began to fight with each other. As a result, Jem fled to Rhodes, where he was sheltered by the Master of the Order of Malta, Pierre d'Aubusson. But Bayezid promised the knights a huge annual sum for keeping his brother away from the Ottoman Empire so that he would not lay claim to the throne.

As a result, the Maltese handed Cem over to Pope Innocent VIII in Rome. After Innocent's death in 1492, he was succeeded by Alexander VI (1431-1503), the infamous Rodrigo Borgia. Bayezid continued to annually pay half of the income of the Ottoman Empire for the maintenance of his brother in Rome. The gravy train ended in September 1494, when Charles VIII invaded Italy to seize the Kingdom of Naples, which he planned to use as a launching pad for a new crusade (the goal of which was to recapture Jerusalem).

When Charles VIII reached Rome, he made a deal with the pope, according to which he stopped further conquest of Italy, but received “the goose that lays the golden eggs” - Jem. But when the French took Jem from Rome on January 28, 1495, on the way to Naples on February 25, he suddenly died. Rumors that Cem had been poisoned by the Borgia Pope began to spread almost immediately. Popular rumor claimed that Jem was given a mysterious white powder of unknown composition, which supposedly could kill several weeks after entering the body.

The mysterious white powder soon turned into a legendary poison. One dose of poison could kill instantly, within days or months. It was a snow-white substance with a pleasant taste that could be easily and discreetly mixed into any food product or drink. It could even supposedly be poured into boots or added to candles, which made their smoke deadly. This is how the legends about the famous Borgia poisoners began.

5. Aqua Tofana

By all accounts, the invention of the Sicilian woman Tofana, who lived in the 17th century, was a colorless and transparent, tasteless and non-suspicious liquid. It was assumed that the poison was made from arsenic, Spanish fly, rosemary and/or snapdragon. He supposedly could kill with exceptional precision: the dose could be calculated so as to kill immediately, in a week, in a month or in a year. Some stories claim that victims gradually lost all their hair and teeth and shrank until they finally died in agony.

Others insist that there were no such acute symptoms, the victim simply began to experience an incomprehensible weakness that never went away and led to death. The poison was usually added to food, but sometimes it was applied to the cheek to infect the victim through a kiss.

6. Inheritance powder

Poudre de succession or "inheritance powder" was named for its use in eliminating problematic heirs. It was allegedly the invention of one of France's most famous poisoners, Marie Madeleine Dreux d'Aubray, Marquise de Brenvilliers (1630-1676). Various sources claim that the powder consisted of ground glass, “lead sugar,” a powdered version of aqua tophane, and arsenic. The poison was supposedly so deadly that simply inhaling the powder would kill instantly.

Marie Madeleine Dreux d'Aubray's career as a poisoner began when her father Antoine Dreux d'Aubray imprisoned Marie's lover, Captain Godin de Sainte-Croix, in the Bastille. Sainte-Croix's cellmate was an Italian named Exili, who had extensive knowledge of poisons, which he generously shared with his new friend. After his release, Sainte-Croix reported the poisons to the Marquise, who began experimenting with various compounds, distributing poisoned bread to unsuspecting poor people in hospital wards.

Marie's first deliberate victim was her father. After that, she killed her brothers Antoine and Fran so that she would get the entire inheritance. In 1672, Sainte-Croix died under mysterious circumstances, possibly from inhaling his own product. As a result, Marie was arrested and subjected to waterboarding. She was then beheaded and burned.

Universal antidote

The ruler of the Pontic kingdom, Mithridates VI Eupator (134-63 BC), is said to have been paranoid. However, this was completely justified. His mother poisoned her husband when Mithridates was still a child and ruled the kingdom as regent until he came of age. Even as a child, Mithridates suspected that his mother was plotting to poison him too in order to place his brother on the throne. When the young heir discovered that he was getting worse and worse, he fled to the desert, where over the years he tried to develop immunity to any poisons.

It worked. Already in adulthood, Mithridates was known as “inexorable.” He allegedly created a universal antidote that could resist any poison. This antidote, whose main ingredients (according to the records of Pompey the Great) were dried walnuts, figs, rue, leaves and a pinch of salt, was considered a universal antidote for the next 1800 years.

Poisoning with cadaveric poison is one of the most common human fears. In ancient times, it was often mentioned by authors in their artistic, magical or esoteric works. Is it really that easy to become infected with cadaveric poison and how dangerous is it for humans? This article will tell you.

Corpse poison: popular myths and legends

Corpse poison for humans is not as dangerous as they say

Corpse poison is the subject of many superstitions and prejudices. It is believed that this poison is incredibly dangerous, capable of being absorbed through the skin and causing instant death. Allegedly, one finger prick will lead to inevitable death. It is because of these prejudices that the profession of a pathologist causes wild fear and horror in many people.

All these superstitions go back centuries. Today's science interprets the fear of the dead by the fact that almost until the very beginning of the twentieth century, epidemics of all kinds of diseases raged in the world. Most of them caused the extinction of a large number of people, and the speed of spread of the disease was rapid. As a result, people began to associate the dead with terrible, painful illnesses. However, the main cause of death was still infections.

Let's figure out what cadaveric poison is

The name "cadaveric poison" is incorrect and outdated. Currently, in toxicology there is a term ptomaina (from the Greek “corpse”). Ptomains are a group of biogenic amines that are formed by the decomposition of protein and amino acids. This happens when a dead body rots. Ptomains are formed in a dead organism on the third or fourth day after death. The rate of formation of biogenic amines completely depends on the temperature and moisture content of the environment. This unpleasant process is always accompanied by signs of intense rotting, as well as a characteristic odor.

• Putrescine – 2000 mg/kg;
• Cadaverine – 2000 mg/kg;
• Spermidine and spermine – 600 mg/kg.

These indicators were derived from studies in rodents. The most toxic substance in the group was neurin. However, very little of it is formed in a dead body.

The most studied substance from the ptomaine group is cadaverine. With the help of this substance it is possible to prove that cadaveric poison does not pose a strong threat to life. Cadaverine is formed in the thick intestinal tract of a living person as a result of digestive processes. Also, cadaverine is present in poisonous mushrooms, dope, henbane, belladonna, soybeans and other plant products. From this we can conclude that cadaveric poison is not fatal.

Composition of the poison

Although these poisons are toxic, they cannot exist outside a dead body, so they pose no danger to a living organism. The fumes generated from corpse poison are also not dangerous.

The rate of formation of these substances in a dead body directly depends on the cause of death. If a person dies as a result of a heart attack or injury, decomposition occurs more slowly. If a person suffered from a purulent disease, then the bacteria of these diseases remain in his body even after death and can pose a threat to others. The most dangerous are the dead bodies of people and animals killed by anthrax or pneumonic plague. Bacteria that enter the bloodstream through skin breaks can cause a small purulent abscess in this area. For people with weakened immune systems, symptoms of infection will be more obvious. For a healthy person, simply touching a dead body is not dangerous.

Symptoms of cadaveric poisoning

The most dangerous substance in cadaveric poison is Neirin

Pathologists are most susceptible to infection with cadaveric poison. Therefore, before opening, as a precaution, they wear special protective masks and gloves. If infection does occur, then bumps form on the fingers, which go away after some time. Despite the fact that they are quite painful, they are not dangerous for the body.

The most dangerous substance contained in cadaveric venom is neurin. When it enters a weakened body, the following symptoms may be present:

• Heavy secretion of saliva;
• Sputum when coughing;
• Swelling of the lymph nodes;
• Vomit;
• Cramps.

Neuron poisoning can lead to death if medical attention is not provided promptly.

The substances cadaverine and putrusicin are not so toxic and their effect is neutralized by gastric juice. They do not pose a health risk.

There is an opinion that water infected with cadaveric poison causes death. Such cases do occur, but most often this occurs due to botulism or a similar infection.

Biogenic amine poisoning

Poisoning with cadaveric poison is practically excluded. The cause of infection can only be the direct introduction of pure cadaverine or putrescine into the blood in a decent dosage. Small doses of these substances are decontaminated in an acidic environment, for example, with the help of gastric juice. The liver is able to disinfect these substances when they enter the blood.

What are the dangers of contact with cadaveric poison?

Staphylococcus infection may be present with cadaveric venom

The entry of particles of cadaveric material into fresh wounds can cause various inflammations and sepsis. Bacteria developing in a dead body can become the causative agents of these inflammations and infections. Also, cadaveric material may contain a staphylococcus infection, which is dangerous to humans.

Is there any benefit to cadaveric poison and what is it?

As mentioned above, cadaveric poison does not pose a particular danger to humans. In addition, biogenic amines may even be beneficial. Small doses of ptomains can stimulate the body, because they are biological substances that activate most biochemical actions.

The most obvious example is the drug ASD, which was developed by scientist A.V. Dorogov after the war. This drug is extracted from meat and bone meal using sublimation at high temperatures. During this process, a large number of bioactive substances are formed, which include biogenic amines. With the help of the drug ASD, various types of infections, wounds, burns, skin diseases, ulcers and even cancer are treated.

First aid and treatment

The human body is capable of individually coping with cadaveric poison.

When a fresh wound comes into contact with a corpse, it is necessary to rinse it with clean water, and then cauterize the affected area with an acid, for example, acetic, nitric or sulfuric. It is allowed to thoroughly blot the wound with iodine, this will help disinfect the cadaveric poison.

Prevention of poisoning

With stable immunity, infection with cadaveric poison is not dangerous. If you are in poor health, then try not to come into contact with the body of the deceased. After funeral rituals, be sure to disinfect the room where the body of the deceased was located. If the coffin was on a table, be sure to wash it with soap or any chemical detergent. If there is still a cadaverous smell in the house, then use the services of professional disinfectors.

Among the various types of poisoning, cadaveric poisoning is one of the most common human fears and prejudices. Many esoteric and magical works are devoted to this type of poisoning, and in the classics of world medieval literature, poisoning with cadaveric poison is covered quite expressively. Consider the colorful descriptions of how unbearable the corpse smell is. Some people still think that not only poison, but also the smell can cause, if not instantaneous, then quick death.

What is cadaveric poison

Today, the composition of cadaveric poison has been reliably determined, which actually consists of several substances. In toxicology, a special term was even introduced for them - ptomaines. They are represented by 3 groups of biogenic amines, which are formed after death due to the decomposition of protein tissue and amino acids. The rate of their formation largely depends on environmental conditions, but in most cases it ranges from 3 to 4 days.

A characteristic cadaverous odor always accompanies the formation of ptomains, but one cannot be poisoned by them. However, a person’s reaction to such a stench is purely individual; it is expressed in the form of attacks of headache, nausea and vomiting, of varying degrees of severity.

On a note. If the body of a deceased person has been decomposing in a room for a long time, then in order to get rid of the cadaveric smell it will be necessary: ​​1) to replace the part of the wooden floor on which the cadaveric fluid has leaked; 2) disinfect the subfloor in this area using polyurethane varnish; 3) disinfect the air with an air ozonizer.

Corpse poison consists of the following ptomains:

1. Cadaverine- the end product of the breakdown of lysine as a result of the putrefactive breakdown of proteins. It is formed in the lumen of the large intestine. Currently, it is officially excluded from the list of biogenic amines of cadaveric poison due to its low toxicity, as well as due to its presence in living animals and plants.
2. Putrescine– it is this biogenic amine that is responsible for the characteristic smell of rotting proteins. It is also formed in the intestines, but as a result of a change in the structure not of lysine, but of the amino acid ornithine, which occurs under the influence of bacteria. This ptomain is also slightly toxic. For putrescine poisoning, its concentration in a living body must be more than 2000 mg/kg. Moreover, both cadaverine and putrescine, being outside the rotting body, quickly lose their toxicity, and recent studies have proven that putrescine is also produced in a living organism! It is he who is to blame for the fact that a person has bad breath.
3. Spermidine and spermine. These biogenic polyamines are part of the nuclei of all cells of a living organism. They are the end product of ornithine breakdown. For toxic damage, a fairly large dose is also needed, which must enter directly into the blood - more than 6000 mg/kg.
4. Neirin- a product of decomposition of nerve cells. Despite the particularly high toxicity of this biogenic cadaveric fluid - only 11 mg/kg, neurin does not pose any particular danger during direct tactile contact with a corpse.

When coming into contact with a dead and decomposing body, the first thing to be wary of is not physical contact with cadaveric poison or inhalation of cadaveric odor. The danger lies in another reason - you can get infected from a corpse in the same way as from a living person or animal, if there was an infection at the time of death, or the actual cause of death was infection with dangerous bacteria or viruses (for example, anthrax, rabies or pneumonic plague) .

Symptoms of poisoning

Poisoning by biogenic amines can only occur if a person is given an intravenous injection of these substances in a lethal concentration. If the contact occurs “locally”, for example, when touching with a hand that has a fresh cut, nothing fatal will happen. The wound will become inflamed, but will heal in a few days, even without any special treatment or the use of an antidote. Biogenic amines that make up cadaveric venom, once in the blood, will be completely deactivated by the liver.

Let's debunk myths. Cadaverine is found in fly agarics, boletus mushrooms, ergot, and belladonna, but poisoning with these products occurs under the influence of other substances. Cadaverine, as a product of the breakdown of hops, is also found in beer, but poisoning from cadaveric poison has never been recorded, even after such abundant and frequent libations of beer that Czechs and Germans allow themselves.

If you receive a toxic dose of the biogenic amine, neurin, the symptoms and signs will look like this:

• the lymph nodes are slightly swollen;
• salivation increases, even to the point of drooling;
• a “wet” cough appears, sometimes pneumonia can develop;
• severe nausea and bouts of vomiting;
• rare, but seizures are possible.

However, do not panic - even a pathologist cannot obtain a dangerous dose of neurin. By wearing protective gloves, a mask and goggles, he protects himself from accidental infection with a pathogenic bacillus, virus or bacteria, and not from contact with cadaveric fluid.

By the way, when establishing the causes of a person’s death, bad breath can help the pathologist determine the exact cause; for example, the smell of almonds will indicate potassium cyanide poisoning.

Is contact with cadaveric poison dangerous?

Cadaverine and putrescine are not deadly cadaveric poisons. If they enter the gastrointestinal tract in large doses, they can cause symptoms of intestinal poisoning, and when cuts on the skin become infected, they only cause local inflammation. Even a significant dose of cadeverine and putrescine that enters directly into the blood is successfully deactivated by the liver.

Neuron is much more dangerous than other biogenic amines that make up cadaveric poison. If it gets into the blood in large quantities, it can cause arrhythmia, disruption of the respiratory center, sepsis and gas gangrene, and when it gets into the stomach, neurin causes the same consequences, since neither stomach acid, nor the liver, nor the kidneys are able to cope with it neutralization.

Is there any benefit to cadaveric poison?

What benefits can we talk about when it comes to cadaveric poison? It turns out it can! Of course not directly, but indirectly. Research is currently being conducted on the following issues:

1. Spermidine and spermine are considered as basic substances for the production of elixirs of longevity and powerful hepatoprotectors. There is an assumption that within 10 years such miracle drugs will be available to everyone. In the meantime, doctors recommend consuming large quantities of foods that contain them - these are legumes, grapefruits, blue cheese, corn and wheat germ.
2. It has been proven that biogenic amines support the functioning of ribosomes responsible for protein synthesis. When the brain has a stroke, the level of putrescine increases sharply - this is how the body protects the neurons of the brain. This is what finally explained the fact why stroke patients have a characteristic bad breath.
3. Scientists from Brown University have found that putrescine is actively synthesized during epileptic seizures. It prevents the destruction of brain neurons. An experienced emergency physician can differentiate an epileptic seizure from another seizure condition. It is bad breath, and not a mouth full of foam, that is a confirmation of epilepsy. Doctors hope that these studies will help in the creation of drugs for antiepileptic therapy in children.

Question for debate. Vegetarians convince meat-eaters that headaches on an empty stomach, foul-smelling sweat and bad breath are the result of undigested meat rotting and releasing toxins, which causes mild cadaveric poisoning.

Corpse poison in the delicacies of the peoples of the North

Kopalchem ​​and cadaveric poisons, obtained with food regularly and starting from early childhood, do not cause visible harm to a person. This is confirmed by all the peoples of the North, who prepare their national and sacred dishes by burying deer, seal or shark meat for a period of 3 weeks to 7 months.

For an ordinary person, these “northern delicacies” can cause serious food poisoning. Therefore, if you need to try such dishes, you should be careful.

And in conclusion, it should be noted once again that tactile contact with decaying organic matter does not pose a risk of poisoning. If you follow the rules of hygiene and sanitation, there will be no consequences from contact with cadaveric poison.