Introduction to Poison

What is poison? By poison, I understand that it is a substance that is very deadly or harmful to the human body when ingested or by touching it. A trait that I consider important about poisons, is that they not only cause a physical wound, but also affect our body's functions (It doesn't only cuts the skin like a knife, but it also interferes with the nervous system). According to google, a poison is "A substance that, when introduced into or absorbed by a living  organism, causes death or injury, especially one that kills by rapid action even in a small quantity". (Google Inc,) For a very long time, humans have used poison to dispatch their foes. Socrates was executed in the year 399 B.C., by being forced to drink a cup of poison hemlock. The first person to be document to study poisons was the Kemite pharaoh Menes. His findings contributed to the writing of a papyrus dated circa 1553 B.C. , it contains 700 
different drugs (including poisons) of animal, mineral or plant origin.  (Clark)



Poison can also be helpful

This papyrus also includes another significant finding: the antidotes for the poisons that are listed in it. Some treatments were worthless. For example, whiskey was a common treatment for snakebites in the 19th century. In the 1920's, Brazilian researches proved it was worthless, and it actually sped up the poisoning process. This Brazilian researches also came up with a very smart method to fight the venom: fighting fire with fire. In other words: Fighting poison with poison. Researches realized that by introducing small amounts of poison to big animals like horses, the animal created antibodies called antivenin, which fights against the venom. Then the antivenin was extracted from the immunized animal's hemoglobin and then injected to a snakebite victim. Then the antivenin attached to the poison and prevented it from interfering with the human body's processes. (Clark)

Works Cited

Clark, Josh. ""Why would you take poison as medicine?"." 25 July 2008. HowStuffWorks.com. 2011 August 18 <<http://health.howstuffworks.com/medicine/modern/poison-as-medicine.htm>>.

Google Inc. Poison - Definition. n.d. 18 August 2011 <http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=poison+dictionary#pq=poison%20meaning&hl=en&sugexp=gsihc&cp=9&gs_id=11&xhr=t&q=poison+definition&qe=cG9pc29uIGRl&qesig=BNujU_7iohu3-DXSoqM0KA&pkc=AFgZ2tmJ_4d8sztlfVyDJDIsrm4QCKh9sV70ZcNGbzzG52ozPmtchRHrVY0Fa0QZgZiQZvCw>.