Famous poisons used to kill people.PHOTO |COURTESY
Poison is definitely among fiction’s greatest weapons. Hercule Poirot and Sherlock Holmes seem to have developed the audience’s taste for untraceable, fast-acting poisons.
However, murder mystery is one thing, but when the story becomes reality, you have got yourself a real killer! Here is a list of the most famous poisons used to kill people throughout history.
Hemlock or Conium is a highly toxic flowering plant indigenous to Europe and South Africa. PHOTO |COURTESY
Hemlock or Conium is a highly toxic flowering plant indigenous to Europe and South Africa. It was a popular one with the ancient Greeks, who used it to kill off their prisoners.
For an adult, the ingestion of 100mg of conium or about 8 leaves of the plant is fatal – death comes in the form of paralysis, your mind is wide awake, but your body doesn’t respond and eventually the respiratory system shuts down.
Probably the most famous hemlock poisoning is that of Greek philosopher, Socrates. Condemned to death for impiety in 399 BC, he was given a very concentrated infusion of hemlock.
Read More:http://listverse.com/2012/12/02/10-poisons-used-to-kill-people/