Late last year a California visitor to Montreal was hospitalized with cyanide poisoning after treating himself to a package of apricot kernels. He survived. A week later it was reported that a 70-year-old Vermont retirement home resident had been arrested for attempting to poison other residents with home-made ricin. None succumbed.
Poisons fascinate us. Fortunately, few indulge in unlawfully ending life by such means. But who has not heard of Lucretia Borgia and her arsenic? A dubious story, yes, but fictional crime fills bookshelves. Agatha Christie used poison in at least five of her many novels. As did Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in two of his Sherlock Holms mysteries. And Rex Stout is to be credited with three, including Black Orchids. The very successful stage play Arsenic and Old Lace was turned into the equally successful movie filled with black humour starring Cary Grant.
Cyanide, however, remains a real-life favourite. Betty Miller, the 70-year-old retirement home resident, by her own admission fascinated with plant poisons, had amassed along with castor beans to produce ricin and yew and foxglove, apple and cherry pits, both well-known sources of cyanide.
The seeds or 'pits' of many familiar fruits and vegetables contain cyanogens--biochemical complexes that, in the presence of the appropriate enzyme, release hydrocyanic (prussic) acid. Cyanide works by paralyzing the respiratory system.
While apple pits have been suggested as a means of quitting the world, it is estimated to need a half-cup to full cup, lightly roasted. Underestimate the quantity required and irreversible brain damage could result. Ms. Miller might have been better advised to stick with her castor bean, yew and foxglove, although cherry pits, like cherry leaves and bark, are also cyanogenic.
Pears pits are similar to those of apples in being cyanogenic. Top for toxicity, however, almonds, apricots, peaches and plums. Apricot kernels such as those purchased by Montreal visitor Brendan Bogan are a health hazard. On the reverse side of the 'Organic Traditions' bitter dried apricot kernels was the warming: "Caution do not consume more than 2-3 kernels a day." Not until after knocking back about 40 was his attention drawn to this label. Apricot kernels were said to have been used by the Ancient Egyptians to execute criminals. According to one source, peach pits contain enough hydrocyanic acid to have once served as a commercial source of cyanide.
Cyanogens lurk in other comestibles. Not for the most part though in sufficient concentrations to present a hazard. The original lima bean from Peru, however, does contain enough to cause sublethal poisoning. Fortunately, this trait has not been passed on to the more modern, cultivated varieties. Kidney beans are another, albeit very modest source, as are sweet potatoes, yams and, perhaps surprisingly, bamboo shoots.
Whether apple pits, apricot kernels or more sinister sources are a painless or painful way to depart the mortal coil is controversial. Cyanide 'suicide pills' were favoured by Adolf Hitler, Heinrich Himmler and Herman Goering. Over 900 People's Temple followers drank a cyanide-laced punch. The Russian monk Grigori Rasputin survived cyanide poisoning as well as being shot, beaten, and finally thrown off a bridge to drown. Brendan Brogan reported having a "splitting headache" the following day.
Mother Nature doesn't miss out on the fun when it comes to critturs, either. A centipede whose discovery was announced only last month is covered with cyanide, ensuring that any bird that that snacks on it won't do it a second time. Thumb-sized Apheloria polychroma crawls around the forest floor of southwest Virginia's Cumberland Mountains.
Satirical songster Tom Lehrer, never one to ignore such subject, penned the lilting lyrics of his 'Irish Ballad,' recounting the tale of a maid "Who didn't have her family long/She did every one of them in." Not being able to stand her mother, "a cyanide soup she planned/The mother died with a spoon in her hand/And her face in a hideous grin." On that discouraging note, it is perhaps wise to leave the subject.
Wes Porter is a horticultural consultant and writer based in Toronto. Wes has over 40 years of experience in both temperate and tropical horticulture from three continents.
Late last year a California visitor to Montreal was hospitalized with cyanide poisoning after treating himself to a package of apricot kernels. He survived. A week later it was reported that a 70-year-old Vermont retirement home resident had been arrested for attempting to poison other residents with home-made ricin. None succumbed.
Poisons fascinate us. Fortunately, few indulge in unlawfully ending life by such means. But who has not heard of Lucretia Borgia and her arsenic? A dubious story, yes, but fictional crime fills bookshelves. Agatha Christie used poison in at least five of her many novels. As did Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in two of his Sherlock Holms mysteries. And Rex Stout is to be credited with three, including Black Orchids. The very successful stage play Arsenic and Old Lace was turned into the equally successful movie filled with black humour starring Cary Grant.
