Poison. It is said that Mithridātês VI., surnamed “the Great,” had so fortified his constitution that poisons had no baneful effect on him (B.C. 131, 120-63).
Poison of Khaïbar. By this is meant the poison put into a leg of mutton by Zaïnab, a Jewess, to kill Mahomet while he was in the citadel of Kha´ïbar. Mahomet partook of the mutton, and suffered from the poison all through life.
Poisoners (Secret).
1. Of Ancient Rome: Locusta, employed by Agrippi´na to poison her husband, the Emperor Claudius. Nero employed the same woman to poison Britannicus and others.
2. Of English History: the countess of Somerset, who poisoned Sir Thomas Overbury in the Tower of London. She also poisoned others.
Villiers, duke of Buckingham, it is said poisoned King James I.
3. Of France: Lavoisin and Lavigoreux, French midwives and fortune-tellers.
Catherine de Medicis is said to have poisoned the mother of Henri IV. with a pair of wedding-gloves, and several others with poisoned fans.
The marquise de Brinvilliers, a young profligate Frenchwoman, was taught the art of secret poisoning by Sainte-Croix, who learnt it in Italy.—World of Wonders, vii. 203.
4. Of Italy: Pope Alexander VI. and his children, Cæsar and Lucrezia [Borgia] were noted poisoners; so were Hieronyma Spara and Tofa´na.