transferred to hospital suffering from diarrhoea and vomiting. He was released after a week of successful treatment.A month later he was readmitted with the same symptoms. Toxicological analysis of the stomach content detected eserine, and calculations based on 450ml of stomach contents suggested that he had ingested approximately 100mg.
After two months in hospital the patient’s condition changed dramatically for the worse, and medical staff were unable to save him. The cause of death was given as cardiogenic shock, but the deterioration in his body brought about by the eserine was thought to be the underlying reason for his death. An inquiry subsequently looked into the origin of the eserine the patient had ingested. Re-analysis of his stomach contents revealed eserine to be the only alkaloid present in the body in detectable quantities. Had the patient been poisoned with Calabar beans, other alkaloids would be expected to have been present. 52
Pharmaceutical preparations of eserine, sold under the name ‘anticholium’, also contain very small but detectable quantities of geneserine (the second most common alkaloid in Calabar beans). Anticholium is used to treat atropine poisoning, and is available in 5ml ampoules. The patient would have had to drink 50 ampoules of anticholium to reach the levels of eserine found in his stomach. This seems unlikely; together with the fact that no other compounds (such as geneserine) were found in the stomach, it was concluded that he had been poisoned with the pure chemical.
Agatha and eserine
The victim in the 1949 novel Crooked House , Aristide Leonides, is 85. One day, after his usual injection of insulin, he has a sudden seizure. The family can do nothing for him and call a doctor, but by the time he arrives Aristide is dead. He was not a well man, suffering from diabetes, a weak heart and glaucoma, but his death is very sudden and quite unexpected. Thesymptoms Agatha Christie mentions in the novel are ‘difficulty in breathing’ and ‘a sudden seizure’, but in reality there were likely to have been others. Agatha was far too discreet to detail any involuntary urination or defecation, but other symptoms such as a slow pulse and convulsions might have been mentioned without embarrassment to the reader. Anyway, the symptoms are enough to make the doctor suspicious and demand a post-mortem.
The police investigating Aristide’s death admitted that little was known about the post-mortem appearances of eserine. There may be congestion in the brain, lungs and gastrointestinal tract, although these signs might be found in cases of poisoning by a range of substances. When combined with the symptoms displayed by Aristide just before death the finger of suspicion would point towards one of the cholinesterase inhibitors, but there are many of those besides eserine. However, the fact that Aristide had a cholinesterase inhibitor in the form of eserine in his medicine cabinet – and an empty bottle of eserine eyedrops was found in the rubbish bins of Aristide’s crooked house – gave the pathologist a good indication of which poison to look for at the post-mortem.
Plant alkaloids such as eserine can be extracted from tissue using the method first developed by Stas in 1850 (see page here ). The isolated compound could then be identified by chromatography; in 1949, when the novel was written, chromatographic techniques were beginning to be used more widely. This would enable a toxicologist to see whether a victim had been poisoned by eserine from a medical prescription or by ingesting the bean, as the bean would contain other alkaloids that would also appear in the chromatography. This technique can also determine the amount of a particular compound in a sample. In Curtain , analysis of the alkaloids extracted from Mrs Franklin’s body showed that several alkaloids of the Calabar bean were present, proving that she had been poisoned with one of the extracts used in her husband’s
After two months in hospital the patient’s condition changed dramatically for the worse, and medical staff were unable to save him. The cause of death was given as cardiogenic shock, but the deterioration in his body brought about by the eserine was thought to be the underlying reason for his death. An inquiry subsequently looked into the origin of the eserine the patient had ingested. Re-analysis of his stomach contents revealed eserine to be the only alkaloid present in the body in detectable quantities. Had the patient been poisoned with Calabar beans, other alkaloids would be expected to have been present. 52
Pharmaceutical preparations of eserine, sold under the name ‘anticholium’, also contain very small but detectable quantities of geneserine (the second most common alkaloid in Calabar beans). Anticholium is used to treat atropine poisoning, and is available in 5ml ampoules. The patient would have had to drink 50 ampoules of anticholium to reach the levels of eserine found in his stomach. This seems unlikely; together with the fact that no other compounds (such as geneserine) were found in the stomach, it was concluded that he had been poisoned with the pure chemical.
Agatha and eserine
The victim in the 1949 novel Crooked House , Aristide Leonides, is 85. One day, after his usual injection of insulin, he has a sudden seizure. The family can do nothing for him and call a doctor, but by the time he arrives Aristide is dead. He was not a well man, suffering from diabetes, a weak heart and glaucoma, but his death is very sudden and quite unexpected. Thesymptoms Agatha Christie mentions in the novel are ‘difficulty in breathing’ and ‘a sudden seizure’, but in reality there were likely to have been others. Agatha was far too discreet to detail any involuntary urination or defecation, but other symptoms such as a slow pulse and convulsions might have been mentioned without embarrassment to the reader. Anyway, the symptoms are enough to make the doctor suspicious and demand a post-mortem.
The police investigating Aristide’s death admitted that little was known about the post-mortem appearances of eserine. There may be congestion in the brain, lungs and gastrointestinal tract, although these signs might be found in cases of poisoning by a range of substances. When combined with the symptoms displayed by Aristide just before death the finger of suspicion would point towards one of the cholinesterase inhibitors, but there are many of those besides eserine. However, the fact that Aristide had a cholinesterase inhibitor in the form of eserine in his medicine cabinet – and an empty bottle of eserine eyedrops was found in the rubbish bins of Aristide’s crooked house – gave the pathologist a good indication of which poison to look for at the post-mortem.
Plant alkaloids such as eserine can be extracted from tissue using the method first developed by Stas in 1850 (see page here ). The isolated compound could then be identified by chromatography; in 1949, when the novel was written, chromatographic techniques were beginning to be used more widely. This would enable a toxicologist to see whether a victim had been poisoned by eserine from a medical prescription or by ingesting the bean, as the bean would contain other alkaloids that would also appear in the chromatography. This technique can also determine the amount of a particular compound in a sample. In Curtain , analysis of the alkaloids extracted from Mrs Franklin’s body showed that several alkaloids of the Calabar bean were present, proving that she had been poisoned with one of the extracts used in her husband’s
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