The dark history of arsenic - Neil Bradbury

翻译人员: Jing Quan 校对人员: Bruce Wang

It was 120 BCE, and Mithridates’ father, the ruler of Pontus,

公元前120年，密思里达特斯的父亲， 庞图斯的统治者，

had been poisoned by enemies.

被敌人毒死。

Fearing that his mother might poison him to usurp the throne,

密思里达特斯害怕其生母 想效仿武则天，

Mithridates went into hiding.

便躲了起来。

When he reappeared, he committed himself to building his tolerance to poison,

当他再次出现时，他努力提升 对毒药的耐受性，

allegedly micro-dosing various toxins each day.

据说是每天微量服用各种毒素。

He reached his 70s, and chose to die by sword,

他活到七十多岁， 最后选择被剑刺死，

evading capture.

是为了逃避当俘虏。

No substance has perhaps been as constant an ally to insidious scheming as arsenic,

也许没有哪种物质能像 所谓的 “毒药之王” ——砷那样

the so-called “king of poisons.”

一直是阴谋的盟友。

It’s a naturally occurring, widely distributed metallic element.

砷是一种天然存在并 分布广泛的金属元素。

In its chemically pure form,

就其化学单质而言，

it isn’t much of a threat because our bodies don’t absorb it well;

它没什么威胁， 因为我们的身体不咋吸收，

it’s when arsenic combines with other elements that things get dangerous.

但砷与其他元素结合时， 会变得很危险。

When arsenic reacts with oxygen,

砷与氧气发生反应后，

it may assume its most common poisonous form:

可能会呈现出最常见的毒性形式：

white arsenic, a powder that can be immediately lethal or kill over time.

白砷，这种粉末可以 引发暴毙或慢性致死。

At the molecular level, white arsenic resembles phosphate,

在分子层面上， 白砷类似于磷酸盐，

which is essential to the body's basic cellular reactions.

磷酸盐对人体的 基础细胞反应至关重要。

When white arsenic enters the body, it replaces phosphates,

当白砷进入人体时， 它会取代磷酸盐，

compromising critical processes like cellular energy production.

从而危害细胞能量产生 等关键过程。

The symptoms of arsenic poisoning overlap with common illnesses in history.

砷中毒的症状 与历史上的常见疾病相似，

And white arsenic is inconspicuously odorless and tasteless.

加上白砷无味无味，

These characteristics made it a choice murder weapon.

这些特性使其 成为首选的谋杀武器。

In ancient Egypt and Greece,

在古埃及和希腊，

people encountered arsenic while mining and smelting metals,

人们在开采和冶炼金属时遇到了砷，

and came to recognize its powers.

并开始意识到它的力量。

The first preparation of white arsenic on record

有历史记录的首次制备的白砷

is attributed to Islamic Golden Age alchemist Jabir ibn Hayyan,

是伊斯兰黄金时代的 炼金术师贾比尔·伊本·海扬

around the 8th century.

在8世纪左右制作的。

Poisoning became prevalent in Renaissance Italy,

毒杀在文艺复兴时期的意大利 变得很常见，

where elites like the Venetian Council of Ten decided who to assassinate

威尼斯十人理事会等精英 拟定暗杀名单，

and enlisted alchemists, pharmacists, and doctors

并招募炼金术士、药剂师和医生

to prepare the appropriate poison.

来制备适当的毒药。

The House of Borgia mastered the murderous art,

波吉亚家族掌握了这门杀人艺术，

reportedly wielding an arsenic-laced powder called Cantarella

据报道，他们挥舞着一种 名为坎塔雷拉的含砷粉末，

that they’d sprinkle into special guests’ goblets.

将这种粉末撒在特殊客人的高脚杯中。

And during French King Louis XIV's reign,

法国国王路易十四统治期间，

arsenic ran rampant among Parisian high society,

砷巴黎上流社会中被滥用，

earning it the moniker of “inheritance powder.”

有 “遗产粉”的绰号。

In 1675, the five-year Affair of the Poisons kicked off

1675年，为期五年的 毒药事件拉开序幕，

with a noblewoman confessing to murdering her father and brothers—

一位贵族承认谋杀了 她的父亲和兄弟，

and revealing that Paris harbored an extensive underground network

并透露了巴黎藏有大量的

of poison peddling.

地下贩毒网络。

One of its central figures was Catherine Monvoisin.

老枭之一是凯瑟琳·蒙瓦辛。

In addition to performing divinations and black masses,

她除了进行占卜和黑人弥撒外，

she formulated so-called love potions as well as more ghastly concoctions

还配制了所谓的爱情圣水以及

containing aconite, belladonna, and arsenic.

含有附子、颠茄和砷的烈性毒药。

One of her clients was a member of the royal court

她的一位客户是王室成员，

whose husband died under mysterious circumstances;

王室成员的丈夫死得不明不白；

another was the king’s very own mistress.

另一位客户则是国王的情妇。

Arsenic became a more widespread weapon during the Industrial Revolution.

在工业革命期间， 砷成为一种更广泛的武器。

Demand for metals, like iron, skyrocketed.

那会儿对铁等金属的需求激增，

And as people melted impure ores in furnaces,

当人们在熔炉中熔化不纯矿石时，

some byproducts became airborne and accumulated on chimneys—

一些副产物会通过空气传播 并积聚在烟囱上，

including white arsenic.

包括白砷。

The powder was scraped off in abundance and sold cheap to city-dwellers,

这些粉末被大量刮掉， 并被廉价地出售给城市居民，

who channeled its powers against pests— and sometimes, people.

居民利用白砷来对付害虫， 有时甚至是人。

Arsenic also found its way into ubiquitous goods.

砷后来渗透到了日用品中。

In 1775, Swedish chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele

1775年，瑞典化学家 卡尔·威廉·舍尔

created a copper-arsenic mixture that yielded a brilliant green hue.

创造了一种铜砷混合物， 它展现着艳绿色。

Scheele’s green soon pigmented paint, textiles, toys, soaps, cosmetics,

舍尔的绿色颜料被用作 油漆、 纺织品、玩具、肥皂、

and food coloring.

化妆品和食用色素。

By the late 1800s, 80% of English wallpaper contained arsenic.

到1800年代后期， 80％的英国家庭墙纸都含有砷。

But its lethality loomed.

它的杀伤力慢慢显现，

Several children were said to have died from inadvertently ingesting arsenic,

据说有几名儿童因无意中摄入砷而死亡，

and a public campaign finally had it banned from households.

一项公共运动最终 让砷禁止被添加到家庭用品。

Meanwhile, deliberate arsenic poisoning persisted.

同时，蓄意的下毒仍在继续，

And because forensic arsenic tests remained rudimentary,

而且，由于法医的砷测试 仍处于初级阶段，

people kept getting away with it.

凶手总可以逍遥法外。

In 1832, chemist James Marsh consulted on a homicide case

1832年，化学家詹姆斯·马什 参与调查了一起凶杀案，

where a man was accused of arsenic-lacing his grandfather’s coffee.

在该案中，一名男子被指控 在祖父的咖啡中添加砷。

Marsh ran the standard test, which yielded a yellowy deposit,

马什进行了标准测试， 结果发现了淡黄色的沉淀，

confirming the sample was positive for arsenic.

证实样本中含砷。

But the result was chemically unstable.

但是沉淀的化学性质不稳定，

And by the time Marsh presented it in court,

当马什出庭时，

the color had deteriorated, and the jury acquitted the accused.

颜色已经变质了， 陪审团宣布被告无罪。

So, Marsh created a new test,

因此，马什创建了一项新的测试，

whereby an arsenic-containing sample would react with zinc and acid

根据该测试，含砷的样品 将与锌和酸反应

to produce arsine gas.

产生砷气体。

Once ignited, it would reveal a solid arsenic deposit.

一旦点燃，将有固体砷单质沉积。

It was the first truly reliable arsenic test.

这是第一次真正可靠的砷测试。

Newer tests later took its place and antidotes became available,

后来新的试验取而代之， 解毒剂也随之问世，

but history remains laced with arsenic’s perverse power—

但历史上仍充满了砷的邪恶力量-

sprinkled with scandal and dashed with deceit.

充斥着丑恶与欺骗。