Distribution of Arsenic in Napoleon's Hair
By Dr. Hamilton Smith, Dr. Sten Forshufvud and Dr. Anders Wassen
The illness Napoleon suffered during most of his captivity on St. Helena was actually the syndrome of chronic arsenic intoxication with intercurrent attacks of acute arsenic poisoning, as reported briefly in Nature and discussed at length in a reassessment of the disease history by one of us (S.F.). Among the facts adduced in support of this theory was the finding that a few rather short hairs known to have been taken from Napoleon's head, presumably the day after death, showed a total arsenic content of 10.38 p.p.m., a value approximately thirteen times higher than the normal mean arsenic content. It would have been interesting to examine the distribution of the arsenic, but the sample was too small (1.72 mgm.) and we were then unable to obtain further hairs from the same source.
However, on November 6, 1961, not long after the news of Napoleon's deliberate poisoning and tragic mode of death had become public property, M. Clifford Frey, a textile manufacturer of Munchwilen, Switzerland, called at the Department of Forensic Medicine, Glasgow. He brought with him a family heirloom in the form of a small bundle of Napoleonic hairs. It was attached to a piece of paper with intricately knotted twine. We were permitted to take as many hairs as required within reason, provided the knot was not undone. Thus, although some of the brittle hairs broke when being pulled free of the knot, we were able to acquire a supply of hairs which were appreciably longer than those we had previously analysed, the longest measuring 13 cm. It could be distinctly observed that most of these hairs had been shorn off with a razor and not cut off with scissors.
The paper to which the hairs were attached was folded into a small envelope inscribed 'Cheveux de l'immortel Empereur Napoleon'. It was inserted in a larger envelope which, in the same characteristic handwriting, bears the names of the addressee and sender, respectively, "Monsieur Mons-Riss, St. Gall, Suisse", and "Abram Noverraz, La Voilette pres Lausanne, le 8e, 7bre 1838"; it is post-marked Lausanne, Sept. 9, 1838. The larger envelope includes a covering letter written in the same characteristic hand, signed by J. Abram Noverraz. It states, among other things: "...Je me fait un plaisir aujourd'hui Monsieur Mons de vous envoyez quelques cheveux de l'Empereur Napoleon que j'ai pris sur sa tete apres sa mort, c'etait le six Mai 1821".
The hairs remained in the possession of the Mons family until, according to documentary proof, it was procured by M. Clifford Frey, sen., an officer of the Swiss Army, from Mme Mons-Im-Hoff, the widow of the aforementioned Monsieur Men's grandson.
A Swiss, M. J. Abram Noverraz, born in the neighbourhood of Vaud, was appointed to Napoleon's domestic staff in 1809 and became his valet throughout the captivity on St. Helena. After Napoleon's death he returned to Switzerland. Noverraz has the reputation of being completely reliable and absolutely faithful to his master and his memory. Napoleon died on May 5, 1821, and during the following night his entire head was shaved, with the alleged two-fold aim of providing as much hair as possible for distribution as souvenirs and of facilitating the making of a death mask. The barber on this occasion was none other than Noverraz.
Accordingly, it seems beyond doubt that the hairs donated to the laboratory by M. Clifford Frey came from an authentic souvenir of Napoleon.
The average daily growth of hair on the scalp is about 0.35 mm. On this basis a 13-cm. hair should register a record of the exposure to appreciable amounts of arsenic for a period of a little less than a year. Hence, the longest hairs in Clifford Frey's sample should tell us whether Napoleon was exposed to significant doses of arsenic over the last year.
The hair was irradiated for 24 hr. by a flux of 1012 thermal neutrons/cm.2/sec. in a nuclear reactor at the Atomic Energy Research Establishment, Harwell. On return from the pile the hair was fixed by means of self-adhesive tape to a piece of graph paper and then cut into 5-mm. lengths, suitable for counting by an end-window Geiger counter. The results were plotted in a graph against distance from an end of the hair.
The graph in Fig. 1 shows the distribution of activity along a hair, the distal end of which is at A. It is evident that for a period of about 4 months
Napoleon was exposed to abnormally large amounts of a substance which was transformed into a radioactive isotope by the irradiation. Other hairs gave similar graphs. (Comment: Fig 1 was omitted . Another graph was made by this reporter depicting the nine arsenic readings mentioned below.)
In order to ascertain whether the isotope really was arsenic-16, the arsenic content was estimated in consecutive 1-cm. lengths of a 9-cm. hair, the respective values being 11.0, 7.70, 4.20, 3.79, 1.06, 4.46, 5.80, 2.79, and 3.44 p.p.m. (average 4.91). Since this hair was 3.cm. shorter than that yielding the graph in Fig. 1, it lacked the older portion which was relatively free from arsenic. The arsenic content was estimated in two pooled samples of broken hairs, the respective values being 3.75 and 3.27 p.p.m.
Estimation of arsenic by activation analysis is an extremely sensitive method. Nevertheless, the method has its limitations. When it is used on less than about 1 mgm. of ordinary hair it yields values which tend to be obscured by the background. Accordingly, it is rather risky to apply this method to 1-cm. lengths of Napoleonic hair weighing about one- thirteenth of
a mgm. We have done so merely to provide a general picture of the distribution of arsenic in Napoleon's hair, knowing that any quantitative error will be well on the conservative side.
These distribution studies show that Napoleon was exposed to arsenic intermittently. Indeed, judging by the only hair with the distal end uncut, the periodicity of the exposures agrees very well with what can be deduced about the course of Napoleon's disease from the accounts of the eyewitnesses.
The arsenic cannot have been added afterwards, by spraying, dusting or dipping, as suggested by some critics. No estimate of the size of the arsenic dosage given Napoleon can be made on the basis of our results; such very desirable information could probably be obtained after exhumation of the corpse. In a forthcoming paper it is hoped to publish the results of similar distribution studies on hairs from other sources and other periods of Napoleon's life. The work of one of us (H.S.) was supported by the Medical Research Council (Great Britain).
AUTHOR'S COMMENTS:
It is interesting how 1 cm (1/2 inch) portions of Napoleon's hair, consecutively, in a piece 3 or 4 inches long, were tested to find how the arsenic content changed from one end to the other. The average content of arsenic was 4.91 ppm, compared to the half inch of Srila Prabhupada's October 1977 hair that contained about 3 ppm. The points to be made are:
1. Napoleon's hair ranged from 1.06 ppm to 11.0 ppm of arsenic during intermittent poisoning. Srila Prabhupada's 3 ppm reading falls therein.
2. Out of nine arsenic measurements with Napoleon, four were below or just slightly above Srila Prabhupada's reading of 3 ppm.
3. In the months before October 1977 for which there are no Srila Prabhupada hair samples in hand (yet), the amounts of arsenic in Srila Prabhupada's hair could very possibly have been far more than 3 ppm, if we look at Napoleon's wide range of 1.06 ppm to 11 ppm as an example.
4. Depending on the amounts of arsenic ingested by Srila Prabhupada in 1977, His hair readings, month after month, could very well also have varied from 1 to 11 or more ppm, taking Napoleon as an example.
5. Srila Prabhupada's hair content of arsenic might have varied, for example, from 11 ppm in March 1977, reduced to 1 ppm in July, increased to 6 ppm in August, and then gone to the 3 ppm reading which was actually obtained for October 1977.
6. In other words, even though 3 ppm does not represent the high end of the range in chronic arsenic poisoning, it in no way implies that this was the amount of arsenic present in Srila Prabhupada's hair throughout 1977. The 3 ppm was present only in October, and is a serious health hazard.
7. The reading of 3 ppm nevertheless represents TEN times the average.
8. The reading of 3 ppm in Srila Prabhupada's hair, compared to the average of 4.91 ppm over many months required to kill Napoleon, constitutes a level which is seriously life-threatening and so highly unusual that no other explanation besides foul play can be entertained.
The study of the case history of the arsenic poisoning of Napoleon was provided herein to help appreciate the seriousness and abnormality of Srila Prabhupada's hair containing 3 ppm. Let us not pooh-pooh a level of 3 ppm of arsenic as being even half-way usual, normal, or unalarming !
It proves that Srila Prabhupada had been poisoned.
Other points in comparing Napoleon's and Srila Prabhupada's cases are:
*Napoleon's walks became fewer and shorter, then ceased, as did his carriage rides. So it was also with Srila Prabhupada's walks and car rides.
*Napoleon's swelling in the extremities came and went with the timing of the individual poisonings. Srila Prabhupada's swelling also came and went often.
*Antommarchi, Napoleon's doctor, noted lung damage, suspected tuberculosis -so also, Dr. Gopal suspected tuberculosis with Srila Prabhupada.
*Both Napoleon's and Prabhupada's subacute symptoms lasted up to a week.
*On Dec. 3, 1816, Bertrand noted Napoleon's skin had become yellow, suggesting that his liver was affected. Bhavananda noted the same and suggested the same with Srila Prabhupada on May 25, 1977.
*On Dec. 14, 1816, Napoleon's severe illness caused muscular spasms and a brief fainting. The same occurred with Srila Prabhupada on Sept. 8, 1977.
*The entire Napoleon poisoning description is remarkably similar to the case of Srila Prabhupada: one sees innumerable parallels and similarilities.
A total of seven different hair specimens were collected from various owners and countries, all authenticated as that of Napoleon between 1805 and 1821. The report on the hair from the day after Napoleon's death on May 5, 1821, was given above, with its reading of 10.38 ppm arsenic. A hair specimen collected from the head of Napoleon in 1805 revealed 10.53 ppm of arsenic. It is stated by Forshufvud, "This high arsenic content - about 20 times more than the normal value - suggests that the poisoning of Napoleon had already begun in 1805." Another hair specimen from Napoleon was subjected to 120 neutron activation analyses and revealed 40 separate occasions of arsenic poisoning between the summer of 1820 and April 1821. The values of arsenic content swayed from 2.8 ppm to a high of 51.2 ppm.
A hair specimen was given by Napoleon to someone as a keepsake on March 16, 1818, while he was in exile at St. Helena. Sectional analyses revealed arsenic levels from 6.7 ppm to 26 ppm over a three month period. Another hair sample from 1816-1817 was analyzed to have between 1.75 ppm to 4.94 ppm or arsenic, a time when Napoleon's health was not as drastically bad as it became in the coming years up to 1821.
Napoleon was poisoned in the classical 19th century manner, with a gradual, inconspicuous arsenic poisoning to deteriorate the health, ending with a final, lethal dose of mercuric cyanide. Thus no one would be surprised by a gradual decline in health which naturally ends with death. Suspicion of foul play in a sudden death was avoided with the appearance of a lost battle with a long-term disease, even if it was undiagnosed. For example, over the last 100 years or so, numerous medical doctors and historians have attributed Napoleon's illness and death to over 30 different causes from gonorrhea to syphilis and from scurvy to hepatitis to cancer. The cause of Napoleon's death by murder was never seriously entertained until previously unavailable diaries containing accounts of symptoms and subsequent hair analyses proved it.
CHAPTER 35:
BLANCHE TAYLOR MOORE
This reporter explained to the local UPS driver one day about the investigation into Srila Prabhupada's poisoning by arsenic, and was told about a woman named Blanche Taylor Moore. She had been sentenced to death in 1990 for the capital murder of her boyfriend by acute arsenic poisoning. She was also charged with, but never tried for, the murder of her first husband in 1973, and for the attempted murder of her second husband in 1989. She is also suspected in the deaths of her father, mother-in-law, and possibly several others. All of the victims are thought to have been fed food laced with an arsenic formula ant poison found in a convenience store.
As coincidence would have it, the attorney representing Blanche Moore in her trial had later handled a speeding ticket for this reporter. Blanche had lived but twenty miles away in Burlington, NC, but was now on Death Row in a Raleigh prison. She continues to deny everything and is still appealing her conviction.
A book about her life story was written by Jim Schutze, called The Preacher's Girl: The Life and Crimes of Blanche Taylor Moore. In this chapter will be excerpted a few passages from the Schutze book to detail the symptoms of arsenic poisoning and also to illustrate how arsenic poisoning is still a method of committing murder even in the modern world. Actually, 45 known murders have been attributed to arsenic poisoning in the last 50 years in North Carolina alone. These passages also demonstrate how difficult it is to detect arsenic poisoning and how easy it can be to get away with it.
Blanche was pretty, well-liked, charming, and a church-going Christian and grandmother. She had raised two daughters diligently and successfully. She had no criminal record. She apparently loved all three men in her life. She worked hard and no one could believe that these evil deeds were her actions. The prosecution succeeded in obtaining her conviction because of overwhelming circumstantial evidence and because of her own adamant lies which contradicted numerous witnesses' testimony. Otherwise, no one had actually seen her poison anyone, although the 2 % arsenic ant killer was found in her home. It was a sweet syrup that was readily mixable in almost any food.
After 21 years of marriage, Blanche is believed to have poisoned her husband James Taylor over several months until he unsuspectingly received a massive anf final, lethal dose.
"...the arsenic boiled off the inner lining of his stomach and bowels. He sat up straight in bed, and a jet of vomit shot out of his mouth and splattered against the far wall. His bowels exploded in a volley of thin rice-water stools. He fell back flat on the bed, fully awake, eyes wide open, convulsing and totally unable to control himself.
But even as the toxin destroyed his muscles and nervous system, it already was sprinting even deeper into the physical and chemical structure that was his life. Moments after the vomiting began, his abdomen bulged and then drooped, horribly distending as the external tissues of the walled organs and the blood vessels turned to mush and all of his fluids began to leach into the open areas of his body cavity.
He was conscious and in his own mind for at least the first hour of his death process. He cried out, moaned, and screamed in agony. There were waves and explosions of pain as the basic synaptic chemistry of his nervous system began to pull apart. His body was flung about the bed and against the wall both by the pain and by the chaotic electrical storms taking place in his nerves and muscles. Then finally, as the oxygen-bearing cells in the blood began to collapse, he began to suffocate from within. His face turned a deep purple. His body went flacid as the muscle cells ceased to be able to convert sugar into energy. In the last hour of brain suffocation, the arsenic allowed him to escape into a universe of hallucinations. The ferocious grimace on his dead face told his sister Dot that his body had experienced wild pain to the very last instant.
'It must have been a heart attack,' Dot whispered.
But James' death had nothing to do with a heart attack. Rather, he'd been eaten alive, minutely and gradually, cell by cell, by arsenic. The secret of arsenic is that it loves life, races to life, embraces it, combines with it quickly and consumes it hungrily, converting it chemically, molecule by molecule, from life into death.
He had been extremely sick with flulike symptoms of sore throat and diarrhea for two weeks. He had seen the doctor several times..."
Schutze discusses the difficulty in which arsenic poisoning is recognized. "Those same symptoms could just as easily steer a doctor toward acute alcohol poisoning, Guillain-Barre syndrome, diabetes mellitus, vitamin deficiency, lupus, blood disease, diphtheria, multiple sclerosis, or any of a host of other common diseases, including tick bite. In fact, it is the ability of arsenic to duplicate the symptoms of other diseases that makes it so difficult to detect... common as arsenic may be and common as are incidents of arsenic poisoning, it remains one of the least accurately diagnosed of all afflictions. For some reason, the possibility of arsenic poisoning simply is not a thought that leaps easily to the minds of physicians."
Schutze explains that the individual symptoms of arsenic poisoning resemble those of many other diseases, but "all of these things together can mean almost nothing but... arsenic poisoning." In hospitals, each separate symptom is analyzed by a specialist, and the correct diagnosis for arsenic cases is rarely achieved until several visits. The difficulty is that arsenic "attacks life in so many ways and at such a fundamental biochemical level that each of its effects on the body perfectly mimics the effect of some other disease or problem."
Schutze lists some other North Carolina arsenic poisoning cases:
1.) Nannie Doss of Lexington, a grandmother who died in 1965 doing life in prison, had killed her husband of three months with massive doses of arsenic.
2.) Rebecca Case Detter of Kernersville was sentenced to life imprisonment for killing her husband with arsenic-laced, household Terro ant killer.
3.) Sally M. Holloman of Smithfield was sentenced to life imprisonment for the arsenic murder of her husband. She had slowly poisoned him right up to the last few doses while he was in his hospital bed. Eleven years after his death she was found out and convicted.
4.) Susan Broadaway of Greensboro was sentenced to life imprisonment for the attempted murder of her husband. She had mixed arsenic in his coffee.
5.) Velma Barfield, or "Death Row Granny," died by lethal injection in North Carolina in 1984, the first woman executed in the USA in 22 years. An arsenic poisoner, she was invariably described as pleasant, kindly, and friendly, or so she appeared. Under the influence of prescription drugs such as Valium, Mrs. Barfield admitted to using ant poison in the deaths of her husband, her own mother, and three others. She had fed her husband oyster stew laced with arsenic, and he died a horrible tormented death of excruciating pain within hours. She sympathetically stood by and watched.
6.) Robert F. Coulthard married into a prominent High Point furniture family, but soon began an affair and took out a $351,000 life insurance policy on his wife. He spiced a fast-food hamburger with arsenic and his wife, mother of two children, died soon thereafter. She had been transferred to Duke University Medical Center, one of the best in the world, but none of the physicians were able to correctly diagnose her condition until it was too late. Coulthard fed his wife her final dose in her hospital bed.
In the coming descriptions of Blanche's victims and their symptoms, note the similarities to Srila Prabhupada's illness. Keep in mind that Srila Prabhupada was poisoned with low-level doses while Blanche's victims received much more acute poisonings. Thus the following symptoms are often much more dramatic than seen with Srila Prabhupada.
Blanche Taylor Moore had already developed a friendship with Raymond Reid before she killed James Taylor. She developed an intimate relationship with Raymond through a dozen years or more. Blanche filed a multi-million dollar sexual harassment suit against her long-time employers, Kroger Food Stores, and Raymond, assistant manager at the Kroger's in Burlington, was caught in the middle.
Apparently Blanche then decided to eliminate Raymond and began to feed him arsenic in her good home cooking. Raymond went to the local hospital several times but the doctors sent him home each time, thinking it was some stomach flu. When Raymond again checked in to the hospital, more tests and specialists came and went. Raymond had nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, extreme weakness, swelling, anemia and blood irregularities, heart irregularities, and failing kidneys. Then his kidneys stopped producing urine and he began coughing up large quantities of mucus. His intestinal tract was not working and he had a weak and raspy voice. He required a painful circumcision due to persistent inflammation and infection of the genital. This last manifestation resembles the incident of Srila Prabhupada's surgery in London, a case of hyperkeratosis complicated by infection.
Raymond Reid was transferred to Baptist Memorial Hospital where it was discovered that his urine was blocked by inflammation in the urethra. He grew worse, thick-tongued and restless. Blanche visited the hospital often during Raymond's ups and downs, bringing food for him whenever he could manage to eat something. Finally Raymond received one last fatal dose of arsenic in his favorite foods that Blanche made so well: banana pudding and peanut butter milk shakes. Of course, arsenic in milk delays the attack of illness a few hours or more, so suspicion of the food was never aroused. Raymond changed his will at the last moment to give one third of his assets to his beloved Blanche who faithfully came to care for him every day at the hospital. He died horribly, with gargantuan swelling and open skin lesions everywhere. He leaked like a sieve, his body bursting from swelling and retained fluids.
Blanche was able to convince the doctors that Raymond had died from Guillain-Barre syndrome. She netted handsomely from the division of his estate. A urine test for heavy metal contamination detected 6 1/2 times normal arsenic, but the test report was unnoticed and buried in his file until years later. These levels of arsenic can only be produced by ingestion through the mouth. Environmental contamination through the lungs and skin could not produce anywhere near these levels, as was established with expert witness testimony at the trial. Keep this in mind when we arrive at the results of Srila Prabhupada's hair analysis in Chapter 33.
Blanche had already become involved with a divorced preacher, who "fell in love" with her. After some time he pressed her for marriage and she began to poison him as well with tainted food. Preacher Dwight Moore went to doctors and the hospital repeatedly; no one could figure out his problem. He had nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, and severe nasal congestion. They married and the poisoning continued.
Finally Dwight was transferred to the UNC Hospital in Chapel Hill. It took six days, a battery of tests and several experts to determine that arsenic was at the root of symptoms that included paralysis and a potentially lethal staph infection. It was discovered at the last moment, with Dwight on the verge of death, that someone was administering arsenic to him at the hospital; tests revealed his body had 20 times the lethal amount of arsenic. Amounts of arsenic sufficient to kill many men were somehow withstood by Dwight Moore and he was put under guard and intensive care. Semi-crippled, he barely survived, but not without serious neuropathy.
Law enforcement became involved, Blanche failed a lie detector test, and a lengthy investigation ensued while Blanche remained in jail for a year. The prosecution had great difficulty in preparing their case because of the great span in time involved between the deaths of Blanche's first husband and her boyfriend, and the attempted murder of her second husband. Many exhumations were ordered, including that of Blanche's father and her mother-in-law. Everyone had clearly died from arsenic poisoning or had highly abnormal amounts of arsenic in their bodies. Neutron activation analysis was done on hair from Dwight Moore and the exhumed bodies.
While in jail, Blanche received a letter from a local diabetic alcoholic who claimed to have committed the murders. The drunk had died only a few days earlier. Extensive handwriting tests were done and it was proven with 80% certainty that Blanche had written the letter. The final convincing feature was that the envelope exactly matched those Blanche had used while in jail. The jury deliberated and found her guilty. Judge Freeman looked at the defendant and said:
"Blanche Kiser Taylor Moore, you will be put to death as provided by law. May God have mercy on your soul!"
The story of Blanche Taylor Moore was hot news constantly for a year. A TV special movie was made as well. Blanche Taylor Moore's story is reviewed here for the purpose of better understanding acute and sub-acute arsenic poisoning from real case histories, showing the grotesque results of arsenic poisoning and how difficult it is to detect it and prosecute it as a crime. Another interesting point in the instance of Isla Taylor, Blanche's mother-in-law, is given by Schutze:
"Isla Taylor was found to have had elevated arsenic levels at the time of her death. She was old enough and weakened enough by other ailments that Dr. Butts was uncertain it could ever be proved the arsenic had killed her. A large dose was found undigested in her stomach, suggesting she had been given arsenic moments before she died."
Hair analysis showed James Taylor having 42 times normal arsenic at the time of death. Raymond Reid showed 70 parts per million of arsenic at his death. Dwight Moore, who rewrote the texts on how much a man can withstand in arsenic poisoning, had 50 parts per million in his first poisoning episode, and 100 ppm in his second, near-fatal episode. A lethal dose may be indicated by as little as 5 ppm of arsenic in the hair. Compare this to the 3 ppm found in Srila Prabhupada's hair. (see Chapter 33 )
While Blanche Taylor Moore's victims were acutely and sub-acutely poisoned and their symptoms were thus very dramatic, nevertheless their study helps to understand Srila Prabhupada's chronic poisoning symptoms and the amounts of arsenic required to cause deteriorating illness compared with amounts required to cause a quick death. The similarities of symptoms between Blanche Moore's victims and Srila Prabhupada is very outstanding.
CHAPTER 36:
OTHER ARSENIC CASE STUDIES
A large number of suicidal, homicidal, or accidental arsenical poisonings by ingestion have been described in various medical texts.
* In 1955 in Japan over 12,000 infants were fed powdered milk contaminated with arsenic. There were 130 deaths. The infants ingested 1.3 to 3.6 mg of arsenic daily but did not show symptoms of illness for two to three weeks. The subacute poisoning symptoms were fever, abdominal swelling, enlarged liver, coughing, runny nose, conjunctivitis, vomiting, diarrhea and melanosis. As the surviving children grew up, there were increased rates of mental retardation, epilepsy, and brain damage.
* In 1901 Reynolds reported on a case of over 500 patients who had been drinking arsenic contaminated beer, noting a variety of symptoms manifestations of arsenical poisoning. The first symptoms were digestive, especially vomiting and diarrhea. In a few weeks other symptoms appeared: conjunctivitis, runny nose (rhinitis), laryngitis, bronchitis and skin eruptions. Gradually effects were noticed in the nervous and muscular systems. Mental confusion, heart irregularities and scaly skin lesions followed thereafter. This incident is regarded as sub-acute poisoning.
* In 1956 Mizuta reported on 220 patients poisoned by arsenic contaminated soy sauce in Japan. This amounted to about 3 mg of arsenic being ingested daily for 2-3 weeks, with results similar to but more acute than in the 1901 Reynolds case. Symptoms were: 85% had facial edema and anorexia, 20% had peripheral neuropathy, less than 10% had skin problems. Liver swelling and symptoms of the upper respiratory tract were predominant in most cases. Hair analyses were performed and found to contain from 3.8 to 13.0 ppm near the root. This was a very serious poisoning with dramatic onset of poisoning symptoms. We can understand that if Srila Prabhupada had 3 ppm in His hair compared to 3.8 to 13.0 ppm in these Japanese patients, then His symptoms would be somewhat less dramatic but still very seriously toxicological in nature, especially if the poisoning lasted from 9 to 18 months.
* In the early 1960's reports came from Antofagasta, Chile of many cases of chronic arsenic poisoning from a contaminated water supply with 0.8 ppm of arsenic. Children were most seriously effected, and symptoms were primarily: broncho-pulmonary disease history, abnormal skin pigmentation, thickening of skin (hyperkeratosis), chronic coryza (mucus), loss of nerve and muscle function of the extremities, and abdominal pain. Also typical was chronic cough, diarrhea, and ischemia of the tongue, a condition of reduced blood flow resulting in loss of taste.
* In 1969 a report appeared about a large number of chronic arsenic poisoning cases due to wells contaminated with geologic deposits in 37 villages of southwest Taiwan. Drinking the water for up to 45 years had resulted in skin diseases and cancers plus Blackfoot's disease, where the extremities atrophy and gangrene due to nerve and muscle deterioration.
* In 1973 Feinglass reported on 13 persons exposed for 75 days to well water contaminated with arsenical insecticides. The prominent feature was gastrointestinal symptoms related to the timing of water ingestion.
* In 1952 a study was made of use of arsenic in a old folk's cure for treating asthma called Fowler's solution. About 8.8 mg arsenic was ingested daily for 28 months. Symptoms appeared in 13 months as skin freckling and darkening, gastrointestinal troubles, and facial edema. Neurological symptoms appeared after two years. Another study of 362 persons also taking Fowler's solution for many years revealed that skin symptoms appeared only in those who had taken the larger doses.
* In 1940 Butzengeiger reported on 180 French vineyard workers who had been chronically poisoned by arsenic from insecticides and herbicides used in and near their work. Symptoms were similar to the cases in Taiwan, manifesting vascular disorders, hyperpigmentation and keratosis. Thickening of the soles and palms, gangrene in the fingers and extremities, and heart irregularities were common. Hair testing found only 0.4 ppm of arsenic, however. This normal hair reading shows that past exposure will result in future health consequences, even though the blood which feeds the hair becomes quickly cleared of arsenic when arsenic exposure ceases.
AUTHOR'S COMMENT: Similarly, Srila Prabhupada may have had His major exposure to arsenic earlier in 1977 with hair readings far above the elevated reading of His October hair. Very little additional arsenic may have been required later in 1977 to maintain a Srila Prabhupada's declining health after initial heavy doses of poison early in 1977. Once poisoned with adequate amounts of arsenic, Srila Prabhupada's body would have naturally worsened in health due to the latent effects as the year wore on. END
* A 55-year-old Asian female was hospitalized for diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, and weakness of unknown etiology. The patient had diabetes and had been in her usual state of health until 5 weeks earlier when, after eating noodle paste, she and her husband developed persistent nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. Both were admitted with dehydration and hypokalemia and treated for one week. On discharge the patient's weakness necessitated the use of a cane for walking. Approximately 3 weeks later, the patient's husband complained of weakness, then vomited and had a syncopal episode. He was resuscitated with intravenous (IV) fluids and admitted to the hospital. The following day he suddenly became hypotensive, had a cardiopulmonary arrest, and died. Four days later, the patient again developed nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and weakness. She also noted numbness in her hands and feet, described as "pins and needles." She distinguished this from the numbness in her toes previously ascribed to diabetic neuropathy. The patient had also been bedridden for the past 10 days due to weakness and inability to walk. There were no further neurologic complaints. Her past medical history revealed no history of alcohol abuse. Review of systems was pertinent for a 20-lb weight loss over the past month and diffuse tissue swelling.
Physical examination revealed a weak Asian female lying in bed. Vital signs were: blood pressure, 120/75 mm Hg; pulse, 90 beats/min; respirations, 20 beats/min; and temperature, 100.4ºF (38ºC). HEENT examination demonstrated periorbital edema and bilateral carotid bruits. Lungs were clear to auscultation, and the cardiac examination revealed normal rate with a 2/6 systolic ejection murmur radiating to the aortic region. Abdominal examination revealed mild distention with bowel sounds present, with no tenderness or organomegaly. Pulses were 1+ in all the extremities. Neurological exam revealed disorientation to person, place, and time; cranial nerves II-XII intact; motor examination with muscle strength 4 to 5/5 except for quadriceps and iliopsoas strength of 3/5 bilaterally; deep tendon reflexes 1+ biceps with absent brachioradiatis, knee and ankle reflexes. Plantar reflexes were normal. Sensory examination revealed absent position sense and decreased vibration and pin prick in the lower extremities, and decreased vibration, position sense, and pin prick in the upper extremities.
During the next 3 days the patient's muscle strength diminished in a caudal-to-rostral pattern, and she was transferred to the ICU with a diagnosis of Guillain-Barré syndrome. Review of the records from the first hospitalization revealed a prolonged QT interval on routine ECG and a finding of mild hypotension requiring 6 days of intravenous crystalloid infusions, an unusual requirement for the presumed diagnosis of gastroenteritis. In the ICU, laboratory examination revealed a hemoglobin (Hb) of 8.1 g/dL with a mean corpuscular volume (MCV) of 93.3 µ3, and a white blood count (WBC) of 2400 cells/mm3. Other laboratory tests were within normal limits, including serum iron, cortisol, vitamin B12, folate, and thyroid function tests. Westergren sedimentation rate was normal at 19mm/h. Her ECG demonstrated a normal sinus rhythm, QRS axis of +60 degrees, and a QT of 0.61 seconds. Lumbar puncture measured a normal opening pressure of 135 mm H2O and the CSF contained 5 WBC/mm3, ORBC/mm3, protein 0.042 g/L, and a glucose 98 mg/dl. Radiopaque material was noted on a plain abdominal radiograph. The toxicologic consultant ordered a stat spot urine for arsenic, which measured 16.422 µg/L. The patient underwent chelation therapy until the urinary arsenic was sufficiently reduced. During recovery the patient experienced extreme pain with even light touch to the extremities. After 10 months the patient had recovered from her peripheral neuropathy enough so she could feed herself.
The purpose of reviewing these various case histories from the medical literatures is to provide a general overview of the effects of sub-acute and chronic arsenic poisoning in various peoples and places and in various circumstances. Thus we can better appreciate how much damage a hair reading of 3 ppm of arsenic meant in destructive consequence to Srila Prabhupada's body.
CHAPTER 37:
REVERSE SPEECH THEORY
What may eventually become recognized as one of the greatest discoveries of the modern age, reverse speech is a phenomenon that was discovered by an Australian insurance broker, John David Oates. Oates has researched reverse speech for many years and has founded the David Oates Reverse Speech Association with chapters all over the world. His website at "reverse speech" is very helpful in educating the newcomer, and it includes many illustrative examples, such as some on the President Clinton- Monica Lewinsky controversy. Clinton's denial of involvement with Lewinsky is reversed to say, "She's a fun girl to kiss."
Most people are familiar with the hidden messages embedded in "backward masking" on rock and roll records, begun by the Beatles in the 1960's. Innocuous, satanic, or meaningless messages and words were "reverse-buried" in the forward music and could only be discovered by manually turning the turntable backwards. A furor arose in the 1980's over the phenomenon, and legislation was even passed in some locales restricting such reverse messages, lest the youth be secretly brainwashed with satanic messages. Upon closer examination, it was found that many of the angry and "heavy metal" lyrics contained shockingly clear satanic phrases in reverse, phrases that had not been intentionally designed or embedded, but just were.
Oates discovered that recordings of music, speeches, arguments, conversation, even infant babies' pre-speech sounds, were filled with intelligible and hidden messages simultaneous to the forward sound recording. He found that all human verbal communication contains not only overt and conscious messages but also covert and unconscious messages as well. The "reverse speech" confirmed the forward speech, and often contained more truthful and unabashed messages. Oates accumulated an immense repertoire of studies on the various forms and structures of speech reversals, and how they related to the subconscious mind. He developed a detailed theory of the verbal human communication process called The Theory of Reverse Speech and Speech Complementarity.
Oates' theory states that human speech contains two separate and complementary modes which are interdependent. The conscious, forward mode is produced by conscious cognitive processes. The unconscious, reverse mode, spoken simultaneously with the forward mode, is produced by subconscious cognitive processes. Integrally, the two modes constitute a communication of the total psyche of a person, conscious and unconscious. While a person may say one thing formally in forward speech, examination in reverse often reveals his true message, feelings, or purpose.
The frequency of reverse messages increases dramatically when the speaker is emotionally aroused, occurring up to every 2 or 3 seconds. Emotions are a function of the right side of the brain, while forward speech is generated from the left hemisphere. Thus the two sides of the brain work together to produce and choose forward speech words that simultaneously form intelligible words in reverse speech. The wonders of the brain! Thus we see often that an emotional speaker may pause, stutter, and fumble over his choice of wording as he speaks. The brain becomes very busy blending the conscious and subconscious messages into one communication. Our unconscious thoughts and feelings are thus expressed in reverse speech.
The implications of reverse speech are enormous. There will be very few secrets anymore. Truth will become prevalent as deceit and dishonesty can be exposed easily. Politicians and cheating spouses, beware! David Oates has discovered the ultimate lie detector, or rather, truth detector. May truthfulness once again prevail. Suspects in crimes may now be interviewed and the "truth of their words" can be ascertained by reverse speech analysis. Speech reversal has already become a popular tool with law enforcement agencies to ferret out leads and information useful in solving crimes. Speech reversals were employed in the Jean Bennet Ramsey murder case, for example. Reverse speech has not been accepted as legal evidence in court as yet, however. The science is in its early stages of research and acceptance.
Reverse speech is a universal language as much as is forward speech. We all speak and hear both at the same time. Reverse speech contains:
1. similar or different information than the corresponding forward speech,
2. and its own peculiar language involving a variety in the syntax, tense, and intended audience.
Reverse speech is extremely direct in its language and content; it is not diplomatic, polite, or obscure. It gets right to the point and is often profane and unabashed, communicating the unconscious psyche explicitly and completely truthfully. Reverse speech is always truthful, and when it contradicts the forward speech, the conclusion is that the speaker is knowingly lying. Reverse speech is interesting in that it contains information about what is really on a person's mind, either consciously or unconsciously. Often it provides additional information not spoken in forward.
Reverse speech can be either "external dialogue" or "internal dialogue," spoken to others or to oneself. Sometimes, "link reversals" will appear where two or more speakers each contribute a piece to a single message in reverse. The subconscious minds are communicating while we are absorbed in the conscious arena. A wealth of secrets lie dormant within, accumulated from past communications in the subconscious.
Acoustic analysis of speech has identified features such as frequency, amplitude, harmonic structure, resonance, co-articulation effects, accents, cadence and more. As a result, a forward spoken word, phrase, or sentence will most often produce totally different speech reversals from one time to the next and one person to the next. Reverse speech is not coincidence or a simple mechanical phenomenon. Obviously, sometimes words spoken forward will coincidentally sound like something intelligible in reverse. But reverse speech is far beyond coincidence, being a veritable language of communication that has been verified and studied by dozens of researchers over the last decade.
Reverse speech will often discuss emotions or events not contained in the content of forward speech. The subconscious mind assists in producing forward speech by constructing meaningful, grammatically correct phrases and statements in reverse that are recognized by others' subconscious minds. In other words, during communication, we have the conscious discussion and also on another level, the subconscious discussion. The conscious secrets of one are communicated to others subconsciously through reverse speech.
The subconscious, however, "thinks" in pictures and thus communicates with metaphors, many of which are common to the language of reverse speech. Examples are pa for father, muck for mess up, hurt, etc, and so on. As much as forward speech languages comprise a wide range of disciplines and branches of science due to its vastness of complexity and diversity, so also reverse speech is only understood in the beginning stages of its own complexity and diversity. In studying speech reversals, one must master the art and become proficient after some training in the field. There are increasing numbers of professionals and amateurs alike who are becoming expert in this exciting and revolutionary field.
Doubt of the validity of reverse speech is natural, but after one actually researches the subject, usually the criticism melts and is transformed into awe, curiosity, and amazement. The astounding truth of reverse speech will make a believer of any honest person and change their lives forever. Hopefully the development of research into the reverse speech phenomenon will also change the world for the better.
CHAPTER 38:
REVERSE SPEECH ANALYSIS
Reverse speech analysis is becoming increasingly popular with law enforcement agencies who use cutting edge technology to assist in their investigations and gathering of evidence to use in the prosecution of criminals. Obviously it would be of great interest, and possibly of great application, to research the poisoning of Srila Prabhupada with reverse speech analysis. Those who were close to Srila Prabhupada and who were His caretakers or leading, dedicated servants might reveal much critical information if the tape recordings of 1977 were subjected to such study. Suspects and those who may have conversed with the poisoners, whoever they may be, could be holding critical information about Srila Prabhupada's poisoning in their subconscious minds. Also, if interviews could be obtained in the present day of those who were there in 1977 or those who are poisoning suspects, reverse speech could open the door to solving the investigation's dilemma of crossing a span of 22 years to discover what really happened.
Dhaneshwar Prabhu joined the Krishna Consciousness movement and was initiated as a disciple of Srila Prabhupada in the early 1970's. He has been actively involved in Hare Krishna temples since then, devoting his life to the mission of his spiritual father, acting as temple officer, BBT production manager, and publisher of the Hare Krishna Directory in 1992. He was the Vancouver temple president 1993-4. As a side interest, he has always been handy with sound recording procedures and equipment, and has a background in that area from his college education. In 1995-1996 he became interested in the reverse speech phenomenon and studied under David Oates, conducting his own research and experimentation. In late 1997 Dhaneshwar heard about the "poison whispers" and obtained the "poison tape" to study in reverse. He was quickly shocked and depressed. The confirmation of poisoning was clearly indicated in the reversals.
Dhaneshwar then spent hundreds of hours studying all the recorded conversations of late October and November 1977, a total of twenty-five tapes. The result was that repeated confirmations turned up in the speech reversals of several persons that Srila Prabhupada was indeed poisoned. He became convinced that the unthinkable crime was a fact, and proceeded to document his studies carefully, compiling hundreds of pages of research on three hundred and fifty (350) speech reversals. Dhaneshwar discovered a very high level of consistency in the indications of foul play and malicious intent throughout the reversals.
Dhaneshwar suffered from conflicting emotions as a consequence of his discovery and the compilation of "poison" reversals into a manuscript ready for press. How should he use it? What would be the most effective use of his work in assisting the investigations? Should he publish his work now or later? How should it be presented to have a constructive effect? He sent his work to Balavanta and Naveen Krishna Prabhus, receiving polite but limited feedback. He showed his work to several devotees for advice, and somehow copies of his work began to circulate "underground" in certain circles of devotees. This reporter has encouraged him to not wait further, but to go ahead and publish his work, and that would be the best course to take in the furtherance of discovering the whole truth of Srila Prabhupada's poisoning. This reporter has studied Dhaneshwar's work and become convinced that the science is bonafide and that his reversals are accurate. The consistency and inter-locking verifications of details were amazing and obviously authentic.
The reversals point to certain individuals as being complicitly involved in the assassination of the pure devotee of the Supreme Lord, Srila Prabhupada, namely Tamal Krishna Goswami, Bhakticharu Swami, Bhavananda, Jayapataka, and the kaviraja Sastriji. Others were unconsciously aware of the poisoning by dint of communicating with those who were involved. The discussions therefore contain reversals acknowledging poisoning in the speech of non-conspirators as well, such as Hansadutta and Lokanath Swami. Other reversals showed Brahmananda and Swarup Damodar to be not involved.
The self-talk, confessions, guilt, conflicting emotions, motivations, and attitudes revealed by Dhaneshwar's extensive study are extremely shocking and almost too much to absorb at once by anyone who has any devotion to Srila Prabhupada. However, Dhaneshwar was never a critic of ISKCON until he discovered these reversals, and his work's authenticity and veracity is thoroughly convincing. Almost every voice on the poison tape contains reversals confirming a poisoning of Srila Prabhupada, using the words muck, pa, arsh, and arsenic.
According to the reversals, the following individuals were studied:
Kaviraja: Fully complicit in the poisoning, but distressed and concerned for Srila Prabhupada. He expressed fear as a motive for maintaining secrecy, and was apparently also bribed and bullied. Reversals only:
- "He create a sick pa"
- "They've made your dying problem"
The following are forward speech and the reversals found therein.
Bhakticharu Swami: Received financial compensation for his involvement.
- "This same medicine will continue till..." = "Not bring the sin in medicine"
- "the same medicine, Srila Prabhupada" = "I kill, this brings some benefit"
- "Bengali speech" = "That's sure wicked: make me rich"
Lokanath Swami: He subconsciously realized the crime at hand, became angry and protested in his reversals.
1. "And if we travel" = "you arshed with him"
- "...two devotees out..." = "Was it overdose?"
Hansadutta subconsciously protested the poisoning also, asking why had they poisoned Srila Prabhupada.
Tamal Krishna Goswami: Revealed conflicting emotions, those of love and indebtedness to Srila Prabhupada, but also of revenge and maliciousness.
- "under your care" = "I kill you now"
- "and turn off the light. Would you..." = "Fail upon arsenic"
- "travelling all over India, Srila Prabhupada" = "You're not gonna shame me along the life"
- "we're here chanting" = "masquerade the milk"
- "translating or otherwise" = "S'know that I'm the emperor"
- "to cook for you" = "We fuck it"
- "Sankaracharya line will..." = "Oh, now they arshed a cup"
- "Well, if he does not come" = "Muck inside you flow"
Srila Prabhupada: He acknowledges in reverse the poisoning, sees the celestial "starship" waiting for His departure, and subconsciously communicates with Tamal to stop the poisoning.
1. "But he has not also come?" = "Muck my soul, how dare you do?"
2. "to move me from this..." = "You want me money"
- "educated?" = "You make me sick"
- "let me try to travel" = "The worst was, just you kill"
- "That Maricha..." = "We feed on death"
Unknown devotee:
- "risk in traveling" = "hail of arsenic"
- "how can you call me jolly?" = "Are you mucking pa?"
(Reversals above are copyrighted by Dhaneshwar/ Don Rousse; from his study, Are You Mucking Pa?: A Reverse Speech Investigation of the Death of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, 1998)
The full impact of these reversals in their complementations with other reversals, their exact contexts, their links, and much more can only be appreciated in the study by Dhaneshwar as a whole. The above is just a tiny sampling of his enormous research, and it is hoped that he will soon publish his very well detailed work.
Controversial it is, but reverse speech analysis may provide or point to all the details of Srila Prabhupada's poisoning, as it already has done with the research of one very concerned and disturbed follower of Srila Prabhupada (Dhaneshwar Prabhu). Further validation of these findings are looked forward to so that the truth may be established where otherwise the secrets of darkness would remain hidden forever. May the truth set us free, and the poisoners in prison!
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