Blue Men And Dead Cats: More Fatal SN Accounts

[CaptainT]

Some historical accounts of SN poisoning. The first one from NYC, 1948, involving 11 men ingesting the salt in their oatmeal:

Disease detectives and the 12th blue man

Pretty much every disease-detection geek — which includes me, since I wrote a book about disease detectives — has read, at some point, the story “Eleven Blue Men” by Berton Roueche. Roueche was a journalist who worked for the New Yorker for almost 50 years, and for most of that time, he was...

www.wired.com

The second one is even earlier, from a 1932 medical textbook on poisons. Notice how even though there was vomiting, the boy died. And the poor cat had no choice, he was force fed it. More vomiting but still death.





That's enough historical homework for today. Class dismissed.

 

[Life+me=error]

Are you ready for some history lessons kids?
Aye-aye captain.
I can't hear you...
Aye-aye captain!

Ohhhhhh!

 

[Roger]

The real story of the 12 Blue Men, being the case report by the New York Medical Examiner, can be found online easily enough. Whilst Roueche's story dates from 1948, the actual events took place in 1944/5.

There is a very similar account from 1941l2 which took place in St Louis (I'm doing all this from memory).

I haven't come across the case of the two-year old from NC before, but there is a similar case of family sickness with a young boy dying in Middlesbrough (UK) in 1936.

Several other early reports (1930s/40s) refer to cases in India. Reporting of cases from the sub-continent seems to have dried up after Indian independence.

All these early cases seem to have been accidental; I suppose that there was little incentive to opt for suicidal use of SN when so many other methods were so readily available.

 

[khw777]

The real story of the 12 Blue Men, being the case report by the New York Medical Examiner, can be found online easily enough. Whilst Roueche's story dates from 1948, the actual events took place in 1944/5.

There is a very similar account from 1941l2 which took place in St Louis (I'm doing all this from memory).

I haven't come across the case of the two-year old from NC before, but there is a similar case of family sickness with a young boy dying in Middlesbrough (UK) in 1936.

Several other early reports (1930s/40s) refer to cases in India. Reporting of cases from the sub-continent seems to have dried up after Indian independence.

All these early cases seem to have been accidental; I suppose that there was little incentive to opt for suicidal use of SN when so many other methods were so readily available.

Some historical accounts of SN poisoning. The first one from NYC, 1948, involving 11 men ingesting the salt in their oatmeal:

Disease detectives and the 12th blue man

Pretty much every disease-detection geek — which includes me, since I wrote a book about disease detectives — has read, at some point, the story “Eleven Blue Men” by Berton Roueche. Roueche was a journalist who worked for the New Yorker for almost 50 years, and for most of that time, he was...

www.wired.com

The second one is even earlier, from a 1932 medical textbook on poisons. Notice how even though there was vomiting, the boy died. And the poor cat had no choice, he was force fed it. More vomiting but still death.


View attachment 18679
View attachment 18680

That's enough historical homework for today. Class dismissed.

Very interesting. I didn't know cats scream!

 

[Roger]

A link to the New York case:- https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/pdf/10.2105/AJPH.35.11.1217

The list of references at the end of the report itemises several other earlier cases. SN wasn't unknown as being life-threatening. The idea that it is a recent revelation based on offing wild Aussie porkers doesn't really hold water.

 

[khw777]

Some historical accounts of SN poisoning. The first one from NYC, 1948, involving 11 men ingesting the salt in their oatmeal:

Disease detectives and the 12th blue man

Pretty much every disease-detection geek — which includes me, since I wrote a book about disease detectives — has read, at some point, the story “Eleven Blue Men” by Berton Roueche. Roueche was a journalist who worked for the New Yorker for almost 50 years, and for most of that time, he was...

www.wired.com

The second one is even earlier, from a 1932 medical textbook on poisons. Notice how even though there was vomiting, the boy died. And the poor cat had no choice, he was force fed it. More vomiting but still death.


View attachment 18679
View attachment 18680

That's enough historical homework for today. Class dismissed.

I think you could order your last meal and put plenty of sodium nitrite on it and you would die. I don't know how painful it would be.

 

[Roger]

Very interesting. I didn't know cats scream!

Have you never heard about the cat that got the scream ?

 

[khw777]

So good Captain what does this tell you about SN? What have you learned?

 

[CaptainT]

So good Captain what does this tell you about SN? What have you learned?

That's your homework assignment, due in on Monday ;) @Roger is already top of the class for finding my errors and adding to the history lesson.

 

[Roger]

I have just had a short broadband connection glitch which caused me to lose a post, with attachment, and at the moment I don't have time to look up the reference again. But before I forget, it was a brief case report summary relating to an accidental SN fatality where the unintentional means of delivery into the blood stream was percutaneous (through the skin) via whole body application of a liniment which contained quantities of SN. The victim had a skin problem which the liniment was meant to alleviate.

No nasty taste, no vomiting, no tubes up the fundaments . . . . I'll try and find the reference again later, if nobody else gets there before me.

That's your homework assignment, due in on Monday ;) @Roger is already top of the class for finding my errors and adding to the history lesson.

I don't think there were any errors in your contribution.

 

[CaptainT]

I have just had a short broadband connection glitch which caused me to lose a post, with attachment, and at the moment I don't have time to look up the reference again. But before I forget, it was a brief case report summary relating to an accidental SN fatality where the unintentional means of delivery into the blood stream was percutaneous (through the skin) via whole body application of a liniment which contained quantities of SN. The victim had a skin problem which the liniment was meant to alleviate.

No nasty taste, no vomiting, no tubes up the fundaments . . . . I'll try and find the reference again later, if nobody else gets there before me.

You might have just inadvertently started a new craze @Roger of members rubbing themselves down with SN like suncream and ending their days poolside with a margarita or two

 

[Teddybear]

Some historical accounts of SN poisoning. The first one from NYC, 1948, involving 11 men ingesting the salt in their oatmeal:

Disease detectives and the 12th blue man

Pretty much every disease-detection geek — which includes me, since I wrote a book about disease detectives — has read, at some point, the story “Eleven Blue Men” by Berton Roueche. Roueche was a journalist who worked for the New Yorker for almost 50 years, and for most of that time, he was...

www.wired.com

The second one is even earlier, from a 1932 medical textbook on poisons. Notice how even though there was vomiting, the boy died. And the poor cat had no choice, he was force fed it. More vomiting but still death.


View attachment 18679
View attachment 18680

That's enough historical homework for today. Class dismissed.

That does *not* sound peaceful.