In the 19th century arsenic was often the poison of choice for murderers. In the early 20th century its image was redeemed when an arsenic derivative became the salvation of those suffering from syphilis.
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A bacterial infection primarily spread through sexual contact, syphilis has long been a feared disease. (Suspected sufferers throughout history include Henry VIII, Vincent van Gogh, and Adolf Hitler.) The first symptom is usually a small, open sore, followed by a pustular rash that can spread all over the body. In its late stage, which can take anywhere from five to forty years to reach, syphilis may attack the central nervous system; the worst cases result in paralysis, dementia, seizures, and sometimes death. Historic treatments&#;usually toxic mercury compounds&#;were often worse than the disease itself and produced many of the same symptoms as advanced syphilis.
But in German chemist Paul Ehrlich and his team of researchers developed a chemical compound to treat syphilis effectively. Ehrlich and his partners, organic chemist Alfred Bertheim and bacteriologist Sahachiro Hata, experimented with hundreds of synthesized compounds until finding success in number 606, which would later be called Salvarsan. The drug came to market in .
Ehrlich&#;s compound, a synthetic derivative of arsenic, successfully treated the early and middle stages of infection. Though no one knew exactly how the drug worked, it did kill the syphilis-causing bacteria without poisoning the patient, leading Ehrlich to call his drug a &#;magic bullet.&#; Salvarsan quickly became the treatment of choice for syphilis and remained so until replaced by penicillin.
Nonetheless, Salvarsan was not without its problems. Patients with late-stage syphilis did not respond as well to treatment. Doctors and nurses found handling the drug difficult: the powder was unstable in air and needed careful preparation before being injected into patients. In the s, with the growing availability of antibiotics, Salvarsan was abandoned for more effective and easier-to-handle drugs.
In June CHF received a donation of an early sample of Salvarsan. Dated November 30, , it can be traced back to Ehrlich&#;s research laboratory, which continued chemotherapy research after Ehrlich&#;s death in . The sample belonged to two German-Jewish dermatologists, Felix Pinkus and his father Hermann, who used the compound in their practice. After the Nazis took power the two fled to the United States, taking their supply of Salvarsan with them.
Syphilis infections declined in the United States throughout the 20th century, and the life-threatening tertiary stage became almost unheard of. Over the past few years syphilis rates have been increasing, with the disease now the third most common sexually transmitted infection in the nation. Some researchers suspect that improvements in medical treatment have created a false sense of security. While there are no &#;magic bullets,&#; Ehrlich&#;s discovery still remains a milestone in the history of medicine.
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Editor&#;s note: This article has been revised from the original to more accurately portray the preparation method of Salvarsan.
In first grade I found my calling: Show and Tell. It was my best subject. And while my career goals morphed over the years from spy to teacher to curator to historian to writer, my fondness for Show and Tell never wavered. Today, whenever I give talks at libraries or museums, visit with book clubs, or attend author conferences, I bring along Stuff to augment my presentations.
Stuff helps me connect to readers. It draws them to my table at a book fair or brings them up to the podium for a closer look after my lecture. Stuff sparks conversations and leads to unexpected interactions. Stuff helps paint a picture of my subject or characters or era.
Because I&#;m a historian and my mysteries are set in the past, most of my Stuff is historical. To illustrate my Roaring Twenties series, I&#;ve collected inexpensive items that relate to both period and plot: a dozen vaudeville programs, two beaded flapper dresses, several silent movie magazines and advertisements, a blown-glass fisherman&#;s float, a Prohibition-era prescription for &#;medicinal&#; alcohol, and most recently, an antique bottle of mercury bichloride (empty!), the poison that figures in my second book. Every time I prepare for a presentation, I choose two or three items that seem most relevant to the occasion.
Last weekend, I drove 500 miles to attend two events in Pennsylvania: a book club and a mystery author conference. The book club ladies loved my two beaded flapper gowns and vaudeville programs; mystery lovers at the conference got a kick out of the bottle of poison and the prescription for alcohol (which happened to be issued by a Pennsylvania physician in , so it was particularly relevant).
If you&#;re an author, consider whether Stuff could help you reach more readers. Are there items that relate to your plot or time period that you can carry along to your next bookstore signing? Admittedly, this is easier for authors of historicals but even if your tale is set in the present or the future, consider what sort of Stuff you might bring to illustrate it. A paperweight? A wine glass? A piece of jewelry? A reproduction of the Rembrandt that the thieves stole? What about a model of a particular car, boat, or airplane that figures importantly in your story? Anything that would launch a conversation will help you connect. Many authors set a bowl of candy on the table to encourage people to pause . . . is there a particular consumable&#;candy, gum, teabags&#;that relates to one of your characters? I usually bring individually wrapped Charleston Chews because the name evokes the iconic dance fad and they were introduced in .
It won&#;t work for every mystery author, but if Stuff works for you, it can set you apart from the others at the book fair and give you a smooth way to interact with potential readers.
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