Mithridatism

Mithridatism

Mithridatism is the practice of protecting oneself against a poison by gradually self-administering non-lethal amounts. The word derives from Mithridates VI, the King of Pontus, who so feared being poisoned that he regularly ingested small doses, aiming to develop immunity. Having been defeated by Pompey, legend has it that Mithridates tried to commit suicide using poison but failed because of his immunity and so had to resort to having a mercenary run him through with his sword.

Contents

In practice

There are only a few practical uses of mithridatism. It can be used by zoo handlers, researchers, and circus artists who deal closely with venomous animals. Mithridatization has been tried with success in Australia and Brazil and total immunity has been achieved even to multiple bites of extremely venomous cobras and pit vipers. Venomous snake handler Bill Haast used this method. Snake handlers from Myanmar tattoo themselves with snake venom for the same reason.[1]

It has been suggested that Russian mystic Rasputin was able to resist the poison of assassins due to mithridatism, but this was never proven.[2]

Indian epics talk about this practice too. It has been said that, during the rule of the king Chandragupta Maurya (320-298 BCE), there was a practice of selecting beautiful girls and administering poison in small amounts until they grow up, thus making them insensitive to poison. These maidens were called vishakanyas (visha = poison, kanya = maiden). It was believed that making love with vishakanyas can result in death of their partners, hence they were employed to kill enemies.

It is important to note that this practice is not effective against all types of poison. While some (primarily natural) poisons, such as poisonous venoms and tree extracts, can have an immunity built up in this fashion, other (primarily synthetic or base chemical) poisons, such as cyanide, will either pass through the system without leaving any lasting immunity or will build up in the system to lethal levels over time. Certain toxic substances, such as hydrofluoric acid and heavy metals, are either lethal or have little to no effect (or may even be beneficial in low doses, but in such a way as to have no effect on later doses at higher levels), and thus cannot be used in this way at all.

In fiction

Mithridatism has been used as a plot device in novels, films, video games, and TV shows including, among others, Alexandre Dumas's The Count of Monte Cristo, Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Rappaccini's Daughter", Yoshiaki Kawajiri's Ninja Scroll, Dorothy Sayers's Strong Poison, Agatha Christie's The Mysterious Affair at Styles, William Goldman's The Princess Bride (and the movie of the same name).

In poetry

A.E. Housman's "Terence, this is stupid stuff" (originally published in A Shropshire Lad) invokes mithridatism as a metaphor for the benefit that serious poetry brings to the reader. The final section is a poetic rendition of the Mithridates legend:

There was a king reigned in the East:
There, when kings will sit to feast,
They get their fill before they think
With poisoned meat and poisoned drink.
He gathered all that springs to birth
From the many-venomed earth;
First a little, thence to more,
He sampled all her killing store;
And easy, smiling, seasoned sound,
Sate the king when healths went round.
They put arsenic in his meat
And stared aghast to watch him eat;
They poured strychnine in his cup
And shook to see him drink it up:
They shook, they stared as white's their shirt:
Them it was their poison hurt.
- I tell the tale that I heard told.
Mithridates, he died old.

See also

References

  1. ^ Tattoos For Protection. iloveindia.com
  2. ^ The Dictionary of Modern Medicine, J. C. Segen, 1992

External links


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Look at other dictionaries:

  • mithridatism — mithridatic /mith ri dat ik/, adj. /mith ri day tiz euhm/, n. the production of immunity against the action of a poison by taking the poison in gradually increased doses. [1850 55; after MITHRIDATES VI, said to have so immunized himself; see ISM] …   Universalium

  • mithridatism — noun The development of immunity to a poison by gradual ingestion of successively greater amounts. Syn: mithridatization, mithridatisation …   Wiktionary

  • mithridatism — Immunity against the action of a poison produced by small and gradually increasing doses of the same. [Mithridates, King of Pontus (132–63 B.C.), supposedly an unsuccessful suicide (by poison) because of repeated small doses taken to become… …   Medical dictionary

  • mithridatism — mɪθrɪdeɪtɪzm n. method of immunizing the body against poison by introducing gradual amounts of the poison to the body …   English contemporary dictionary

  • mithridatism — mith·ri·da·tism …   English syllables

  • mithridatism — /ˈmɪθrədeɪtɪzəm/ (say mithruhdaytizuhm) noun the production of immunity against the action of a poison by taking the poison in gradually increased doses. {named after Mithridates VI, c. 132–63 BC, king of the ancient country Pontus, said to have… …  

  • mithridatism —   n. immunity from poison obtained by consuming series of small doses.    ♦ mithridatic, a.    ♦ mithridatize, v.t …   Dictionary of difficult words

  • mithridatism — ˌ ̷ ̷ ̷ ̷ˈdād.ˌizəm noun ( s) Etymology: Mithridates VI died 63 B.C. king of ancient Pontus (from Latin Mithridates, from Greek Mithridatēs, Mithradatēs) + English ism; from the fact that he reputedly produced this condition in himself :… …   Useful english dictionary

  • Mithridates VI of Pontus — Mithridates the Great redirects here. For other people, see Mithridates. Mithridates VI King of Pontus Mithridates VI from the Musée du Louvre Reign …   Wikipedia

  • mitridatism — MITRIDATÍSM s.n. (med.) Imunitate la otrăvuri obţinută prin deprinderea de a consuma doze crescânde din otrăvurile respective. – Din fr. mithridatisme, engl. mithridatism. Trimis de LauraGellner, 02.06.2004. Sursa: DEX 98  mitridatísm s. n.… …   Dicționar Român

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