TOXICOLOGICAL HISTORY SOCIETY NEWSLETTER
“MITHRIDATA”
Preserving the history of poisons
&
the poisons of history.
Vol. XIII, No. 2
July 2003
Issue #26
Editor: John H. Trestrail, III, RPh, FAACT, DABAT
The SOCIETY newsletter “MITHRIDATA” is published every six months, with issues in January and July of each
year.
INSTRUCTIONS FOR AUTHORS
Deadlines for receipt of materials, for inclusion in respective issues, are December 1st, and June 1st. Manuscripts
of articles being submitted for publication should be sent to the Editor as clearly typed documents, accompanied
by the same material in WORD PERFECT(R), or ASCII format, on 3.5 inch diskette readable by a personal computer
running WINDOWS 98.
NEW MEMBERS
We would like to welcome the following new members to “THiS”. Their names and interests will be added to the
2004 Directory. Each new member is expected to contribute to the SOCIETY by research in their area of interests,
which will lead to presentations at SOCIETY meetings, or articles for “MITHRIDATA”.
NAME
LOCATION
INTERESTS
Alan Bradley
Kelowna, CANADA
Toxicology in detective fiction
Lee Cantrell, PharmD
San Diego, CALIFORNIA
Bites and stings
Zane Horowitz, MD
Portland, OREGON
Arctic exploration, Chemical warfare
George Kalantzis, MD
Drosia Attikis, GREECE
Ancient Greek & Byzantine medicine
Jan Scaglione, PharmD
Cincinnati, OHIO
Drug abuse
Constantinos Tsiamis, MD
Athens, GREECE
Poisons in the Middle Ages
NEWS NOTES
MITHRIDATA - THE FIRST TEN YEARS
The first ten years of our newsletter (1991-2000), covering 20 issues, have been reproduced, and bound as a single
volume. To obtain a copy of the collection, please send US$15.00, to cover the cost of duplication and postage.
Make checks payable to Regional Poison Center. This is an excellent opportunity for newer members to catch up
with the past works published by our SOCIETY!
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ABSTRACTS FOR OUR 2003 MEETING
The following abstracts have been accepted for our annual meeting which will be held in conjunction with the North
American Congress of Clinical Toxicology, in Chicago, Illinois, on September 8, 2003.
“Famous Chicago Poisonings”
T Erickson, F Paloucek, S Aks, H Pitzele
Toxikon Consortium: University of Illinois & Cook County Hospital, Chicago Illinois.
When it comes to toxicologic history, Chicago is far from the “Second City”. Chicago has many historically significant
poisoning sites or events. Several of these sites represent a “first” or “worst” in toxicology history. Criminal poisoning sites
include the poisonous crematorium of Dr. H.H. Holmes, the first and most prolific serial poison killer in U.S. history. Holmes
disposed of nearly 100 poisoning victims who met their demise while attending the 1892 Chicago World’s Fair. Chicago is
also home of the original “Mickey Finn” saloon, famous for its chloral hydrate-laced cocktails. Another site is the Chicago
Stockyards where the nation’s livestock was slaughtered for nearly a century. Here, the “Stockyard’s Bluebeard” arsenic
murders were executed by Johann Hoch, who allegedly married 24 wives! Chicago-based pharmacies were also involved in
the yet unsolved 1982 cyanide-tainted Tylenol® murders, which gave rise to the first pharmaceutical tamper-resistant
packaging process. Chicago is also home to Hull House, the site from which Alice Hamilton founded the fields of Industrial
Toxicology and Occupational Medicine. Fifty years ago, the first Poison Control Center was founded in Chicago in1953. The
city has also been the birthplace or home to many toxicological interesting celebrities such as the poisoned SNL actors John
Belushi and Chris Farley whose acting home was Second City, and to famous toxicologists such as Barry Rumack. Finally,
Chicago is the site of the “first” College of Pharmacy Medicinal, Poisonous Plant and Herbal Garden, inviting yet another
future toxicologic event.
“Toxicology in the Movies”
Howard McKinney Jr., PharmD, DABAT
Clinical Pharmacist,
University California Davis Medical Center, Sacramento California
This multimedia presentation will examine the toxicological content of publicly distributed movies, and the public
health impact of the interactions between contemporary life at the time and the movie. A review of poisons in the
movies is categorized to understand the types of scenarios encountered on the screen. The history of these movies
affecting society, and society affecting the movie, will be examined and explored. The accuracy of poisoning
depictions in the movies is evaluated. Psychoactive drug use portrayed in the movies is examined. Interactions
between toxicologists and the movies, both historical and projections for future activities, are presented.
“Watching the Changing Toxicology World, Through the Dreisbach Window”
John H. Trestrail, III, RPh, FAACT, DABAT
DeVos Children’s Hospital Regional Poison Center
Grand Rapids, Michigan
In 1955, there first appeared a handy pocket-sized toxicology reference titled “Handbook of Poisons”, written by
Robert H. Dreisbach, MD. The popular work went on to 13 editions, with the latest being published in 2002. This
discussion will cover a history of some of the early pocket references for toxicologists, as well as Dr. Dreisbach’s
contributions to toxicology. Like looking at a tree’s rings, it is possible to watch the developments in toxicology,
through the editions of this work, which appeared every two to three years. As a tribute to the author, the presenter
has been in close contact with Dr. Dreisbach, to tell the history of his career, as well as the processes he used to
compile his important reference book.
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“Moonshine, Methanol, Murder: the Legend of ‘Fat’ Hardy”
BW Morgan, CS Parramore
Department of Emergency Medicine Emory University, Georgia Poison Center
Grady Health System, Atlanta, Georgia
John R. “Fat” Hardy was running low on moonshine to fill a large order. He purchased a 54-gallon drum of
methanol, that was readily available as hot-rod fuel. He siphoned the methanol through charcoal, and used a
broomstick to mix it with corn whiskey, peach flavoring, beading oil and well water. The final product contained
35.07% methanol and 4.54% ethanol. The first victim convulsed and died of respiratory arrest shortly before
midnight, on October 21, 1951. This was just the beginning of the largest outbreak of methanol poisoning in U.S.
history. Forty-one of 323 exposed patients died. Bicarbonate infusion prepared from kitchen baking soda was the
mainstay of therapy. On October 24th a warrant was issued for the previously convicted bootlegger’s arrest. In his
haste to get out of town, the 360-lb. bootlegger wrecked his auto in rural North Georgia. He was transferred back
to Atlanta for treatment. The police tracked down and arrested “Fat” Hardy in his hospital bed. He was tried and
convicted of murder two months later. The svelte 290-lb. convict escaped in 1953. The press reported that the sale
of moonshine plummeted and sales of branded liquor increased while “Fat” Hardy was on the loose. After capture,
“Fat” Hardy wrote letters to local newspapers pleading his case. One letter stated, “My size alone forbid my
following many jobs that would otherwise suit my intelligence. Bootlegging was this fat man’s resort for earning
a living.” He was released from prison in 1967, and died three years later, ironically at the same hospital as most
of his victims.
“Lucretia Borgia, CSI: The True Story About the Mother of
Modern Forensic Toxicology”
Robin McFee, DO
Long Island Regional Poison Control Center, Mineola, New York
BACKGROUND: Lucrezia Borgia (1480–1519), was the daughter of Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia and his mistress,
Vannozza de Cattanei. As was the custom in 15th century Italy, the stormy political alliances between princes,
financiers and Popes often led to arranged marriages, secret offspring and assassination. As an attractive woman,
daughter of a Pope, and sister to an ambitious prince, she was often betrothed to important rival family members
to forge powerful alliances. Occasionally with the shifting political landscape, such spouses became liabilities, and
subsequently died – sometimes publicly, sometimes of “unnatural” causes. CASE: Lucrezia Borgia by all accounts
was an educated and intelligent woman who was well schooled in the skills of Italian politics – love, sex, murder,
and deception. Her knowledge of poison is legendary. That much is true. She was also intensely loyal to her brother
Cesare Borgia – the power behind the family. Much like any good “Godfather”, Cesare ruled his principality with
force, murder and amore! His philandering and indiscretions invariably were blamed upon his sister. Often Lucrezia
– well favored by the Papacy, would turn attention from her brother, aid the local law enforcement in solving the
poisoning murders, but only to the point of leading them away from Cesare. In return – history judged her as the
murderess, instead of branding the true culprit – Cesare! DISCUSSION: Since the time of Adam and Eve, women
have suffered disproportionately from the slings and arrows of political and historic misfortune for one simple
reason – we lack a good publicist! All history is a lie, subject to interpretation, spin-doctoring and placing the right
people in a good light. With men writing history, is it any wonder heroines like Eve, Mary Magdalene, Lucrezia
Borgia, and countless others are maligned instead of revered? Eve, like most women would not have eaten an apple
on the first date – skin in her teeth…never! Mary was the 13th apostle, but did Peter and Paul have the foresight to
consider creating an awesome trio Peter, Paul and Mary – the big 3 of the Bible? No. And then there was Lucrezia
Borgia – instead of crediting her as the first crime scene investigator (CSI) to solve murders involving poison, a
difficult task in an era not blessed with gas chromatography and HPLC she gets accused of being a notorious man-
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killer! This presentation will attempt to right this grievous historical wrong inflicted upon Lucrezia Borgia, and
chronicle the contribution to modern toxicology that this remarkable woman made.
FEATURE ARTICLE
“Memoir of a Job Interview: Pharmacist Wanted in Jonestown, Guyana”
Howard E. Mckinney Jr. PharmD, DABAT
UC DAVIS MEDICAL CENTER, SACRAMENTO CALIFORNIA
The “People's Temple Agricultural Project” community in Jonestown, Guyana was the site of an intentional
poisoning event resulting in the simultaneous deaths of over 900 people, on Saturday, November 18, 1978. This
is my recollection of my interview with members of the People's Temple for the position of pharmacist in
Jonestown, with brief comments regarding the toxicological and forensic analysis of the deaths, and the historical
significance of these events for toxicologists.
My own brief involvement with the People's Temple was in the spring of 1977. I had completed the “Medicine in
Developing Countries” block elective at the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF) in April 1977,
which was designed to train medical professionals to run health care programs and clinics in areas like Guyana.
Several of us were taken on a tour of the People's Temple in San Francisco, and endured a high intensity campaign
to recruit us to Jonestown to provide medical care to the residents. As the only pharmacist in the group, I was
especially aggressively recruited to be the pharmacist for Jonestown. This was also a personal milestone, my first
interview for a job as a pharmacist. Topics discussed at length in my interview and scenes witnessed at the Peoples
Temple that day are relevant to the mass poisoning. But before relating my recollection of that memorable
afternoon, a brief historical background is in order.
James Warren Jones was born in Lynn, Indiana, on May 13, 1931. His father, James Thurman Jones, debilitated
after being sprayed with mustard gas in World War One, died when Jim was a boy. Despite being raised by his
devoted and, by all available accounts, loving mother Lynetta Jones, Jim Jones' childhood seems to have been lived
in an eccentric and dysfunctional environment. He speaks on tape recordings about how he revered his mother, and
hated his “racist redneck” father. Lynetta apparently died in Jonestown in late 1977 after a long illness. Jim Jones
married Marceline Baldwin in 1949. Marceline died in the mass poisoning in Jonestown, Guyana, apparently by
her own self-administration of the poison drink
Jim Jones first public ministry in the “Community National Church” began in 1953, in Indianapolis. In the mid-tolate 1950s he went to the “Peace Mission” of a preacher named “Father Divine” in Philadelphia. There he learned
faith healing, proclaimed that he (like “Father Divine”) was divine, and developed his message of racial equality,
service to the urban poor, hatred of capitalism, and his intention to form a utopian socialistic society. During this
time he further developed his powerful natural charisma and perfected his ability to inspire the trust and devotion
of a congregation. Jim Jones certainly appears to have been an extremely skilled and dramatic performance artist,
regardless of the validity of his other proclaimed attributes. He returned to Indianapolis to start the “Peoples Temple
Full Gospel Church”. In 1961, he moved his family to Belo Horizonte, Brazil, for two years, where he continued
to preach. Returning to Indianapolis in 1963, he heard and incorporated the teachings of Martin Luther King Jr.,
and seems to have been especially impressed by the philosophy of Malcolm X. In 1964, Jim Jones was ordained
a minister in the Church of the Disciples of Christ. In 1965, after apparently reading a magazine article on the best
places to survive a nuclear war, he moved his family and a portion of his congregation to Redwood Valley,
California. By 1971 he had established the Los Angeles and San Francisco branches of the People’s Temple, and
by 1975 had established his headquarters in the San Francisco Temple. At this time he gained political power in
San Francisco with his appointment to the Housing Authority. His flamboyant antics on the Housing Board
facilitated relationships with several national political and media figures in the USA.
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In July of 1976, Jones and his congregation took a bicentennial bus tour of churches throughout the mid-west.
Among the destinations, they stayed at the Central Methodist Church, on East Adams Street, in Detroit where a
young security guard (in medical school at the time, who went on to become a prominent toxicologist colleague)
named Ken Kulig, met them. It is a small world we inhabit!
Descriptions of life within the congregation of the People’s Temple during this time are of increasing success by
Jim Jones in obtaining large sums of money from the congregation, and instituting his absolute control over the
congregation by intimidation and fear. As Deborah Layton describes in her book Seductive Poison, Jim Jones
created a paranoid atmosphere wherein he made himself the answer to people looking for meaning in life. He
restricted and punished people who thought for themselves. His simultaneous manipulation of rewards for
obedience to his commandments and punishment for non-socialistic capitalistic individual thinking formed a deadly
one-two punch that isolated people within the “supportive” Temple. Then there was the matter of an increasing
number of people who instigated actions against the People's Temple. A life threatening assault on the People's
Temple was the portrayal Jim Jones conjured out of the very real custody battle over a child fathered by Jim Jones
out of wedlock, several publications that ridiculed and criticized the People's Temple, investigations by the IRS into
social security checks going to the People's Temple and being sent out of the USA to Jonestown, Guyana, FCC and
other government agencies investigating broadcasts from Jonestown and other international activities of the
People's Temple, and actions by several groups of Temple defectors. In his powerful and dramatic sermons he
instilled fear of non-Temple outsiders who were regarded as malicious, untrustworthy and dangerous.
Jones began negotiations with Guyana in 1973, and by 1975 about 50 people were in Jonestown clearing jungle
and building structures for their imagined socialistic paradise of inter-racial equality. Jim Jones apparently moved
permanently to Jonestown in August of 1977. From August 1977 to early 1978, there was a “mass exodus” of
nearly a thousand people into Jonestown. Several survivors describe that prior to Jim Jones moving there, life in
Jonestown was a genuinely enjoyable camaraderie of pioneering spirit, and that it became hellish after his arrival.
A trusted few “armed guards” would go outside the perimeter of Jonestown at night as the residents were settling
in after a grueling 12 hour work day and insufficient food, and fire guns and make noise. Jim Jones would start
sirens blaring and begin exhorting people to come to the central pavilion, where the mass “revolutionary suicide”
would be practiced, followed by a “sermon” lasting until dawn. In these lengthy sermons he described the futility
of his attempts to create a society of ideal Socialism in the “Promised Land” of Jonestown. Jim Jones blamed the
failure of Jonestown on both real, exaggerated and fabricated enemies of the Temple, and he raised the collective
sense of paranoia, despondency and persecution to such a high level of intensity in Jonestown that the majority of
the residents could apparently willingly administer a lethal dose of poison to their children, murder those members
of the congregation that resisted, and self-administer their own lethal doses of poison. These “White Nights”
exercises were practiced with increasing frequency up until the November 1978 actual poisoning.
Available records indicate that Jim Jones, incorporating the suicides at Masada and other historical events,
envisioned a mass death of his congregation as a response to persecution of People's Temple in a “revolutionary
suicide protesting the conditions of an inhumane world”. He had been preaching and planning elements of such
a mass suicide/murder for years. Once he and his congregation were effectively isolated in Jonestown, Jim Jones
paranoid delusions could be acted out. Probably exacerbated by frequent self-administration of mind-altering
substances, Jim Jones’ delusional world-view played out in acts of violence, torture, sexual coercion, isolation of
the congregation from all outside communication, food deprivation, and increasing control over every thought and
action of the congregation. The residents of Jonestown had, by late 1978, been collectively prepared mentally and
physically to die by frequent rehearsals of mass suicide.
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The killing of California Representative Leo Ryan, and members of his investigative team were the opening act
of the mass suicide/murder. There was usually a tape recorder running at the “Pavilion” in Jonestown, from which
Jim Jones preached. The evening of November 18, 1978, was no exception, and a tape survives of Jim Jones
exhorting his congregation for just under an hour, apparently the last hour of this very real “White Night” and the
death of over 900 people. Excerpts include “die with some dignity … this is a revolutionary suicide … can we
hasten with that medication … lets not fall in the hands of the enemy … where's the vat with the green C thing …
can't some people assure these children of the relaxation of stepping over to the next plane … one thousand people
who said we don't like the way the world is … we didn't commit suicide, we committed an act of revolutionary
suicide protesting the conditions of an inhumane world”. We have all seen the horrific photos circulated in the
media of many bloated bodies surrounding the decking of the “Pavilion”, with the infamous vat of fruit juice mixed
with deadly concentrations of chemicals. Forensic toxicology of some of the 913 human bodies recovered from
Jonestown, correlated with investigations of the site and historical records, indicates cyanide poisoning as the most
probable proximate cause of death of the poisoned victims. Potassium chloride, promethazine, chlorpromazine,
pentobarbital, and diphenhydramine were also apparently used to facilitate the deaths. Gunshot wounds were
documented in several of the victims, some of whom had also been poisoned. In others the gunshots appear to be
the sole cause of death. In the few toxicologic studies conducted on Jonestown residents, chloroquine was identified
in all the bodies, but was presumably used therapeutically as a malaria prophylaxis, and not as an agent of
intentional poisoning. Dr. Mootoo, Medical Examiner for Guyana, found 83 of the hundred bodies he examined
toxicologically, had been injected with a cyanide containing liquid. Many syringes without needles lying among
the bodies indicated to him that hundreds of victims received oral squirts of the poison liquid from those syringes.
Dr. Mootoo's descriptions of the overwhelming stench of decaying bodies in the 100+ degree jungle humidity, fear
of being poisoned by the cyanide he confirmed by field tests he performed shortly after his arrival in Jonestown
(he and his three assistants did not dare drink any water or eat any food on-site), and the hellish scene which was
his work-site are powerful and unnerving. He described how even for a forensic pathologist who had examined
thousands of bodies in his professional career, the overwhelming scene at Jonestown brought him close to a
breakdown. But he focused, did the job he was trained to do, and worked until he was completely exhausted.
Annie Moore, a nurse and close companion of Jim Jones, probably shot Jim Jones, whose body had no evidence
of having taken the poison drink he so encouragingly forced on his congregation, then shot herself after writing her
final diary entry which ends with: “We died because you would not let us live in peace”.
We began our visit to the San Francisco People's Temple facility after lunch, on a weekday in April-May of 1977.
Our group consisted of about six of the ten students enrolled in the “Medicine in Developing Countries” block
elective at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF). There were eight medical students, one pharmacy
student (me), and one nurse (Debbie Evans) in the class. This one month class in the School of Medicine at UCSF
consisted of daily lectures by a fascinating group of speakers who daily enthralled us with photos and stories of
their own experiences in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. We also had a clinic, lab sessions, and several special
projects such as working on the “health status survey team” in a large auditorium at Letterman Army Hospital to
receive families flown there by the “Saigon airlift” in the closing days of the Vietnam War. This intense highenergy month had certainly bonded all ten of us together. We had become friends in the socially loose and rather
informal world of international health care providers, but maintained a spirited exchange of rigorous study. We
quizzed each other, debated issues, analyzed the dogmas and conventional wisdom of Tropical Medicine, and
bombarded each of our lecturers with questions and discussions.
The nurse in our class, Debbie Evans, was a member of the People's Temple and had enrolled in the “Trop Med”
(as we called it) class specifically to obtain training to set up a health care facility for about a thousand people living
in a place called Jonestown, in the jungles of Guyana. She was a pleasant, easy-going woman who spoke in simple
and direct statements. Wearing comfortable loose fitting casual clothes and using no cosmetics, she was quiet and
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attentive in class. While she never seemed to hide information about this People's Temple, she did not talk about
it much, and would answer our questions simply without much discussion. The rest of us in the class casually
discussed her only a few times. We had the impression that the People's Temple was certainly a religious group,
and we had all heard bits of discussion about some “collectives” or “communes” they had established in several
locations in the USA, and one in Guyana, but we just left the description at that point. The concept of collective
living situations was common in Northern California in the 1960's and 70's, and members of religious groups
espousing just about any theology or political/social ideology you could imagine could be seen daily on the bus,
in the news, and on the streets. Never did we suspect any weirdness or experience any apprehension about Debbie's
activities. The People's Temple leader Jim Jones was appearing in the San Francisco media frequently, was
associated with several welfare projects in town, and was gaining some notoriety with his flamboyant performances
as a Commissioner on the San Francisco Housing Authority Board. But overall the entire People's Temple scene
was low on our social radar screens.
Debbie Evans and I were developing a friendship, and had begun finding experiences and opinions we shared. We
both had worked in community based “free clinics”, and were interested in providing health care and developing
Public Health systems in poor populations. In conversations with her, I answered her questions and described my
years of experiences working with the Flying Samaritans in a clinic in Colonnet, Baja, California, located 100
kilometers south of Ensenada. I was working several days and evenings a week in a variety of clinics in the poor
urban areas of San Francisco and Oakland, and was one of the pharmacists staffing the Medical, Detox, and Rock
Medicine sections of Haight-Ashbury Free Clinic in San Francisco. Her interest in my experiences seemed relaxed
and unpressured. She and I traded stories, but we were busy with the “Trop Med” class and only spoke over lunch
and during breaks.
Then one day Dr Robert Goldsmith, our “Trop Med” class director, announced that Debbie had some information
that would be of interest to us. She spoke from her chair at the table at which all ten of us sat for the lectures in a
small room delightfully crammed and stacked with slides, journals, books, and an odd collection of items brought
back from scientific expeditions and clinics from all over the world. She briefly explained that she was excited to
be a part of the collective settlement in Jonestown, Guyana, a new town being established in the jungle. It was to
be populated by about a thousand people and they needed health care. She would like for all of us to seriously
consider accepting an offer to become the medical directors for Jonestown. While there were already several
physicians and nurses working with the Jonestown project, we could be the “core group” operating a “real hospital”
in Guyana. With all our collective skills and connections, she envisioned us a establishing a hands-on medical
facility in Jonestown, and working with Guyana and neighboring countries on Public Health issues in the area. She
had arranged an afternoon tour of the People's Temple in San Francisco, a chance for us to “meet everyone”, and
discuss the offered job opportunity. Bob Goldsmith then elaborated that he saw this as a great initial opportunity
for us beginners to start our careers in tropical medicine and worldwide public health. There were no wars in
Guyana, the funding looked good, politics in Guyana seemed cooperative with the Jonestown project, we would
be reasonably close to home, and there was no immediate public health crisis in the area. All in all, it sounded like
a fantastic opportunity. He encouraged all of us to seriously consider the offer.
About half the class was seriously interested, the other half already had plans and professional commitments
(several students in the class were from Africa and Asia). As we walked out of the classroom into the hallway on
the top 16th floor, we could see the beautiful vista of downtown San Francisco, the San Francisco bay, the Presidio,
the VA hospital facility, the Golden Gate Bridge, and Marin headlands to the north. The entire exterior wall, floor
to ceiling, is glass. We were buzzing about the Guyana offer, and I remember being nearly overwhelmed by the
awesome realization that maybe at last, my life's work was about to begin. With the dramatic sweeping view before
us and all our expectant talk, it seemed the world was inviting us out to incredible experiences providing much
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needed health care to people who really needed it. All in all it was a very theatrical moment of high drama for us.
We gathered at the school shortly after lunch a few beautiful clear weekdays later, excited to go to a real interview
for an actual job in tropical medicine. We still knew almost nothing about the People's Temple, had not questioned
Debbie about specifics, and were clearly still basking in the collective glow of our “let's go for it” spirit. The
People's Temple was at the edge of “The Fillmore District”, a rough, poor neighborhood of San Francisco. The
front entrance was on busy Geary Blvd. As we walked from bustling traffic and noise of sun-drenched Geary Blvd,
the massive stone front of the building seemed to come into view for the first time, the silent massiveness of it
seemed such a contrast to the street. Inside it was dark, and our eyes took a few moments to adjust. This old,
multistory building from the inside front entrance presented this viewer with a confusing architecture, and an odd
mix of hallways and small rooms on several levels that all seemed to surround a large central, theater-like main
room complete with a mixed décor of massive gothic structures combined with darkened California redwood.
Details varied from thrift-shop-simple tables and chairs, to apparently once-elegant finish carpentry of stairs and
door frames. It seemed like the elements of the structure did not fit together. It was as if the irregular floor plan had
been enveloped in a geometrically impossible confusion of hallways and odd shaped alcoves off the main rooms.
And it was packed with people. As my eyes adjusted to the dark, I began to realize there were apparently many
small groups of people all over the building, each occupied with their own group's activity and oblivious to anyone
else. Other individuals were darting all over the place, looking very busy, bouncing from one group to another,
disappearing into the impossible building geometry, and later reappearing from another location. Ann Delaney (a
“Trop Med” classmate and friend) and I both felt the strange confusion of the place, commented on it, and stayed
very close together. Our other classmates gravitated to the two of us and “our group” was formed. Debbie
introduced us to several people, greetings and pleasantries were exchanged. Jim Jones materialized from the crowd,
and I recognized his face from images on television and newspapers. Debbie introduced him to all of us, then she
turned to me and said, “This is Howard McKinney, the pharmacist”. Jones stepped very close to me, smiling,
extended his hands, folded both his hands around my right hand, had a firm grip, and gently shook my hand in
greeting as he said how he had heard so much about me, and was so glad to at last actually meet me. I said “good
to meet you” and said we were all looking forward to hearing about the Guyana project. He released my hand,
smiled again, and said that he would leave us with “some good people who will answer all your questions” on a
guided tour of the Temple. He apologized for his busy schedule, turned back towards me, glanced at Debbie, then
looked back at me and said “enjoy the afternoon, I think you will like it here”. He smiled at all of us as he stepped
away, then turned and with a quick pace, disappeared into the building.
While I was impressed with Jim Jones’ obvious charisma and the energetic performer that he obviously was, my
first impression of him made me also think of all the amphetamine using patients I saw frequently at Haight Detox.
The strident demeanor, the self-assured slightly forced speech, dilated pupils, the odd smelling sweat and
hyperkinetic small body movements are all characteristic of amphetamine users, but he was, after all, a preacher.
A “speed freak” minister? It was not making sense.
Annie and I quietly commented to each other that several of the men who had apparently been assigned to lead our
tour and discuss the Guyana project with us also had the same characteristics, though none were as dramatic as Jim
Jones’. We later discussed the day, and commented to each other that none of us said anything at the time, but all
of us certainly felt our initial enthusiasm for this adventure had been subdued, and we shifted into a collective high
alert state. Our responses had already moved from animated open conversation to polite mono-syllabic bland
expressions of “oh-yes” and “uh-huh”. The atmosphere was clearly not inviting real discussion or investigation.
As we were led through the building, it reminded me of a kind of run-down version of the Methodist churches I
attended for services, Sunday school and Boy Scout meetings, complete with a bowl of punch, cookies and small
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napkins on a table covered with a plastic tablecloth. But this was a weekday, not Sunday. This place was packed
with people who were all VERY BUSY, which was beginning to seem very odd. Our tour was followed by two
or three men who would occasionally talk to us, were friendly, but were mostly quiet. They seemed to be “bringing
up the rear” to keep our little group herded along the path. We were led through a maze of rooms, apparently
surrounding the central large meeting room around the perimeter of the building with only an occasional window
high above our heads letting in a little light.
Then as if emerging from a dark cavern, we went through a small room with more light into a large rectangular
room about 20 by 50 feet. It had a high ceiling with windows high up the wall open and flooding the room with
light, and about 50 or more children all over the floor quietly playing with toys or napping. I felt as If we had
emerged from a dark, noisy theater foyer crowded with excited people leaving a show, to enter a quiet bright
peaceful sanctuary of a room. The “rear guard” walked past me and stood near the other end of this large room with
our “tour guides”. Annie and I were left standing a bit apart from the others at the doorway through which we had
entered the room. As we came to a stop, our guide announced that this was the day care center. At some length he
explained that this was a symbol of the inter-racial unity and constructive collective living we would find at
Jonestown. Indeed there were kids of every description in the room. While parents work at their jobs, they cared
for the kids. There are educational programs and individual attention given to every child, and ……… I was losing
attention. It suddenly hit me, all the day care centers, pre-schools and kindergartens I have seen, were inhabited by
kids in a collective pleasant pandemonium. And where many kids are gathered, it is always noisy. This entire room
was silent. It was as if we were invisible to the kids. They did not point at us, come up to us, run from us, stare at
us, they did nothing. It was like a room full of phenothiazine medicated children. And the silence of the kids was
deafening to me. Something very odd was happening in this place. I then noticed a small wooden shed structure
about ten by twelve feet built off the wall in the rear of this “nursery”. I was just looking around, and slowly but
obviously walked about ten paces over to the door of the shed and opened it a bit to look inside. Inside were stacked
wooden boxes the same dimension as the rifle boxes I had seen so often as a collector of antique guns and amateur
marksman. One of the large men who had been in the “rear guard” walked over to me, very polite and casual acting,
gently shut and padlocked the door saying “Its just some supplies for Guyana, now come on now and lets get back
to the tour”. With a sweep of his arm he indicated we should catch up with the rest of the group, which was being
led out of the nursery. Annie and I reached down to two or three of the children on the way out and greeted them,
but just got stares back from them. The look we got from our “guide” indicated that he noticed that we were perhaps
paying too much attention to the surroundings. He dismissed us from the nursery with a smile and closed the door
behind us.
We caught up with the group back in what looked to be the same large dark noisy room we had first entered from
the street. Jim Jones rejoined us, and began extolling the virtues of the People's Temple and conveying appreciation
for our taking time to visit as we were invited to share in punch and cookies at the table in the room. He and two
or three other men, and my classmate Debbie, all focused much of their attention on me. The “Trop Med” class and
several Temple members formed a small huddle in this large room still full of people and activity. We engaged in
an intense discussion for over an hour. Jim Jones would quietly exit our huddle, then reappear later. He did not talk
much more than to point out what a fantastic community Jonestown was and how I would really love it there. One
man in particular (my memory is of a person appearing similar to photos I have seen of Larry Layton) was most
animated during this encounter. He moved close to me after someone in our class responded to a question about
our knowledge of South American Indian medicine by saying “Oh yea, Howard the pharmacist knows all about
that stuff, you know, arrow poisons and yage and all”. He seemed to stare into me with his huge dilated pupils from
about a foot away as he became excited and fired question after question at me about various poisons used by
Amazonian indigenous peoples. His initial questions displayed an odd and disconnected hodge-podge of knowledge
about Amazonian toxicology. I answered with “toxicology stories” about various hallucinogenic plants and
medicinal concoctions, the same reserved manner of speaking I have heard many toxicologists use when being
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interviewed by news media or being questioned in mixed company. We play the part of the dutiful social informerentertainer-teacher attempting to aim our remarks at the level of intensity appropriate for the audience and event.
But he pressed on, with questions more and more pressured. All the while he was open and friendly, just exuberant
with child-like curiosity. He was particularly interested in rotenone, which to me seemed rather silly. I thought,
with all the truly incredible botanicals in Amazonia, why are you so interested in this comparatively boring little
fish poison? But he pressed on, seeming to want more than just my matter-of-fact descriptions of the topic. So I
eventually let loose with it. He seemed confused that rotenone was simply a component of the roots of a plant.
When the roots are charred and beat on the water surface, the fish are paralyzed, and float to the surface where they
can be easily hand-picked by hungry people. Then he turned to human ingestions. Preparations of this same
rotenone containing plant are used to treat scabies and lice. Ingestion may produce a gastroenteritis, and if you were
able to keep eating, may even cause a seizure or two. He then peppered me with questions about arrow poisons,
curare, bufotoxins, and strychnine. He seemed almost disappointed when I said strychnine would cause seizures
in most poisoning victims, and would not kill quickly. Then he asked about cyanide. They were short and direct,
kind of out of place, but concise. I answered with increasingly vague answers about the obvious characteristics of
this poison, but became more restrained about describing doses and methods to safely handle it. This very odd
“interview” then turned to conversation about how wonderful the Temple was, and Debbie told me “Jim really likes
the way you think”. My toxicology interrogator had backed away, but stayed with our little huddle as Jim Jones
reappeared. All of us were asking him questions about housing, food, and weather in Guyana. But our collective
enthusiasm had rather obviously dissolved into polite descriptive question from the disinterested. Towards the end
of the discussions, I asked Jim Jones directly, in a last resort at some attempt to make this initially fantastic
sounding job offer work, if we could live down the river in our own quarters and simply come into Jonestown to
work every day. He became distant and grumpy, “absolutely not” he responded. “We are a family community and
we stay together. The commitment to live and work in Jonestown is total and we are looking only for people who
will be totally involved with our community. We cannot tolerate casual workers for positions of importance. You
(turning and looking directly at me) would love it in Jonestown, I like you, and we need a pharmacist. But only if
you bring your total and complete commitment.”
I thanked him, but thought to myself, I've seen and experienced some very weird people in my life, and you are one
of the weirdest of them all. No way am I following you into the jungle! Jim Jones left, the bonds forming our little
huddle dissolved, and we all said goodbye to Debbie, thanked her for the tour, said we would think about the
Jonestown project, and left her at the Temple. We never heard of her again.
My preparation for this presentation included phone calls with Dr. Leslie Mootoo, medical examiner for Guyana.
He arrived in Jonestown two days after the deaths, and conducted nearly two days of non-stop examinations of the
scene, collecting samples and conducting as best a forensic investigation as he and his three assistants could manage
in overwhelmingly adverse circumstances. This was the only on-scene forensic examination conducted at
Jonestown. Except for his dramatic one hour presentation in February 1979, to the 31st annual meeting of the
American Academy of Forensic Sciences, in Atlanta, Georgia, Dr. Mootoo told me he had never really been able
to comprehensively display the evidence he collected and organize what he discovered on-scene. He invited me
to Guyana to help him re-examine all the slides, samples and evidence he still kept in storage. Unrealized by me,
I was calling him only a few months before the twentieth anniversary of the deaths in Jonestown. My attempts to
work with him to present his findings to our toxicology meetings were drowned out in a barrage of media attention
on him that left him frustrated and understandably suspicious of all persons contacting him with any questions
about his forensic examination of the scene at Jonestown, Guyana. Sadly, Dr. Mootoo passed away in February
2000.
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Contingents of the United States military and law enforcement agencies collected evidence on-scene, including tape
recordings, passports, documents, and probably other items. They removed the bodies from Jonestown and flew
them to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, where the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (AFIP) and other US
military personnel conducted post-mortem examinations and identification of bodies. There was one presentation
of the AFIP post-mortem findings in February 1980, at the American Academy of Forensic Sciences in New
Orleans, Louisiana, and one paper published by those presenters. The much bigger story of the People's Temple
history that led to the deaths in Guyana, analysis and interpretation of the forensic examination of Jonestown and
its victims, and the impact this event has exerted on forensic and medico-legal methodology at mass-casualty
scenes, must wait for an opportune time in the future.
My friend Annie and I ate dinner together the evening after the interview at People's Temple, and discussed the
strange collective affect projected by the people we had met, the odd turn of the interview questions to toxicology,
and the overall weirdness of the afternoon. But our conversation was dominated by the image of the catatonic kids.
Their silence and non-responsiveness in the nursery was such a powerful symbol of the strange universe we visited
that afternoon. But, as we have recollected, it is noteworthy that none of us who were recruited that day ever felt
compelled to warn anyone about our strange afternoon. At the time, we never even connected the name Jonestown
with the name of the Temple's minister. As research into history of the People's Temple has uncovered several
strongly worded warnings about a potential mass poisoning event in Jonestown, it is a matter of conjecture whether
our warning would have actually led to a critical mass of evidence for any investigative authority to initiate actions
that could have prevented the horrible events of November 18, 1978, in Jonestown, Guyana. But the message is
clear, the knowledge of a toxicologist can be exploited for terrible purpose! We all need to remain vigilant and
speak up when we encounter people who may be seeking our skills for inappropriate projects. And so I present this
recollection of my brief interaction with the People's Temple as a cautionary tale to all toxicologists. We should
be toxicological guardians of the public health. Paracelsus wrote in his “Third Defense” in the early 1500s “Solely
the dose determines that a thing is not a poison”. It follows that solely the end result to which the science of
toxicology is applied determines whether the activity is beneficial or destructive. And it is incumbent upon each
of us to make that distinction.
[Manuscript prepared June 1, 2003. References available upon request: howard@howardandtanya.com]
This above article is based upon a presentation made by the author, at the 1998 Society meeting, held at
the North American Congress of Clinical Toxicology, in Orlando, Florida.
INTERESTING QUOTES FROM THE OLD LITERATURE
John H. Trestrail, III - Grand Rapids, MICHIGAN
Robert Christison was to become a very prominent toxicologist in the United Kingdom, eventually publishing his
first book On Poisons, in 1829. He once traveled to Paris, to visit with the scientists of his day. During his trip
he was able to observe the “Father of Toxicology”, Mathieu Joseph Orfila, as he delivered a lecture, which gives
us a more personal picture of Orfila, as a person. The following observation was published in his 1885, two volume
biographical work: Life of Sir William Christison Bart, published by William Blackwood and Sons, Edinburgh,
Scotland. “Orfila, at this period Professor of Medical Jurisprudence, was one of the most popular lecturers in the
medical school of Paris. The publication in 1814 of his vast experimental researches on poisons had acquired for
him the well-earned reputation of being one of the most forward and successful inquirers of the day. He had also
physical advantages which gave him great power as a speaker. He was a fine-looking man, of elegant manners,
and endowed with a magnificent baritone voice, which enabled him to address with ease, in a conversational tone,
1000 students in the great amphitheater of the Ecole de Medecine. He was. Morever, an accomplished musician,
and sang so well that it was currently said he might have made a fortune had he taken to the opera as a profession.
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But Orfila, preferring the path of scientific inquiry, studied with untiring energy the action of poisons, the details
of their several effects, the mode of detecting them in all varying circumstances, and their antidotes and treatment,
– till he erected Toxicology on a solid foundation as a science. I did not hear him lecture till his source of
instruction commenced in April [1821], a few days before I had to take leave of Paris. But I caught somewhat of
his spirit, – as appeared soon in subsequent events.” [pp 240-241]
INTERESTING ORFILA ITEM FOUND
After finally completing his set of all five editions of Orfila’s general works on poisons [Traite des Poisons, &
Traite de Toxicologie], covering the period 1814-1852, your editor would like to share with fellow SOCIETY
members, something interesting he was also able to add to his collection of Orfila items. A “Carte de Visite”
[Visiting Card] of Mathieu Joseph Bonaventure Orfila, MD,“Father of Toxicology”, 1787-1853. A personal
visiting card (2.5" x 4"), dating circa 1850, used by Professor Orfila, picturing him in his professional academic
robes, and personally signed “Orfila” on the reverse. He was the leading medico-legal expert of his time, holding
the chair of Legal Medicine at the Sorbonne in Paris, where he was a popular teacher. Orfila is particularly
remembered for his writings on toxicology, publishing the first such general work, Traite des Poisons, in 1814.
BUY - SELL - TRADE
Any SOCIETY members with historically related toxicology items to buy, sell, or trade, should send a list of such
items to the EDITOR for inclusion in “MITHRIDATA”.
WANTED: BOOKS (pre-1960) and EPHEMERA on toxicology or poisonous substances. Send title, author, date,
condition and asking price to the “MITHRIDATA” Editor: John Trestrail.
CHANGE OF ADDRESS?
Please immediately notify the Editor of “MITHRIDATA”, of changes in your mailing address, as the return of
posted materials unnecessarily increases our level of confusion as well as our postage costs.
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“THiS” SEEKS NEW MEMBERS
Please photocopy the membership form included with this newsletter, and provide it to friends and fellow
professionals who would be interested in becoming a part of our SOCIETY.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ON “THiS”
Change of address notices, manuscripts or announcements, inquiries, undeliverable copies, and other mail items
should be sent to:
John H. Trestrail, III
TOXICOLOGICAL HISTORY SOCIETY
5757 Hall St., S.E.
Grand Rapids, MI 49546-3845
U.S.A.
Telephone:
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E-mail: john.trestrail@spectrum-health.org (work), or venomous@iserv.net (home)
General Policy: “MITHRIDATA”, publishes original research papers, reviews, letters, technical notes, case reports,
editorial correspondence, and book reviews relevant to the history of poisons and toxicology. Articles are accepted
with the understanding that they are submitted solely to “MITHRIDATA” and are subject to editorial revision.
Statements and opinions expressed in the articles and communications are those of the author(s); the Editor
disclaims any responsibility or liability for such material.
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