Skull and crossbones

A strychnine label from Logan, Ohio.

Death by strychnine is not an easy death.

Retired Stanford neurologist Dr. Robert Cutler, wrote in The Mysterious Death of Jane Stanford what took place upon the arrival of the hotel physician when the co-founder of Stanford University became violently ill in Oahu:

"As (Francis Howard) Humphris tried to administer a solution of bromine and chloral hydrate, Mrs. Stanford, now in anguish, exclaimed, 'My jaws are stiff. This is a horrible death to die.' Whereupon she was seized by a tetanic spasm that progressed relentlessly to a state of severe rigidity: her jaws clamped shut, her thighs opened widely, her feet twisted inwards, her fingers and thumbs clenched into tight fists, and her head drew back. Finally, her respiration ceased. Stanford was dead from strychnine poisoning."

According to the Centers for Disease Control:

• Following the ingestion (swallowing) of strychnine, symptoms of poisoning usually appear within 15 to 60 minutes.
• People exposed to low or moderate doses (emphasis mine) of strychnine by any route will have the following signs or symptoms:
  • Agitation
  • Apprehension or fear
  • Ability to be easily startled
  • Restlessness
  • Painful muscle spasms possibly leading to fever and to kidney and liver injury
  • Uncontrollable arching of the neck and back
  • Rigid arms and legs
  • Jaw tightness
  • Muscle pain and soreness
  • Difficulty breathing
  • Dark urine
  • Initial consciousness and awareness of symptoms
• People exposed to high doses of strychnine (emphasis mine) may have the following signs and symptoms within the first 15 to 30 minutes of exposure:
  • Respiratory failure (inability to breathe), possibly leading to death
  • Brain death
• Showing these signs and symptoms does not necessarily mean that a person has been exposed to strychnine.

It might be tetanus or spinal meningitis.

Or murder.

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