The Phenomenon of the Styrian Arsenic Eaters from the Perspective of Literature, Chemistry, Toxicology, and History of Science—“Strong Poison” or “Simple‐Minded Reasoning”?

Abstract

The arsenic eaters of Styria, who were supposedly immunized against the toxic effects of arsenic (As2 O3 ), appeared increasingly in scientific and popular literature in the second half of the 19th century. This Essay starts with a depiction of this phenomenon from a detective novel and questions whether the observations and scientific knowledge at that time can confirm this legend. Figure from J. H. Pepper, The Boy's Book of Metals, p. 433.