Need help with poison!

[Jason Hunt]

Hi all,

I'm wondering if anyone with experience in the crime/suspensense genre has any suggestions on research resources that could help me choose a type of poison for a plot element?

My scene has a character spraying a liquid poison or powder he's had in his mouth into someone's eyes, thereby blinding them. As I'm wanting to be accurate, and this scene is set in prehistory, I need to find info on a naturally occurring compound that could be held in the mouth without harming the attacker, but still blinding the victim.

So does anyone know of any databases, resources, etc? I've toyed with Googling, but with all the official paranoia around terrorism, I'm reluctant to do too much surfing for fear the Men In Black will turn up at my door!

Thanks!

Jason

[SapphireBlue]

Depends on the time period. Hellebore was a common early poison (ancient Greece, ancient Rome). Check out nightshade as well. Snake venom, opium, henbane, mandrake, monkshood, and hemlock were all poisons of the time as well.

[SapphireBlue]

Oh, and if it doesn't have to be poisonous, but just blinding, any sort of hot pepper would do.

[Alex S]

Hmm, maybe some inventive compound involving cobra venom?

[Belinda T.]

Do you want to cause temporary or permanent damage? Depending on the degree of severity to the intended victim, an assault via spitting liquid or powder into the eyes, nose, mouth or ear canals can be deadly if the victim has a severe allergic reaction to the toxicity levels contained in the poison.

[Belinda T.]

Salt, vinegar, cayenne, mouthwash, and a few other synthetics can be contained in one person's oral cavity and provided these agents are not swallowed they can be expelled onto another person causing a chain reaction to occur, including injury or death to another.

Poison darts are also effective in administering injuries and hunters-gatherers still use them to paralyze the targeted hunt; within a few seconds the lethal dose enters the bloodstream, the hunter has succeeded in paralyzing and killing, thereby becoming a gatherer of sorts.

[Belinda T.]

http://www.wepapers.com/searchpapers...ie=UTF-8&q=12- Classes of Poisons – Synthetic and Drugs&sa=Search

AND

http://www.worldwatch.org/node/837

have various authors and articles relevant to your questions.

Good luck.

[Aeslynn]

Have you tried The Book of Poisons? There's a series specifically written for writers.

Amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/HowDunit-The-B...5980398&sr=8-2

Hope it helps!

[John Oberon]

I've thumbed through that book. Great reference.