1. Examining Poe’s Death: How Edgar Allan Poe Died From Poisoning
Ms. Dymek

2. Table of Contents Possibilities for Poison in Poe’s Time
Hair Sample Evidence
Mercury Poisoning
What is Carbon Monoxide Poisoning?
Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Evidence in Poe’s Works
Possible Theory: Alcoholism
Possible Theory: Tuberculosis
Sources

3. Possibilities for Poison in Poe’s Time
Heavy metal poisoning was possible from:
Drinking water
Alcohol
Food
Cosmetics
Medicines
Gas lighting (Carbon Monoxide poisoning)

4. Hair Sample Evidence
Lock of Poe’s hair was cut after his death in 1849 in order for heavy metal analysis
Poe’s 2.5’’ sample analyzes the 2-5 months of his life
Hair tested for levels of:
Arsenic
Lead
Mercury
Nickel
Uranium

5. HAIR SAMPLE EVIDENCE Arsenic Level
Poe’s hair contained 15 times today’s normal level
2/3 the level associated with symptoms of arsenic poisoning
Lead Levels
Lead levels fell 33%--shows that Poe reduced his exposure
Exposure could be from wine or medication
Poe was an alleged drinker
3 to 4 times today’s normal level BUT not enough to cause symptoms of lead poisoning
Nickel Levels
Levels were 10 times today’s normal
Not enough to cause symptoms of nickel poisoning
HAIR SAMPLE EVIDENCE

6. Mercury Poisoning
Poe’s levels increased by 264% over several months towards the end of his life
Poe was taking calomel
Also known as Mercury Chloride (popular from )
Used as a laxative, diuretic, and disinfectant
Also used as a horticultural fungicide
Still more than 30 times below level associated with mercury poisoning

7. What is Carbon Monoxide Poisoning?
Popular during 1800s due to gas lanterns, burning wood and charcoal stoves being used
Symptoms include:
Nausea
Vomiting
Chest Pain
Weakness
Confusion
Facial Paralysis (drooping)
Poe’s drooping eye and mouth are “tell-tale signs” of CO2 exposure and poisoning.

8. Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Evidence in Poe’s Works
“The Tell-Tale Heart”
"And have I not told you that what you mistake for madness is but overacuteness of the senses?”
“The Premature Burial”
“In this condition, without pain, without ability to stir, or strictly speaking, to think, but with a dull lethargic consciousness of life… until the crisis of the disease restored me... “
“I grew sick, and numb, and chilly, and dizzy, and so fell prostrate at once."  

9. Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Evidence in Poe’s Works
“The Fall of the House of Usher”
"struggled to reason off the nervousness which had dominion over me"  
"irrepressible tremor gradually pervaded my frame"  
"there were but peculiar sounds, and these from stringed instruments, which did not inspire him with horror”
There are over 30 quotes from just this story that correspond directly with the CO poisoning theory!

10. Possible Theory: Alcoholism
Alcoholism ran in Poe’s family
Father and brother both alcoholics
Poe’s Public Drinking
Records of drinking came from “literary enemies”
Came to office intoxicated in April 1845
July 7, 1849: Wrote letter to Maria Clemm about jail time
Poe drank mostly because depression brought on by of Virginia’s death

11. Possible Theory: Alcoholism
Went to Sons of Temperance meeting a month before his death
“Poe’s flirtation with alcohol was intermittent”
“a few days of drinking followed by months or even years of abstinence”
Poe’s 1841 letter to Snodgrass admits single deviation, showing Poe’s honesty

12. Possible Theory: Alcoholism April 1841 Letter to J.E. Snodgrass
“. . . I am temperate even to rigor. . . . At no period of my life was I ever what men call intemperate. . . .
For some days after each excess I was invariably confined to bed.
But it is now quite four years since I have abandoned every kind of alcoholic drink — four years, with the exception of a single deviation . . . when I was induced to resort to the occasional use of cider, with the hope of relieving a nervous attack”
For more information about Poe and alcoholism, click here.

13. Possible Theory: Tuberculosis
Extremely contagious bacterial infection
Spreads mostly through lungs, lymph node, blood stream
Many in Poe’s family died from Tuberculosis
Virginia contracted TB in 1842—died in 1847
Many who are exposed never develop symptoms
TB can lay dormant for years in a person’s body
Disease will not spread unless it becomes “active”

14. Possible Theory: Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis Symptoms Immediately Present Prior to Death
Chills
Fever
Night sweats
Poor appetite
At The Time of His Death:
in and out of consciousness
Speech was incoherent
Called out for an unknown person named “Reynolds”
CO Poisoning
Persistent Headaches
Confusion
Memory Loss
Loss of Consciousness
Poe’s symptoms that were present at his death coincided more with Carbon Monoxide Poisoning than with Tuberculosis.

15. Click on the following links if you would like to know more about:
Edgar Allan Poe
Carbon Monoxide Poisoning
Poe’s Alcoholism and Tuberculosis
For more information…

16. Sources
Donnay, Albert. ”A Edgar Allan Poe and The Tell-Tale Face of Carbon Monoxide Poisoning." POE: The Tell-Tale Face of Carbon Monoxide Poisoning. Multiple Chemical Sensitivity Referral and Resources, Web. 07 Mar < "E. A. Poe Society of Baltimore - Poe's Death." E. A. Poe Society of Baltimore - Poe's Death. Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore, 1 May Web. 01 Mar < Hartshorn, W.S., and C.T. Tatman. Cropped Image from the Famous E.A. Poe Daguerrotype Photograph. Wikipedia Commons. Web. 13 Mar < Klimas, Anne, David Tauriello, Ben Graff, Mary Esselman, and John Sullivan. "MPT: Knowing Poe: Home." MPT: Knowing Poe: Home. Maryland Public Television, Web. 01 Mar Poe, Edgar A. "The Fall of the House of Usher." 18 Best Short Stories by Edgar Allan Poe. New York: Dell, Print. Poe, Edgar A. ”The Premature Burial." 18 Best Short Stories by Edgar Allan Poe. New York: Dell, Print. Poe, Edgar A. ”The Tell-Tale Heart." 18 Best Short Stories by Edgar Allan Poe. New York: Dell, Print. PoeStories.com. Edgar Allan Poe. N.d. Photograph. PoeStories Web. 7 Mar < Poe's Grave. N.d. Photograph. The Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore, Baltimore. Pics4Learning. Web. 13 Mar ”What Is Tuberculosis? Picture, Diagnosis, Causes." WebMD. Ed. Melinda Ratini, DO. WebMD, 25 Apr Web. 07 Mar <

17. PowerPoint Created by Cate Dymek Cathryn_dymek@hcpss.org