Livia Drusila was born on 30 January, 59 BC. She was a child of the Roman aristocracy, one of the Claudian clan. Raised to be fully aware of her status she was a bright but haughty child who adopted adult ways from an early age and could be cold and cruel towards her slaves. Diminutive and slim she was not the full-figured woman considered attractive in Roman society but nonetheless was thought beautiful. Her value to her family as a prospective bride was immense and she was married aged just 16. Just under a year later she gave birth to her first son, the future Emperor Tiberius.

Both her husband, Tiberius Claudius Nero, and her father, Marcus Claudianus, supported Pompey Magnus in his war for control of Rome with Julius Caesar. This was a mistake for Pompey was defeated. Even so, both were spared further punishment in Caesar’s general amnesty. This did not guarantee their loyalty, however, and they both conspired with Cassius and Brutus in their assassination of Caesar on 15 March (the Ides of March) 44 BC.

In the ensuing war against Mark Antony and Caesar’s great nephew and anointed successor Octavian her family again found themselves on the wrong side. Her father committed suicide following the defeat at Philippi and her husband was on the run. For the time being at least, Livia was on her own. But she was still beautiful and she still had her name, and she knew how to use both. In 39 BC she returned to Rome as if nothing had happened. As proud and haughty as ever if anyone was not going to be cowed by their perilous situation it was Livia Drusila.

Not long after she was introduced to Octavian. By all accounts, the cold, calculating future Augustus was determined to marry her from the time of their first meeting. He was not one to be easily overwhelmed by emotion and it is likely he saw more in Livia then just her looks and more obvious charms. He was also willing to overlook the fact that Livia was heavily pregnant with her second child, the future Drusus. On 14 January, he hastily divorced his inconvenient wife Scribonia, on the very day that she gave birth to his daughter, Julia. He then forced Livia’s husband, Tiberius Claudius Nero, now back in Rome following a general amnesty, to concede to a divorce. Three days later, on 17 January, 40 BC, he and Livia were married.

Octavian governed Rome as part of a Triumvirate along with Marcus Lepidus in Africa and Mark Antony in Egypt. Over time Lepidus was sidelined leaving Octavian and Antony to vie for power in Rome. Octavian, who was never known for his warmth, charm or charisma was never truly popular. Antony, however, coarse and vulgar though he could be, was the man of the people. It took time for Octavian to win Rome to his side. Antony’s absence in Egypt and his relationship with, and seduction by, that vile Queen Cleopatra, helped. Eventually, the Senate conceded to war.

On 2 September, 31 BC, the forces of Octavian, under the command of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, defeated the combined armies of Mark Antony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium. Just under a year later on 30 August, 30 BC, Antony committed suicide in Alexandria. Octavian returned to Rome and quickly began to consolidate his power. He paid lip-service to the notion of a Republic but he had no intention of handing the power he had fought so hard to acquire over to an assembly of rich old men. In 27 BC he accepted the title bestowed on him by a Senate grateful for the restoration of peace after so many years of war of Augustus Caesar. It was the beginning of Empire.

From the outset, Augustus was determined to set the example for the Roman people. He lived modestly in his villa on the Palatine Hill, he ate frugally, and drank only in moderation. He praised the fidelity of Roman womanhood and passed laws in favour of marriage and against what he perceived as immorality. In all this he had a willing accomplice in Livia. She dressed modestly, disavowed the wearing of jewellery, and busied herself with the running of her household. It was even said that she made Augustus’s clothes for him. She also concerned herself with the affairs of the Vestal Virgins. She was the ultimate Roman Matriarch. But all was not as it seemed.

Augustus was both vain and a serial philanderer. Pasty-faced, short, and pitifully thin, he wore built up shoes to raise his height, and extra layers of clothing to increase his bulk. He also enjoyed humiliating senior Senators by sleeping with their wives. Livia was aware of this. When asked how she wielded such power over her husband she replied, ” to him I remain scrupulously chaste, and do gladly whatever pleases him. I also turn a blind eye to his many passions.” As far as the public were concerned she would always be the ideal Roman woman. Once, when confronted by some naked men, who feared for their lives because of their immodesty, she saved them from further punishment by saying, ” that to a chaste woman such men were but statues.”

As time went on Augustus came to rely more and more upon his wife. In many ways she was the only person he trusted and they effectively governed Rome as co-rulers. She was independent of him financially (something almost unheard of in Roman society) and had use of his personal seal. She also cultivated her own circle of powerful and influential friends. When Augustus left Rome to tour the provinces he knew he had left the city in safe hands. 

Augustus and Livia were to be married for 51 years and though she never bore him any children he never once contemplated divorcing her. Together they ruled over the most prosperous period in Roman history, but she also had ambitions of her own.  

Augustus had no direct male heir and Livia was determined that one of her sons, either Tiberius or Drusus, would succeed him. Augustus, however, had opted for his nephew Marcellus as his chosen successor. When this, to all intents and purposes, healthy young man died suddenly of apparent food poisoning, Augustus was left bereft. Even so, and despite Livia’s best efforts to promote them, both Tiberius and Drusus remained far down the pecking order. Instead, attention now alighted upon the children of Augustus’s daughter, Julia. 

Julia had been married aged 18, in 21 BC, to Augustus’s oldest friend Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, twenty five years her senior. This was controversial because despite his power and fame he was of low birth. It was another old friend, Macaenas, who told Augustus that, ” You have made him so great that he must either be your son-in-law or be slain.” Augustus chose the former.

Julia, had four children by Agrippa, Lucius, Gaius, Postumus, and Agrippina. The three boys would all be in line for the succession before either of Livia’s children. When Agrippa died suddenly in 12 BC Augustus adopted the two eldest boys. Julia, in the meantime, had set her eyes on her step-brother Tiberius for whom she had always had a passion. Livia was not averse to her son marrying directly into the royal family, and persuaded Augustus to grant the request. But Tiberius was not the man she remembered. He had always been noted for his brooding personality but he had since become something of a surly brute. His sexual proclivities also went beyond the expectations of his marriage vows.  

Julia was no friend of Livia’s. She found her overbearing and condescending. Livia saw Julia as an encumbrance to her ambitions. In 2 BC Julia became embroiled in a sexual scandal that brought shame upon the Imperial family. It was revealed, by whom we do not know, that she had been sleeping around. Not just with Senators and Roman citizens but also with slaves, and even gladiators. Augustus was furious, for years he had promoted family values, and now this! She was arrested on charges of adultery and treason. Disinclined to execute his own daughter, despite the promptings of his wife, he instead had her banished. Her punishment was harsh, sent to the Island of Pandateria which was less than a mile in circumference she was deprived of wine and male company. Her mother Scribonia was also exiled with her for giving birth to a whore. She was allowed to return to Italy five years later but was barred from ever leaving the region of Reggio di Calabria. She never returned to Rome and Augustus never saw her again. She was probably starved to death on the orders of Tiberius after he became Emperor.

Not long after Julia’s banishment her two young sons Lucius and Gaius died in mysterious circumstances. In 9 AD her final remaining son Postumus was embroiled in yet another sexual scandal. He was not a popular young man, arrogant, rude, and often drunk. Nonetheless Augustus had adopted him in 4 AD following the death of his two older brothers. At the same time, at the behest of Livia, he had also adopted Tiberius, but Postumus was his designated successor. When he was accused of trying to rape his niece Livilla people were only too ready to believe it. Like his mother, the 23 year old Postumus was banished, this time to the Island of Planasia.

There seems little doubt that Livia’s schemings lay behind the many deaths and scandals that plagued the Imperial Family in the final years of Augustus’s reign. It was said at the time that she had an interest in poison and gossip was rife. But all talk remained deaf to Augustus.

On 19 August, 14 AD, the Emperor Augustus died, aged 78. His last words were reported as, ” I found Rome of clay and leave her to you of marble”, and ” If I have played my part well, then I applaud my exit.” Not long after his death he was deified by the Senate. Three days later Tiberius has Postumus murdered.

In his Will Augustus adopted Livia into the Julian Clan, left her a third of his fortune, and provided her with the honorific title of Augusta. It guaranteed her patrician status and made her almost untouchable. Tiberius made any public criticism of her a treasonable offence.

Livia was determined to rule through her son as she had through her husband and for a time this seemed to work quite well, but Tiberius soon grew resentful of his mother’s constant meddling. If they disagreed she would remind her son that if it wasn’t for her he would never have become Emperor. When the Senate proposed a motion to make Livia Mater Patriae (Mother of the Nation) Tiberius vetoed it. Over the next few years their mutual loathing just grew and grew.

In 26 AD, Tiberius retired to the Island of Capri, it was said to get away from his domineering mother, but it was as much to pursue his sexual perversions free of interference. With the power in Rome delegated to the Commander of the Praetorian Guard Aelius Sejanus, Livia’s influence waned, but she remained the untouchable matron par excellence.

In 29 AD, Livia died, aged 86. She had dominated Roman life for more than 60 years and the city mourned the loss of its Queen. Not so, however, her son. The body was preserved for a number of days in the expectation that Tiberius would return to Rome to say farewell to his mother. He did not return and neither did he attend the funeral. In the end the body was buried because of the dire state of the corpse. Thirteen years later her nephew, the Emperor Claudius declared her a Goddess, a final tribute that had been denied her by her son. 

What is Asbestos?

Asbestos is a silicate mineral, with long crystals resembling fibers or rough hairs. Asbestos fibers have been used for centuries, notably to strengthen earthenware pots and increase resistance to heat and fire.

above: asbestos (image: Wikimedia Commons)

Commercial asbestos production became popular in the United States and Canada during the Industrial Revolution. The first commercial asbestos mine started operations in 1874 in Quebec, Canada. Today, Russia and China are the biggest asbestos producers world-wide.

Six minerals belong to the asbestos class. These are:

• chrysotile (white)
• amosite (brown)
• crocidolite (blue)
• tremolite
• anthophyllite
• actinolite

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These six minerals vary slightly in chemical composition, but all are known health hazards. Prolonged exposure to asbestos fibers can cause serious illness and death.

There are two types of asbestos fibers:

• amphibole – straight and thin
• serpentine – curved

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Chrysotile comprises 95% of the asbestos in buildings in the United States. Chrysotile has serpentine fibers. The remaining asbestos minerals have amphibole fibers.

Of the two types of asbestos fibers, amphibole fibers are the most dangerous. The thin, needle-like amphibole fibers can penetrate the lungs and linings of the internal organs more easily than the curved serpentine fibers found in chrysotile.

Asbestos in Building and Industry

Many private and public older buildings were constructed using asbestos. During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, asbestos was desirable as a building material due to its strength, ability to absorb sound, and its resistance to heat, fire, chemicals and electrical damage.

Builders often mixed asbestos fibers with cement, drywall, plaster or other building materials. Asbestos can be found in vinyl floor tiles, roofing materials and thermal pipe insulation.

Automobile manufacturers used asbestos in brake pads and clutch discs until the 1990’s. Asbestos was also used as a flame retardant in theater curtains, fire blankets and clothing for firefighters.

The Canadian Parliament Buildings, constructed 1859 and 1916, are currently under renovation to remove quantities of asbestos, especially in the West Block. In the US, the first forty floors of the World Trade Center north building contained asbestos, which is considered responsible for the high number of cancer-related deaths in people working at the site after destruction of the buildings.

Asbestos was also commonly used in ship building, especially during World War II. In the United States, about 100,000 people have suffered asbestos toxicity and died, or will die, due to asbestos exposure during ship building.

In Japan, asbestos was commonly applied to railway cars and buildings in the 1960’s. Asbestos was also used to make ammonium sulfate, a chemical fertilizer and spray used in rice production.

In Australia, asbestos was a popular material in construction and industry between 1945 and 1980. Due to the high number of asbestos-related deaths, Australia has banned asbestos. Asbestos has also been banned by the European Union.

Health Risks of Asbestos Exposure

Asbestos occurs naturally in the air at low levels and poses no health risk, but prolonged exposure to asbestos can lead to worsening health and chronic disease. The first death linked to asbestos exposure was in 1906.

Asbestos exposure can lead to serious or fatal complications, including

• malignant mesothelioma
• asbestosis
• lung cancer
• asbestos warts
• pleural plaques

Temporary exposure to asbestos may cause allergic or immune system reactions in sensitive individuals.

Malignant Mesothelioma

Mesothelioma is a rare type of cancer that attacks the lining, or mesothelium, of the body’s internal organs. Mesothelioma affects various parts of the body, including the:

• pleura (outer lining of the lungs and chest cavity)
• peritoneum (lining of the abdominal cavity)
• pericardium (the sac surrounding the heart)
• heart
• tunica vaginalis (the lining of the testicles)

Mesothelioma may develop over the course of years or decades.

Symptoms of mesothelioma include:

• severe shortness of breath (dyspnea)
• fluid build-up in the chest cavity
• chest pain
• weight loss

Malignant mesothelioma most often occurs due to prolonged exposure to amphibole fibers.

Asbestosis

Asbestosis is considered an occupational lung disease acquired by prolonged or high-level exposure to asbestos. The first death attributed to asbestosis was in the UK in 1924. Asbestosis causes chronic inflammation and scarring of the lung tissue. 

Symptoms of asbestosis may not appear for several years or even decades after exposure. Symptoms become gradually worse with time.

Symptoms of asbestosis include:

• worsening shortness of breath (dyspnea)
• inflammation in the lungs and chest
• accumulation of fibrous tissue in the chest cavity
• thickening of the walls of the alveoli (tiny air sacs in the lungs)
• stiffness in the lungs
• respiratory failure

Asbestosis increases the risk of malignant mesothelioma and lung cancer.

Lung Cancer

In the early stages, lung cancer shows few or no symptoms. As the disease progresses, symptoms of lung cancer may include:

• persistent or worsening cough
• shortness of breath or wheezing
• constant chest pain; worse when coughing
• coughing up blood
• hoarseness
• fatigue
• weight loss
• loss of appetite
• frequent or persistent chest infections (such as pneumonia)

Lung cancer attacks the lungs, while mesothelioma invades the lining of the lungs.

Asbestos Warts

Asbestos warts form when asbestos fibers penetrate the skin. When a fiber lodges in the skin, the body reacts by forming a rough mass of scar tissue around the fiber.

Pleural Plaques

Pleural plaques are collagen fiber deposits or localized scarring, most often forming in the diaphragm. Some pleural plaques may also occur in the ribcage. Pleural plaques are often asymptomatic and may first become apparent on a radiograph or CT scan.

Pleural plaques appear about twenty years after exposure to asbestos, and can develop even with low levels or intermittent periods of exposure. While some are benign, pleural plaques are almost always found in people with asbestosis or mesothelioma.

Asbestos exposure can also cause pleural thickening, which may impair lung function.

Other Symptoms of Asbestos Exposure

Short-term or mild exposure to asbestos may cause symptoms such as:

• wheezing
• shortness of breath
• itchy skin
• itchy or watery eyes
• sneezing
• mucus production
• skin irritation or inflammation
• skin rash
• swelling
• chest pain
• loss of appetite
• general malaise

Some people also experience throat problems, such as trouble swallowing.

In cases of short-term or temporary mild exposure to asbestos, the body can usually heal itself if the source of toxicity is removed. However, fighting the toxic invasion is hard on the immune system, and the patient may be more vulnerable to infection by bacteria, viruses and other common pathogens.

Because the dangers of asbestos have been known for decades, many companies now face lawsuits by employees or residents who have been exposed to asbestos.

See also:

• Fluoride Poisoning: Symptoms and Treatment
• Mercury Poisoning: Symptoms and Treatment
• Arsenic Poisoning: Symptoms and Treatment

The small community of Westhoughton where all the mine workers lived was hit very hard by the emotional impact of their losses. Almost every family in the town had lost a member of their family that day, those that hadn’t suffered a loss certainly knew plenty that had.

One woman had lost her husband, four sons and two brothers in the explosion. The Wingates Brass Band which was based in the community had lost seven of its band members. Brass Bands were long associated with mining towns and the pits they served and were an important part of the local community.

After the initial explosion some of those not immediately killed were able to escape the scene by up to 300 yards but were overtaken by the deadly fumes and suffocated by carbon monoxide poisoning.

A memorial to mark the centenary of this tragedy has just been unveiled, it was commissioned by the Westhoughton Town Council. It was believed that the cause of the explosion was from a miners broken lamp. A roof fall had broken the lamp, and this ignited the gas that was present, together with the coal dust that then spread through the nearby tunnels.

Those closest to the blast suffered horrific blast injuries, the rest died of carbon monoxide poisoning. At the surface many local families rushed to the pit on hearing the blast, over 100 rescuers were quickly organized to offer what help they could, they were led by the manager of the colliery. By midday of the first day they knew that anyone on the bottom level of the pit had no chance of being found alive.

From that moment on it was just a task of recovering the bodies of those that had perished. One body was never found, and a further 16 were unable to be recognized. It took weeks for all those killed to be buried. Many funerals were even held on Christmas Day. A mural will be unveiled on the one hundredth anniversary of this tragic event by local artist Andrew Smith.

Fluoride first attacks the stomach, invading the intestinal mucosa and creating hydrofluoric acid. Hydrofluoric acid is strong enough to dissolve glass.

Early symptoms of fluoride poisoning usually occur soon after ingestion. Later, toxic levels of fluoride can inhibit the body’s ability to use nutrients such as calcium and potassium. Fluoride poisoning can cause chronic damage to the nervous system, as well as the stomach, heart and other vital organs. In some cases, fluoride poisoning is fatal.

In adults, the estimated lethal dose of fluoride is 5-10 g, or 32-64 mg per kilogram of body weight. In children, a lethal dose of fluoride is 16 mg/kg.

Fluoride in Toothpaste

Toothpaste typically contains 1 mg/g of fluoride. Fluoride in toothpaste may appear as:

• sodium monofluorophosphate
• sodium fluoride
• stannous fluoride
• amine fluoride

Fluoride poisoning often affects children. Less than half a tube of toothpaste can be fatal to a child under two years old.

Causes of Fluoride Poisoning

Causes of fluoride toxicity in children and adults may include:

• ingestion of toothpaste
• excess dietary supplements (sodium fluoride)
• ingestion of insecticides or rodenticides (such as sodium fluoroacetate)
• malfunction of city water fluoridation equipment
• glass-etching chemicals
• chrome cleaners such as ammonium bifluoride
• automobile wheel-cleaning products
• metal cleaners
• industrial exposure
• volcanic eruption

Decaffeinated tea or coffee has higher amounts of fluoride than regular coffee or tea. In cookware, non-stick coatings such as Teflon™ contain fluoropolymers.

Flouride poisoning often occurs concurrently with iodine deficiency. Some sources suggest that low levels of iodine can cause toxic amounts of fluoride in the body.

Symptoms of Fluoride Poisoning

Early symptoms of fluoride poisoning usually appear within a few minutes of exposure or ingestion. Initial symptoms of fluoride toxicity may include:

• abdominal pain
• diarrhea
• dysphagia (difficulty swallowing)
• hypersalivation
• mucosal damage
• nausea
• vomiting

Later symptoms of fluoride poisoning may include:

• hyperkalemia (potassium overload, causing heart problems)
• hypocalcemia (low levels of calcium)
• hypoglycemia (low levels of blood glucose)
• hypomagnesemia (low magnesium levels in the blood)
• headache
• muscle weakness
• muscle spasms or contractions
• hyperactive reflexes
• paresthesia (numbness and tingling)
• seizures
• tremors
• in severe cases, multi-organ failure

Death by fluoride poisoning may occur due to:

• cardiac arrest
• shock
• widening of QRS (electrical conduction system of the heart)
• arrhythmia

Long-term ingestion of fluoride, as in swallowing toothpaste, can cause dental fluorosis. The ameboblasts or cells which produce tooth enamel become damaged, resulting in discoloration of the teeth. Discoloration ranges from white spots in mild cases, to brown or black stains in more severe forms.

Treatment of Fluoride Poisoning

Fluoride poisoning can be fatal. If you suspect fluoride poisoning, identify the source and contact a poison control center or hospital immediately.

Emergency care of fluoride toxicity includes:

• cardiac monitoring
• dosage with milk, calcium carbonate, and aluminum- and magnesium-based antacids (hydroxides) to bind fluoride
• gastric lavage (gastric irrigation or stomach pumping)
• test for hypocalcemia
• calcium IV for patients with arrhythmia or cardiac symptoms

Non-emergency medical treatment and aftercare may include monitored doses of calcium chloride or calcium gluconate (kalcinate). Calcium chloride treats calcium deficiencies caused by fluoride poisoning. Calcium gluconate helps stabilize nerve, muscle and cardiac function due to potassium deficiency.

Although fluoride poisoning is serious, most cases are mild. Death by fluoride poisoning is rare.

See also:

• Mercury Poisoning: Symptoms and Treatment
• Symptoms of Toxic Black Mold Poisoning

Abraham Lincoln had a few very important people in his life including his wife, Mary Todd Lincoln, and his fellow lawyer, William Herndon. From Lincolns not so wealthy childhood, when he lived with his mother who he looked up to a lot and his father who Lincoln never had a good relationship with, he always worked hard but more than that Lincoln read constantly and taught himself almost everything. When he was just nine years old Lincoln’s mother died of milk poisoning. Then just a little bit after his father remarried and Lincoln became extremely close with his stepmother and actually called her his mother. And in 1830 the Lincoln family moved from Kentucky to Illinois out of fear of milk poisoning.  By the time Lincoln was 22 he was hired by a businessman to do law work even though he had less than 18 months of formal education. Then in 1842 Lincoln got married to Mary Todd and was married until his death. He also became a very successful lawyer then got into politics. He then ran 4 terms in the Illinois House of Representatives. And throughout his political career he was always against slavery because he thought it was morally wrong but chose his words carefully when speaking, since being a full abolitionist in that time wouldn’t get you far in politics. Then after running for senator, in 1860 he became the president, which caused the south to secede completely and attributing to the start of the civil war. Trying to avoid a war with the south but not wanted them to secede his presidency marked the beginning of the bloodiest war to this point in American history. And after years of fighting and war Abraham Lincoln died on April 15, 1865, exactly 6 days after the end of the civil war.

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What is the reason?

Scientists have located two visible leaks in Earth’s magnetosphere, the area surrounding our planet that protects us from harmful solar storms. In 2012, the sun’s poles will shift and this time a massive solar storm will cause chaos on earth. Most times this is no issue but because of the cracks in it Earth’s shielding Magnetosphere may be useless to us. The harmful solar and electromagnetic radiation will slide through and create many issues to our existence. It could destroy communication satellites, mobile phones, normal sleep patterns, and cause radiation poisoning to humans. Also, while earth has to stop extra radiation and energy this will create predictable changes inside the earth’s core with energy being re-dissipated from the earth with new volcanic formations and crust movement.

A few websites say that Earths Poles will reverse during 2012 but this is incorrect. According to NASA, Planet pole movement take a few thousand years to take effect. Throughout that time, the magnetic field does not disappear so this is most likely why our Magnetosphere is going crazy at this time. It’s correct that Earths Magnetosphere is limited now and this is proof of the start of pole shifting but not complete pole reversal of Earth. This won’t happen in 2012 because it is a long process and is estimated to take another 1200 years to take effect. The major worry is how protective the Magnetosphere will be during the solar storms of 2012.

Autopsies failed to reveal a cause of death or any injury in either body.  Although poisoning was suspected, exhaustive analysis was negative, as was any indication of snake bites, supported by failure to find any poisonous reptiles in that area.  Years later, poisoning by LSD was investigated, this being an experimental substance possibly involved in Dr Bogle’s scientific research. Despite an initial suggestive chemical analysis, the hypothesis could not be proven. Later a theory that lethal hydrogen sulphide (constituent of marsh gas) from the nearby river might be involved was also discredited.

The commonest poison encountered today is carbon monoxide, the product of incomplete combustion present in large amounts in internal combustion engine exhaust but not any more in automobile exhaust because cars  (since the 1980’s) have catalytic converters, rendering the exhaust virtually free from carbon monoxide and therefore not poisonous. Until this addition to cars’ exhaust systems, accidental poisoning when the tailpipe was diverted into the car’s trunk, and thence into the passenger compartment was fairly common, as was death of couples making love in a car in a garage, with engine left running for warmth or air conditioning.  

If the couple in question had been in another car in this dirt road, and the owner of the car did not wish to be assoviated with their deaths, he might have removed their bodies from the car, and removed that car from the scene.  Although carbon monoxide is easy to detect in the blood of a deceased person, technical failures are not uncommon in the field of toxicology, and in this case there did not seem to be any suspicion of this type of poisoning, possibly because the bodies were in an outside location, and the Dr’s car was 150 yards away. 

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The disaster at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant on April 26th, 1986, was the worst recorded nuclear disaster of our time. Reactor #4 suffered a sudden and massive power excursion (a sudden increase in the power level of the reactor). This caused a massive amount of steam and energy to build up inside of reactor #4, and as the cooling systems were deliberately turned off, the amount of compressed energy became so great that the entire reactor exploded[i]. The subsequent handling of the disaster was also greatly flawed, and due to the Ukraine governments’ mysteriously shoddy response and rescue operations, conspiracy theories have begun to pop up all over the place. One thing is for sure however, and that is that this disaster was the worst nuclear accident ever unleashed upon our world, with radiation levels exceeding three hundred times that of the nuking of Hiroshima during World War II. When one delves into the topic of Chernobyl, however, a clear and repeating thought occurs – Could this terrible mess have been not so terrible, if not completely prevented, had certain events and situations not occurred?

The first and most obvious reason for the disaster is that of human error. It is clear to anyone that the operational staff on duty were both overconfident in their belief that the reactor would not fail[ii], and blinded by their frightening lack of knowledge of neutron physics and the physics of that of the reactor[iii]. In the afternoon of April 25th, 1986, the reactor was undergoing experiments pertaining to its potential power level. One of the decisions made during the experiments was to turn off the emergency core cooling system[iv], as the experiments may cause the system to automatically react if the power level were to go too high, causing a heat shock and ruining the experiment and potentially the reactor (however this would have been incomparably less devastating than what had actually occurred). One would think that at least one person on duty in the entire plant would realize that turning off the ECCS could have dangerous effects, however nobody came forward to contemplate turning it back on, and it was in fact locked with a key after this, so it could not be turned on even by hand. This is by far the biggest mistake made that day. As the experiment continued, the generator for reactor #4 was slowly run down so as to lower the power level of the reactor[v], however the rundown of the generator should only ever be attempted when the reactor itself is shut down and inactive, so that no chance of an accident could happen, much like how you would unplug a lamp before putting in a new light bulb, so as to prevent yourself from being electrocuted. After the rundown of the generator, the power of the reactor was lowered to 30 megawatts of thermal energy, as opposed to the average 700-1,000 megawatts when it is running normally. The absorber rods inside of the reactor, used to absorb the thermal energy, were not receiving adequate energy, and it was this process that led to the decay of the radioactive materials, slowly poisoning the reactor[vi]. The Deputy Chief Engineer, Anatoly Stepanovich Dyatlov, who had actually never worked with nuclear energy before[vii], became increasingly stressed about the radiation poisoning seeping into the reactor, and in a moment of haste, immediately attempted to fix the problem by rapidly increasing the power level of the reactor to a favourable amount, as stated earlier as being between 700-1,000 megawatts. However, rapidly increasing the amount of energy being put into the reactor (0.0065 neutrons/second is the maximum safe rate at which it may increase, yet reactor #4 was set to increase at 0.5 neutrons/second[viii]), combined with all of these adverse factors, led to a nuclear power surge, which ultimately triggered the explosion[ix].

But it wasn’t just human error that caused the explosion. There were plenty of design flaws. The reactors of the Chernobyl plant are RBMK reactors, a special type of Russian nuclear reactor that can be found all across the former USSR. In the Ukraine alone there are fifteen active RBMK reactors. However, the Chernobyl reactor #4, the one that caused the disaster, was later found to have over thirty-two infringements of nuclear safety. But these infringements were not even entirely due to shortcuts taken during construction, but in fact many are hardwired into the design. [x] Professor B. G. Dubovskii, a man who was in charge of nuclear safety regulations in the USSR, wrote a paper in 1988 detailing the many problems the RBMK reactors have. To quote him, “It is beyond comprehension how those in charge of the design of the control and safety systems for the RBMK could make such serious miscalculations, some of which defy the most elementary logic. It is no exaggeration to say that the RBMK reactors had no proper safety systems until 1986. They had no accident protection whatsoever! – Neither below the core, nor above it.”[xi] As nuclear science is a relatively new science that has always had its own demons following it, open intellectual discussions about dangers were avoided in favour of simply trying to harness the power.[xii] However, because of this blatant ignorance those who operate within nuclear science and with nuclear power were unaware of many dangers that were, and are persistently imminent while working with it. Ignorance has also caused these RBMK reactors to be treated lightly, and not with the diligence, intellect, patience and respect for the power it holds that is necessary.

The governments’ handling of and response to the disaster was also less than helpful, and caused the legacy of the disaster to be worsened. Decisions made immediately after the disaster were completely political; the state wanted to seem like they could properly handle the mess, and to show their independence, completely denying help that was being offered to them from the Western hemisphere[xiii] – this air of slight arrogance caused much harm among the people that were supposed to be rescued. At first, there were no plans to evacuate surrounding areas; in fact the government wanted people to stay where they were. The city of Chernobyl was evacuated over 24 hours later, and cities no less than 80 kilometres away weren’t even evacuated for four years after the disaster[xiv]. The people of the contaminated areas only received two tins of corned beef per person per month, and one orange per child.[xv] This is an insulting amount, and people were forced to ingest contaminated food and drink just to stay alive[xvi]. Contaminated meat from the area wasn’t thrown out; the government decided to use all of it for creating sausage, meat pastes and the like, using 9/10ths clean meat, and 1/10ths poisoned meat.[xvii] Journalists attempting to publish articles about the disaster were met with difficulty. Only articles that downplayed the problems that were being faced, and those that gave under-exaggerated accounts of peoples’ plights were published. The scientists and government officials who published their reports on the situation downplayed the statistics as well, feeling it necessary to tell the public that the radiation has no part in inducing or provoking medical conditions, which just was not true.[xviii] As the government stayed quiet about the disaster, these articles and reports were all the public had to educate themselves on the matter, which led them to believe they were safe, although they were actually extremely poisoned by radiation.

The Chernobyl Disaster is one of great significance in our world, a terrible legend of power wielded by those unable to properly do so. When reading about it, one should not look for a single cause of the disaster – what this essay has attempted to do is showcase that there were a great number of variables present before, during and after the disaster that caused it to turn out as bad as it did. If one were to look over the facts present in this essay, it is easy to see that mistake after mistake after mistake was made, creating an almost snowball effect that made a nuclear disaster into an international threat. Those who suffered the worst, and continue to suffer from such plights as radiation poisoning and mutation, will tell you that those who helped, helped very little, and that the government that should be there to protect them were too worried with protecting their image to help those in severe pain and trauma survive this ordeal. Had people acted in a more intellectual, calm manner, this disaster could very easily have been only a minor catastrophe, if not completely avoided.

[i] Grigori Medvedev, The Truth About Chernobyl (BasicBooks, 1991)  47.

[ii] Grigori Medvedev, 44.

[iii] Grigori Medvedev, 51.

[iv] Grigori Medvedev, 47.

[v] Grigori Medvedev, 56.

[vi] Iurii Shcherbak, Chernobyl: A Documentary Story. (Macmillan Press, 1989), 59.

[vii] Iurii Shcherbak, 19.

[viii] Grigori Medvedev, 61.

[ix] Iurii Shcherbak, 21.

[x] V. M. Chernousenko, Chernobyl: Insight From the Inside (Springer-Verlag, 1991), 8.

[xi] V. M. Chernousenko, 74.

[xii] V. M. Chernousenko, 10.

[xiii] Iurii Shcherbak, 107.

[xiv] Alla Yaroshinskaya, Chernobyl: The Forbidden Truth (Bison Books, 1995) 24.

[xv] Alla Yaroshinskaya, 60.

[xvi] Iurii Shcherbak, 26.

[xvii] Alla Yaroshinskaya, 61.

[xviii] Alla Yaroshinskaya, 89.

Bibliography

Medvedev, Grigori.The Truth About Chernobyl. Moscow, Russia: BasicBooks, 1989.

Shcherbak , Iurii. Chernobyl: A Documentary Story. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Macmillan Press, 1989.

Chernousenko, V. M. Chernobyl: Insight From the Inside . Germany: Springer-Verlag, 1991.

Yaroshinskaya, Alla Chernobyl: The Forbidden Truth USA: Bison Books, 1995.

Sarah Reynolds was born in the village of Potton, Bedfordshire in 1819.  She was the daughter of the local barber, Phillip Reynolds, and although Phillip worked hard, he fell into debt and in 1825 he was imprisoned at Bedford Prison.  Having been released in 1826 he fell ill and subsequently died.  The grieving widow however wasn’t lacking in shoulders to cry on and it appeared that, even before Phillip had died, Sarah’s mother had received visits from several male ‘friends’ and it’s suspected that Phillip knew his wife had been playing away throughout their marriage but had turned a blind eye in order to maintain peace and harmony in the Reynolds household.

Following her father’s death, Sarah then discovered she had several ‘uncles’ but eventually her mother decided to remarry.  Sarah wasn’t an unattractive girl; auburn haired, brown eyed, tall and elegant so it wasn’t beyond the wit of man that she, like her mother, attracted more than her fair share of male admirers.

In 1838 Sarah married a local man, Simeon Mead and the young couple remained in Potton for two years and then moved out to Tadlow.  Although it’s never been confirmed, it’s understood that Simeon discovered Sarah had been having an affair and he decided it’d be better to move her away from temptation.  Whatever the reason, it seemed that Simeon and Sarah had a happy marriage and shortly after their move, they had a son, Jonah.  Sadly, Jonah died when he was just seven months old and friends and neighbours rallied round the grieving couple but it seemed that, behind closed doors, the marriage wasn’t quite as lovey-dovey as the neighbours thought.  Sarah obviously had more than her fair share of her mother’s genes and the couple were constantly at each other’s throats due to Sarah’s male visitors.  But things changed drastically when, just a couple of months after Jonah’s death, Simeon died.  Obviously this rocked the local community as Simeon appeared to be fairly hale and hearty and the local populace rallied forth and offered Sarah their condolences.  Not only had she lost her baby boy but within such a short time, had also lost a young and apparently much loved husband.

However, their opinion of the young woman soon changed when, within a few weeks after her husband’s death, Sarah began a relationship with another man – a 23 year old labourer by the name of William Dazley and in February 1841, about four months after her husband’s death, the couple married.  Not unnaturally tongues began to wag in the village so the young couple moved to a cottage in Wrestlingworth, just a couple of miles from Sarah’s birthplace of Potton.

As in her previous marriage, to the outside world they seemed a normal young couple, William even being prepared to take in Sarah’s 14 year old step daughter, Ann Mead but Sarah wore the trousers in the house and had actually demanded that Ann should join them.  Like many a long suffering husband throughout the ages, it was anything for a quiet life as far as William was concerned.  On the whole, the villagers accepted the couple and concluded they were perfectly normal although there were others who were unsure about Sarah.  Word spread from one village to another and the smoke signals emanating from Potton and Tadlow, mainly fanned by the womenfolk, suggested that Sarah was a bit of man-eater and they wondered whether it was pure coincidence that Simeon had died so suddenly when he was in the prime of life.  But basically, the women were happy to embrace the couple into the community provided Sarah didn’t embrace their husbands.

The notion that William and Sarah were blissfully happy soon dwindled as William became a frequent visitor at The Chequers Inn, Wrestlingworth – which still exists today; go to http://www.thechequersinnpub.co.uk – but being rather an insular man, he didn’t confide in any of his beer-swilling buddies although it was obvious to the villagers that something was troubling him as it was completely out of character.

Things finally came to a head when William returned home from the pub one Saturday night and Sarah immediately launched into him about his heavy drinking.  William initially tried to avoid the confrontation but Sarah nagged and needled him to such an extent that the poor man snapped and lashed out at his scolding wife.  This played right into Sarah’s hands as, the following day, Sarah met with her latest ‘playmate’, William Waldock and told him that her husband was a wife beater and that she would have her revenge.  She then went on to tell one of her neighbours in the hope that the grapevine would do its good works and spread its tendrils through the surrounding local inhabitants informing them that William Dazley wasn’t the mild-mannered gent that everyone thought he was.  Thankfully the good people of Wrestlingworth and surrounding villages weren’t that dumb and decided that there were normally two sides to every story.

A few days after the altercation between husband and wife, William Dazley was taken ill with stomach ache and vomiting.  A Dr Sandell from Potton attended and prescribed some pills and William began to recover although he remained bedridden.  A few days later, Sarah’s step daughter was busy in the kitchen area when Sarah entered.  She didn’t notice Ann, who remained hidden quietly in the corner, and Ann witnessed Sarah rolling her own pills.  Ann, being young and naïve, thought nothing of it and assumed that Sarah was somehow sweetening the pills to make them more palatable for William.  That very same day, Sarah visited a friend in Potton, Mrs Carver, and told her she was concerned about William and was going to visit Dr Sandell for more pills.  A short while later, Mrs Carver saw Sarah walking back towards Wrestlingworth and witnessed her throwing some pills into the hedgerow and replacing them in the box with some others.  Mrs Carver shouted out to Sarah and told her that she’d dropped something and Sarah just replied that she didn’t think Dr Sandell’s pills were working and so she’d decided to call on the village healer, Mrs Gurr, who’d supplied Sarah with some other remedy.

Sarah arrived home and offered the pills to her husband who noticed that they were different to the ones Dr Sandell had prescribed and he refused to take them.  Ann, who had a good relationship with William and had helped in nursing him during his illness, persuaded William to take the new remedy by taking a small dose herself.  Needless to say, both Ann and William fell ill with stomach ache and vomiting.  William rushed out and was sick on the ground by the pig pen and one of the pigs, putting it as pleasantly as I can, ‘did a good clearing up job’.  The poor old pig was found dead the following morning but William and Ann survived.  William and Ann were obviously no Holmes and Watson as they didn’t manage to work out there were common denominators here – pills, illness, dead pig!

Sarah continued to give William the pills and eventually he died on 30 October 1842.  An inquest was held but there was no evidence to suggest anything other than an infection so William was buried at Wrestlingworth church.  So, at the grand old age of 23 Sarah had been twice widowed.  Things would probably have settled down and the locals would have felt some sympathy for Sarah but she wasn’t one for letting the grass grow under her feet and almost before William was cold in his grave, she began a full blown open relationship with William Waldock and by February 1843 the couple had announced their engagement.

The villagers of Wrestlingworth began voicing their opinion that there was something decidedly odd about the untimely deaths of Simeon Mead and William Dazley and warned William Waldock, who promptly took fright and ended the relationship.  Indeed, some the villagers were so concerned about Sarah that they went to the local coroner, a Mr Eagles, and told him they thought there was something dodgy about it all and he duly arranged for the body of William Dazley to be exhumed for further investigation.

On 20 March 1843, at the Chequers Inn an inquest was held and an announcement was made that traces of white arsenic were found in William’s body and put out a warrant for Sarah’s arrest, but by the time of the inquest Sarah had decided she wasn’t going to hang around and disappeared from the area.  A Superintendent Blunden from Biggleswade took up the case and discovered that Sarah had moved to a property in Upper Wharf Street in London.  Sarah was subsequently arrested and questioned but told the police she was completely innocent.  She had no knowledge of poison and had only administered the pills that had been prescribed by Dr Sandell.  The rooms in which she lodged in Upper Wharf Street were searched but nothing untoward was found.  However, Sarah’s protestations of innocence fell on deaf ears and she was escorted back to Bedford.

During the ensuing investigation the bodies of Simeon and Jonah Mead were exhumed and it was discovered that there were traces of poison in the young child and although there were signs of arsenic in Simeon’s body, as the body was so decomposed it couldn’t really be proven that he’d been fed sufficient poison to kill him..

On 24 March 1843 Sarah was committed to Bedford Gaol to await trial and she used the time to come up with a tale of woe to feed to the authorities and so she told them that William Dazley had poisoned Simeon and her young son in order that he could marry Sarah.  When she’d discovered the truth she’d then meted out her retribution on William but, bearing in mind her promiscuous nature and the speed with which she seemed to move from one husband to another, her story didn’t quite ring true and so began the trial of Sarah Dazley in Bedford in July 1843 before Baron Alderson. 

She was charged with murdering William Dazley but the case of little Jonah’s poisoning was held in reserve in case the first murder charge failed.  The case of Simeon wasn’t put forward as there wasn’t sufficient evidence that he’d been given enough poison to actually finish him off.

From 1836 all defendants were legally entitled to be represented by a barrister and so Sarah was represented in Court by a Mr O’Malley who told the Court that she had administered the poison to William accidentally which was inconsistent with the two earlier tale she’d told, that she had no knowledge of any poisoning and later, that she’d given William the poison to avenge the deaths of her first husband and her only child. 

The defence didn’t hold up well.  Two chemists were called to the witness stand and confirmed that they’d sold arsenic to Sarah a short while before William had died and Sarah’s ‘friend’ Mrs Carver came forward and told the Court that she’d seen the accused throw the pills that Dr Sandell had administered into the hedgerow and replace them with some others. 

Ann Mead was also called and told the Court that she’d seen Sarah ‘rolling her own’.  Even William Waldock, Sarah’s ex-fiancé, came up to bear witness – he told the Court that a short time before William’s demise Sarah had told him that she and William had had a spat and that she’d ‘do for any man that ever hit her’.

Forensic evidence was presented to the Court which showed that William had died from arsenic poisoning.  Unfortunately for Sarah, just seven years earlier James Marsh had discovered it was possible, by chemical means, to detect when arsenic had been administered and that it could be detected in human remains several years after death.  Arsenic was widely available from chemists and following James Marsh’s findings, it was discovered that so many people were being murdered by arsenic poisoning that the Arsenic Act was passed in 1851 which prevented the sale of arsenic over the counter to strangers and the names of the purchasers were placed on a register.   The arsenic also had to be mixed with soot or indigo to make it easily detectable if added to food or drink.  Sarah’s case was in fact one of the earliest Court cases in which the Marsh test was considered admissible.

The jury retired and it only took them half an hour to put forward a verdict of guilty of murder and so the Judge, Baron Alderson, passed the death sentence on Sarah and she returned to Bedford prison to await her fate.  She apparently spent her time learning to read and took to reading the Bible in order to gain some comfort.  She kept herself very much to herself and didn’t converse much with her fellow inmates.  She spent a lot of her time sobbing and wouldn’t eat which, amazingly, affected the very people who had taken against her – her neighbours – and they began to feel sorry for her. 

The day of Sarah’s execution arrived – Saturday 5 August 1843 – and a crowd of around 12,000 people assembled in the town to witness her hanging.  Bearing in mind it was the first execution to take place in Bedford for 10 years I suppose it shouldn’t have been unexpected as it probably made for a good family day out!

Sarah’s executioner was William Calcraft, one of the most famous and respected English executioners, and, other than asking Mr Calcraft to make her death swift, Sarah made no other comment.  According to reports in the press, Calcraft tied Sarah’s hands in front of her, made some adjustments to the noose, turned her to face away from the crowd and ordered the bolt to be withdrawn.  Sarah plunged through the floor and died almost instantly.

And so ended the life of Sarah Dazley at the grand age of 24, with four poisonings under her belt.  Quite an achievement.  Four poisonings I hear you utter – yes, four – one baby son, two husbands and let’s not forget the poor old pig!!

The first and possibly most important factor in this theory focuses on the medium that causes the village to erupt in accusations. Though many people have dismissed the afflicted girls as being very convincing actresses who faked all their symptoms, the accounts of their behavior and the way the village reacted to their strange illness makes it hard to dismiss their afflictions as mere acting. Linda Caporael’s research presented in “Ergotism: the Satan Loosed in Salem” presents a strong argument that the afflicted girls were suffering from convulsive ergotism. Ergot is a fungus that grows on cereal grains, especially rye, which was a staple food source in the Salem community. This fungus contains lysergic acid amide, which Linda points out, has “10 percent of the activity of a D-LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide)”, a naturally occurring psychedelic chemical. The symptoms of ergot poisoning match the strange behavior of the girls; vertigo, crawling sensations in the skin, convulsive fits, vomiting, hallucinations, painful muscle contractions, and mental disturbances. This conclusion is also strongly supported by geographical location of the potentially infected rye crop as well as the growing season at the time of the trials. The girls were mainly from the Parris family or their friends, people who were likely to have ingested rye from the same crop. The affected rye was likely grown in the western part of town (where most of the accusers of witches lived) and the weather conditions recorded in 1691 were favorable to the production of the fungus. When the girls first fell ill physicians were brought in and witchcraft hadn’t even been mentioned; interestingly it was only suspected when a neighbor of Parris, Mary Sibley, directed the making of a witch cake. This hypothesis also explains why the first three women accused of witchcraft fit the typical witch stereotype whereas later accusations were less discriminate.

Though ergotism may have started the near hysteria that ensued, there are more issues that kept tensions high in Salem. An article by Paul Boyer and Stephen Nissenbaum titled “Salem Possessed: The Social Origins of Witchcraft” highlights the economic and political causes that continued to fuel the fire under the feet of the accused. Although the first three women seemed to match a witch stereotype, in March the accusations began to move in a different direction. The scope of those accused both spread outward to neighboring areas and upward to respectable members of society. From this another pattern began to emerge. The accusers mainly reside on the western side of Salem Village, while the accused and defenders of witches mainly live on the eastern side of town. Another interesting piece of information the article provides is the recent tension between the east and west over the construction of Putnam’s church. The Putnam family in the west wanted Salem Village to have its own place of worship and many on the west side favored the idea. The residents to the east, however, did not. The reasons for this split between east and west likely had a good deal to do with economic tension; the west was underprivileged because of its distance from Salem Town and its poor quality land, while the east prospered from its proximity to Salem Town and had better land for crops. The west may also have viewed the town as a danger to their pure community because of its stronger ties with England, whose impious tendencies they sought to escape. When the Putnams gained the power of the village committee in 1689, the church was built despite the feelings of those in the east. A power struggle ensued and in 1691 the Putnams were voted off the committee and the Porters, who lived on the east side of Salem were voted in. This scenario explains the odd pattern of residence that shows on the map when plotting out where the players in this sordid game sat on the board. So, though the young girls may have been the key players in the beginning of the outbreak, once the adults became involved they likely began to use these accusations to their advantage.

Still, these two hypotheses can’t cover all the ground of this Olympic-sized event. What about those accused who had nothing to do with the political tensions at the time? John Demos’ Entertaining Satan: Witchcraft and the Culture of Early New England puts a finishing touch on the collaborative story of Salem by highlighting the character traits the accused witches tended to display. Many of the men and women accused were known for their strong displays of what were considered undesirable and sometimes scandalous personalities. They were typically outspoken and often showed a stronger sense of individualism. These were also people who were prone to conflict, less content with some of the traditional Puritan ideals. A strong example of these unwanted traits found in a witch is manifested in the form of Bridget Bishop. Depositions against her, largely from laymen, are abundant as well as descriptive in naming the qualities that would bring about her untimely execution. She owned a tavern where drinking and gambling took place at all hours of the night, was assertive with her neighbors, and most damning of all, didn’t attend religious services. The depositions given accuse her of appearing as a specter in men’s rooms at night, sending beasts to torment people, and keeping “popitts” (similar to the idea of a voodoo doll) in her cellar, among a variety of other offenses. The Puritan way of life that Salem was enveloped in was not one that favored individualism and certainly not dissent. Those who displayed these unfavorable traits posed a threat to the unity of the community; they may bring about change in a village that largely wanted to remain the same. Although Demos also makes note of a few other traits common among the accused (often childless, low class, had been accused of criminal activity of some sort), they seem to pale in comparison to the overall attitude of the individual.

On a final note, some people, like Carol Karlsen who wrote The Devil in the Shape of a Woman: Witchcraft in Colonial New England, believe gender played a role in the accusations and convictions of witches. She claims men were trying to silence and subjugate the more outspoken women to preserve the tradition of male power and inheritance. While this seems plausible to a degree, it can also be dismissed for a few important reasons. One reason is that many men were also accused of practicing witchcraft. Though clearly fewer men were accused than women, it is easy from a societal standpoint to see why without these accusations being labeled as mere misogyny. Women during this time period had far less power and influence than their male counterparts, plus religious beliefs put them at a constant disadvantage. Secondly, many women were accusing other women of witchcraft (a good point John Demos makes). Lastly, the accusers had nothing to gain if the woman was convicted other than satisfaction and given the huge number of those accused this seems highly unlikely.  

            Ergotism, politics, and public fear that lashed out towards the less favorable members of society fueled the continuation of the witchcraft trials until the fall of 1692. The trials ended as abruptly as they had begun and those who escaped execution were exonerated. How could this happen, weren’t they witches after all? Cotton Mather, the son of Increase Mather who was the leading minister at the time of the trials, offers us an explanation in his early history of New England, Magnalia Christi Americana. As the number of those accused kept rising the judges as well as some of the public began to realize that the situation was getting out of hand to the point where it was less and less believable that those accused were capable of witchcraft. The innocence of too many could not be denied. So, instead of blaming individuals, the people of Salem fell to blaming the devil instead. They concluded that the incident hadn’t been witchcraft all along, but a clever trick of the devil to turn the town against each other. That is a conclusion that can be settled on, for it was the devil, though not the one in Hell, but one that lurks in the heart of humankind itself.