Visit The Power of Poison exhibition for more puzzling cases and to enjoy a live presentation about an historical murder-by-poison and the rise of toxicology. Then, use clues to solve three poisoning mysteries.  ©AMNH/D. Finnin

The American Museum of Natural History is showing The Power of Poison, an exhibition that explores poison's paradoxical roles in nature, human health and history, literature, and myth. Whether as a defense against predators, a source of magical strength, or a lethal weapon used as lifesaving medical treatment, the story of poison is surprising at every turn. Inviting visitors to explore some of history's most puzzling poisoning cases, the exhibition also includes an interactive section where eyewitness accounts and clues can be used to solve poisoning mysteries and a theater where live presenters share dramatic stories of poisonings and forensic detection.

Ubiquitous in the natural world, poison can be found in the brightly hued longwing butterflies of Central and South America or the seemingly innocuous skin of a mango in a New York City kitchen. In both cases, the toxins are part of a dynamic defense system that plants and animals deploy against predators. (In fact, many familiar foods we encounter daily — cinnamon, chili peppers, coffee, and tea — owe their taste, smell, or stimulant effects to defensive chemicals that can be toxic in large doses.)

Examining a variety of evolutionary strategies — including the linked escalations in the strength of a predator's poison and the resistance of its prey — the exhibition will highlight many toxic species, including live golden poison frogs, in a walk-through diorama of Colombia's dense Chocó lowland forest.

Humans have long marveled at the secrets of poisons and sought to detect their presence and protect against their toxic powers, as many fascinating artifacts on view will reveal. Prized objects included celadon dishes, believed to detect poisons; fossilized shark teeth, thought to be dragon tongues that could "purify" food of deadly compounds; and fossilized sea animals called crinoids, believed to be antidotes to common poisons.

Lucrezia Borgia*

For millennia, plant and animal toxins also have been used in treatments for a myriad of medical conditions. Studying how poisons affect human cells also helps scientists figure out how to protect, repair, and heal them. For example, yew trees are so poisonous that eating a handful of needles can kill a person, yet a compound found in the bark has been proven to be an effective anti-cancer agent. The search for new medicines has barely begun, with thousands of toxins now being studied as potentially lifesaving treatments.

The pursuit of poison’s toxic powers is at the heart of countless fairy tales and legends from around the world. The exhibition features several, from the myth of Hercules and the Hydra, animated and projected onto ceramic Greek urns, to life-sized dioramas of famous stories, including the trio of witches in William Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Others, such as the diorama illustrating the traditional tale of China’s first emperor ingesting mercury to gain immortality, attest to the fascination with poisons across place and time.

*Lucrezia Borgia (1480–1519) was a member of a prominent and fiercely ambitious family in Renaissance Italy. She was also an alleged poisoner who, according to contemporary accounts, wore a hollow ring with a stash of arsenic inside. Today, historians believe she may have been an innocent woman, wrongfully blamed for the crimes of her treacherous family, who murdered nobles and clergy with a poison called la cantarella. Although the recipe is lost, modern scientists think la cantarella may have contained arsenic and cantharidin, an extremely toxic compound secreted by blister beetles.

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