Why Fish Don't Exist

Chapter 9 starts with a description of Jane Stanford’s near-poisoning in 1905. While preparing for bed in her San Francisco townhouse, Stanford took a drink of water taken from the usual jug and noticed an unusually bitter taste. She immediately made herself vomit and called for help. Her assistants arrived, and after calming Stanford down, took a sample of the water. A chemist later confirmed that it contained traces of strychnine, a lethal poison. An investigation ensued, but police never found the poisoner.

Seeking comfort after her distressing experience, Stanford left for Hawaii. One day, after a picnic of gingerbread, sandwiches, and chocolates, she settled into bed, asking her assistant, Bertha, for her usual medications of baking soda and a cascara capsule. Two hours later, Stanford’s cries for help awakened the assistants. They found Stanford kneeling and struggling to contain her body. With her jaw clenched, she said she thought she had been poisoned again. A doctor arrived to help, but Stanford’s body grew increasingly rigid, and she died a short time later, at 11:30pm. More doctors arrived and noted a bitter taste in the baking soda in the bottle. Toxicologists who examined Stanford’s intestines. “They found traces of strychnine in both” (109).