It is certain that during the sixteenth century, and the years that preceded and followed it, poisoning was brought to a perfection unknown to modern… - Honoré de Balzac

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It is certain that during the sixteenth century, and the years that preceded and followed it, poisoning was brought to a perfection unknown to modern chemistry, as history itself will prove. Italy, the cradle of modern science, was, at this period, the inventor and mistress of these secrets, many of which are now lost.