1970/04/02 by Franklin K. Paddock, Chauncey C. Loomis, Auseklis K. Perkons · 1 citation
Environmental Science · Arts and Humanities · Medicine · #Health, Environment, Cognitive Aging #Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies #Medicine #Inquest #Autopsy #General surgery #Archaeology #History #Internal medicine
paper · doi:10.1056/nejm197004022821406
openalex publication_date 1970/04/02 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
Abstract On November 8, 1871, the American explorer Charles Francis Hall died in his cabin on the S.S. Polaris anchored to the shore of northwest Greenland. He had suffered from gastrointestinal and Central-nervous-system symptoms that recurred over a two-week period until his death. He accused many of the ship's company of poisoning him. In August, 1968, an autopsy was performed on the body at the Greenland burial site. Samples of hair, bone and fingernail were analyzed for arsenic by neutron-activation analysis, which showed markedly increased levels in the portion of the hair and fingernails grown during the last two weeks of Hall's life.