>My question is, what is quicksilver and was she trying to poison her >husband? this is the first reference I have seen to this... > >Fran (aka Derby) See <http://poynter.indiana.edu/sas/lb/syphilis.html>: "Mercury, applied as an ointment to syphilitic lesions, is the earliest known chemical treatment for syphilis. As early as the late-fifteenth century, mercury was administered both topically and orally, and remained the treatment of choice for more than three centuries. In the mid-nineteenth century, mercury was still widely used by trained physicians."