cyanide

The blue history of cyanide

dblum | February 26, 2010

Cyanides are old poisons, with a uniquely long, dark history, probably because they grow so bountifully around us. They flavor the leaves of the yew tree, flowers of the cherry laurel, the kernels of peach and apricot pits, the fat pale crunch of bitter almonds. They ooze in secretions of insects like millipedes, weave a toxic thread through cyanobacteria, mass in the floating blue-green algae along the edges of the murkier ponds and lakes, live in plants threaded through forests and fields. But cyanide didn't really become a widely used poison until the 18th century, beginning with some…