Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-8bhkd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-05T19:37:26.687Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Poison Weapons Taboo: Biology, Culture, and Policy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 May 2016

Leonard A. Cole
Leonard A. Cole*
Affiliation:
Rutgers University—Newark, USA

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Although the threat of chemical and biological warfare has grown, the actual use of poisons as weapons of war or terrorism remains rare. The reason rests in part on a long-standing taboo about poison weapons. This article explores possible biological and cultural explanations for the taboo; surveys the use of poisons by other species, by tribal groups, and by ancient societies; and considers the importance of snakes in developing attitudes about poisons. Reluctance to use poison weapons may have had its origin in the linkage of medicine, poisons, and mysticism common in societies everywhere. Whatever the reasons, however, antipathy to poison weapons is deep-seated, and most nations have embraced the norm that deems these weapons morally repugnant. Policies should be sought that enhance this attitude and therefore make the use of such weapons less likely.

Type
Biological and Chemical Weapons
Information
Politics and the Life Sciences , Volume 17 , Issue 2 , September 1998 , pp. 119 - 132
Copyright
Copyright © Association for Politics and the Life Sciences 

References

Agosta, W. (1996). Bombardier Beetles and Fever Trees: A Close-up Look at Chemical Warfare and Signals in Animals and Plants. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.Google Scholar
Allbutt, T.C. (1921). Greek Medicine in Rome. London: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Atkinson, D.T. (1962). Magic, Myth and Medicine. New York: Premier Books.Google Scholar
Biological Weapons Convention (1972). Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on Their Destruction. Opened for signature at London, Moscow, and Washington, DC, April 10.Google Scholar
Blakeslee, S. (1997). “Recipe for a Brain: Cups of Genes and Dash of Experience?” The New York Times (November 4):F4.Google Scholar
Bohannan, P., ed. (1967). Law and Warfare. Garden City, NY: National History Press.Google Scholar
Booth, W. (1989). “Warfare over Yanomamo Indians.” Science 243:1138–40.Google Scholar
Bullock, P.Y. (1997). “Evidence of Cannibalism?” Science 277:1745–46.Google Scholar
Carneiro, R. (1990). “Chiefdom-Level Warfare as Exemplified in Fiji and the Cauca Valley.” In Haas, J. (ed.), The Anthropology of War. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Carpenter, E.S. and Hassrick, R.B. (1947). “Some Notes on Arrow Poisoning among the Tribes of the Eastern Woodlands.” Proceedings of the Delaware Institute of Science 10:42–52.Google Scholar
Casarett, L.J. (1975). “Origin and Scope of Toxicology.” In Casarett, L.J. and Doull, J. (eds.), Toxicology: The Basic Science of Poisons. New York: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Chagnon, N.A. (1992). Yanomamo: The Last Days of Eden. New York: Harcourt Brace.Google Scholar
Chemical Weapons Convention (1993). Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on Their Destruction. Opened for signature at Paris, January 13.Google Scholar
Clinton, B. (1998). Transcript of Address to the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Pentagon Staff. The New York Times (February 18):A-9.Google Scholar
Codrington, R.H. (1890). “On Poisoned Arrows in Melanesia.” Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland 19:215–19.Google Scholar
Cole, L.A. (1994). “Public Rejection of Mass Weapons Wanes, Rebuilds.” Forum for Applied Research and Public Policy 9:104–16.Google Scholar
Cole, L.A. (1995). “At Home with Biological and Chemical Weapons.” Medicine and Global Survival 2:182–83.Google Scholar
Cole, L.A. (1996). “The Specter of Biological Weapons.” Scientific American 275 (December):60–65.Google Scholar
Cole, L.A. (1998). The Eleventh Plague: The Politics of Biological and Chemical Warfare. New York: W.H. Freeman.Google Scholar
Crossette, B. (1998). “UN Tells Iraq Secrecy May Imperil Arms Deal.” New York Times (June 19):A10.Google Scholar
Davey, G.C.L. (1995a). “Preparedness and Phobias: Specific Evolved Associations or a Generalized Expectancy Bias?” Behavioral and Brain Sciences 18:289–97.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davey, G.C.L. (1995b). “Expectancy Bias and Phobias: Accounting for the Uneven Distribution of Fears and the Characteristics of Clinical Phobias.” Behavioral and Brain Sciences 18:315–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
David, P. (1997). “Principal Actions of Venoms and Their Symptoms.” In Bauchot, R.(ed.), Snakes: A Natural History. New York: Sterling.Google Scholar
Dawkins, R. (1976). The Selfish Gene. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Dean, J. et al. (1990). “Defensive Spray of the Bombardier Beetle: A Biological Pulse Jet.” Science 248:1219–21.Google Scholar
Decker, W.J. (1987). “Introduction and History.” In Haley, T.J. and Berndt, W.O. (eds.), Toxicology. Washington, DC: Hemisphere Publishing.Google Scholar
Doniger, W. and Smith, B.K., trans. (1991). The Laws of Manu. New York: Penguin Books.Google Scholar
Doull, J. and Bruce, M.C. (1986). “Origin and Scope of Toxicology.” In Klaassen, C.D., Amdur, M.O., and Doull, J. (eds.), Toxicology: The Basic Science of Poisons. 3rd edition. New York: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Edelmann, R.J. (1995). “Innateness versus Expectation in Human Fears: Causal versus Maintaining Factors? Behavioral and Brain Sciences 18:298–99.Google Scholar
Eibl-Eibesfeldt, I. (1961). “The Fighting Behavior of Animals.” Scientific American 205 (December): 112–22.Google Scholar
Eisner, T. and Meinwald, J. (1966). “Defensive Secretions of Arthropods.” Science 153:1341–50.Google Scholar
Encyclopedia of World Cultures (1994). Volume 7. Boston: G.K. Hall.Google Scholar
Encyclopedia of World Cultures (1996). Volume 10. Boston: G.K. Hall.Google Scholar
Ferguson, R.B. (1995). Yanomami Warfare: A Political History. Santa Fe, NM: School of American Research Press.Google Scholar
Ferguson, R.B., ed. (1984). Warfare, Culture, and Environment. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Ferguson, R.B. with Farragher, L.E. (1988). The Anthropology of War: A Bibliography. New York: Occasional Papers of the Harry Guggenheim Foundation.Google Scholar
Fourcade, P. (1997). “Mythology.” In Bauchot, R. (ed.), Snakes: A Natural History. New York: Sterling.Google Scholar
Galef, B.G. (1989). “Laboratory Studies of Naturally-Occurring Feeding Behaviors: Pitfalls, Progress and Problems in Ethoexperimental Analysis.” In Blanchard, R.J. et al. (eds.), Ethoexperimental Approaches to the Study of Behavior. Boston: Kluwer Academic.Google Scholar
Geneva Protocol (1925). Protocol for the Prohibition of the Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or Other Gases, and of Bacteriological Methods of Warfare. Signed at Geneva, June 17.Google Scholar
Gentili, A. (1612). The Three Books of the Laws of War. Rolfe, J.C., translator (1933). Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Gibbons, A. (1997). “Archeologists Rediscover Cannibals.” Science 277:635–37.Google Scholar
Gluckman, M. (1982). Politics, Law and Ritual in Tribal Society. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.Google Scholar
Gould, J.L. and Gould, C.G. (1995). The Honey Bee. New York: Scientific American Library.Google Scholar
Grotius, H. (1625). The Law of War and Peace. Kelsey, F., translator (1925). New York: Bobbs-Merrill.Google Scholar
Guthrie, D. (1946). A History of Medicine. Philadelphia: L.B. Lippincott.Google Scholar
Haas, J., ed. (1990). The Anthropology of War. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Harris, M. (1990). Our Kind: Who We Are, Where We Came From, Where We Are Going. New York: Harper Perennial.Google Scholar
Harris, R. and Paxman, J. (1982). A Higher Form of Killing: The Secret Story of Chemical and Biological Warfare. New York: Hill and Wang.Google Scholar
Hay, R. (1990). Humanitarian Ceasefires: An Examination of Their Potential Contribution to the Resolution of Conflict. Working Paper 28. Ottawa: Canadian Institute for International Peace and Security. July 17.Google Scholar
Hodgson, E. and Levi, P.E. (1987). A Textbook of Modern Toxicology. New York: Elsevier.Google Scholar
Hölldobler, B. and Wilson, E.O. (1990). The Ants. Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Holum, J.D. (1994). “The Clinton Administration and the Chemical Weapons Convention: Need for Early Ratification.” In Roberts, B. (ed.), Ratifying the Chemical Weapons Convention. Washington, DC: Center for Strategic and International Studies.Google Scholar
Huffman, M.A. and Seifu, M. (1989). “Observations on the Illness and Consumption of a Possibly Medicinal Plant Vernonia amygdalina (Del.), by a Wild Chimpanzee in the Mahale Mountains National Park, Tanzania.” Primates 30:51–63.Google Scholar
Hull, H.F. (1997). “Pax polio.” Science 275:40–41.Google Scholar
Jenkins, B.M. (1997). “Understanding the Link between Motives and Methods.” In Roberts, B. (ed.), Terrorism with Chemical and Biological Weapons. Washington, DC: Chemical and Biological Arms Control Institute.Google Scholar
Jisaka, M. et al. (1992). “Antichistosomal Activities of Sesquiterpene Lactones and Steroid Glucosides from Vernonia amygdala, Possibly Used by Wild Chimpanzees against Parasite-related Diseases.” Bioscience, Biotechnology, Biochemistry 56:845–56.Google Scholar
Jones, S. (1997). “The Set within the Skull.” The New York Review of Books (November 6):13–16.Google Scholar
Karsten, R. (1967). “Blood Revenge and War among the Jibaro Indians of Eastern Ecuador.” In Bohannan, P. (ed.), Law and Warfare. Garden City, NY: National History Press.Google Scholar
Keeley, L.H. (1996). War before Civilization: The Myth of the Peaceful Savage. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
La Chard, L.W. (1905). “The Arrow-Poisons of Northern Nigeria.” Journal of the African Society 5:22–27.Google Scholar
Landtman, G. (1927). The Kiwai Papuans of British New Guinea. London: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Lederberg, J. (1995). Remarks at U.S. Public Health Service. Proceedings of the Seminar on Responding to the Consequences of Chemical and Biological Terrorism, July 11--14, 1995. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.Google Scholar
Leitenberg, M. (1995). Statement to U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. Global Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction: Hearing before the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. 104th Congress, 1st session.Google Scholar
Lizot, J. (1985). Tales of the Yanomami: Daily Life in the Venezuelan Forest. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Loomis, T.A. (1974). Essentials of Toxicology. 2nd edition. Philadelphia: Lea and Febiger.Google Scholar
Lorenz, K. (1966). On Aggression. New York: Harcourt Brace.Google Scholar
Lu, F.C. (1985). Basic Toxicology: Fundamentals, Target Organs, and Risk Assessments. New York: Hemisphere Publication Corp.Google Scholar
Lumsden, C.J. and Wilson, E.O. (1983). Promethean Fire: Reflections on the Origin of Mind. Cambridge, MA; Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Maimonides, M. (1966). In Muntner, S. (ed.), The Medical Writings of Moses Maimonides, Volume 2: Treatise on Poisons and Their Antidotes. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott.Google Scholar
Malinowski, B. (1936). “The Deadly Issue.” The Atlantic Monthly 158 (December):659–69.Google Scholar
Mandelbaum, M. (1981). The Nuclear Revolution: International Politics before and after Hiroshima. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Mariscal, R.N. (1974). “Nematocysts.” In Muscatane, L. and Lenhoff, H.M. (eds.), Coelenterate Biology: Reviews and New Perspectives. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Marshall, L. (1976). 777e Kung of Nyae Nyae. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Meggitt, M. (1977). Blood Is Their Argument: Warfare among the Mae Enga Tribesmen of the New Guinea Highlands. Palo Alto, CA: Mayfield Publishing.Google Scholar
Mineka, S. and Cook, M. (1995). “Expectancy Bias as Sole or Partial Account of Selective Associations?” Behavioral and Brain Sciences 18:307–309.Google Scholar
Minton, S.A. Jr. and Minton, M.R. (1980). Venomous Reptiles. Revised edition. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons.Google Scholar
Moon, J.E.V.C. (1993). “Controlling Chemical and Biological Weapons through World War II.” In Burns, R.D. (ed.), Encyclopedia of Arms Control and Disarmament. Volume 1. New York: Scribner's.Google Scholar
Mundkur, B. (1983). The Cult of the Serpent: An Interdisciplinary Survey of Its Manifestations and Origins. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.Google Scholar
Muntner, S. (1966). “Snakes and Scorpions in Biblical and Talmudic Literature.” In Muntner, S. (ed.), The Medical Writings of Moses Maimonides, Volume 2: Treatise on Poisons and Their Antidotes. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott.Google Scholar
Murdock, G.P. (1934). Our Primitive Contemporaries. New York: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Newton, P.N. and Nishida, T. (1990). “Possible Buccal Administration of Herbal Drugs by Wild Chimpanzees, Pan troglodytes.” Animal Behaviour 39:798–800.Google Scholar
Öhman, A. (1995). “Eggs in More Than One Basket: Mediating Mechanisms between Evolution and Phobias.” Behavioral and Brain Sciences 18:310–11.Google Scholar
Öhman, A., Fredrikson, M., and Hugdahl, K. (1978). “Orienting and Defensive Responding in the Electrodermal System: Palmar-Dorsal Differences and Recovery Rate during Conditioning to Potentially Phobic Stimuli.” Psychophysiology 15:93–101.Google Scholar
O'Connell, R.L. (1989). Of Arms and Men: A History of War, Weapons, and Aggression. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Pinker, S. (1997). How the Mind Works. New York: W.W. Norton.Google Scholar
Price, R.M. (1997). The Chemical Weapons Taboo. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Purver, R. (1995). Chemical and Biological Terrorism: The Threat According to the Open Literature. Ottawa: Canadian Security Intelligence Service.Google Scholar
Rage, J.C. (1997). “Snake Diversity.” In Bauchot, R. (ed.), Snakes: A Natural History. New York: Sterling.Google Scholar
Riches, D., ed. (1986). The Anthropology of Violence. New York: Basil Blackwell.Google Scholar
Robinson, J.P.P. (1993). “Origins of the Chemical Weapons Convention.” In Morel, B. and Olson, K. (eds.), Shadows and Substance: The Chemical Weapons Convention. Boulder, CO: Westview.Google Scholar
Rosenhan, D.L. and Seligman, M.E.P. (1995). Abnormal Psychology. 3rd edition. New York: W.W. Norton.Google Scholar
Rozin, P. and Kalat, J.W. (1971). “Specific Hungers and Poison Avoidance as Adaptive Specializations of Learning.” Psychological Review 78:459–85.Google Scholar
Saint-Girons, M.C. (1997). “Snakes' Enemies.” In Bauchot, R. (ed.), Snakes: A Natural History. New York: Sterling.Google Scholar
Schell, A.M. and Dawson, M.E. (1995). “Responses Conditioned to Fear-Relevant Stimuli Survive Extinction of the Expectancy of the UCS.” Behavioral and Brain Sciences 18:312–13.Google Scholar
Schneider, M.L. (1991). Address to the Conference on Humanitarian Ceasefires: Peacebuilding for Children. Ottawa, November 25.Google Scholar
Seligman, M.E.P. (1971). “Phobias and Preparedness.” Behavior Therapy 2:307–20.Google Scholar
Sigerist, H.E. (1951). A History of Medicine. Volume 1. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Sigerist, H.E. (1961). A History of Medicine. Volume 2. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
SIPRI (Stockholm International Peace Research Institute) (1971). The Problem of Chemical and Biological Warfare: The Rise of CB Weapons. Volume 1. New York: Humanities Press.Google Scholar
SIPRI (Stockholm International Peace Research Institute) (1973). The Problem of Chemical and Biological Warfare: The Rise of CBW and the Law of War. Volume 3. New York: Humanities Press.Google Scholar
Steam, E.W. and Steam, A.E. (1945). The Effects of Smallpox on the Destiny of the Amerindian. Boston: Bruce Humphries.Google Scholar
Sun-tzu (1993). Sun-tsu: The Art of Warfare. Translated by Ames, R.New York: Ballantine Books.Google Scholar
Takasaki, H. and Hunt, K. (1987). “Further Medicinal Plant Consumption in Wild Chimpanzees?” African Study Monographs 8:125–28.Google Scholar
Tanakh---The Holy Scriptures (1985). New York: The Jewish Publication Society.Google Scholar
The Teaching of Buddha (1988). 4th edition. Tokyo: Buddhist Promoting Foundation.Google Scholar
Thomas, E.M. (1959). The Harmless People. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.Google Scholar
Török, T.J. et al. (1997). “A Large Community Outbreak of Salmonellosis Caused by Intentional Contamination of Restaurant Salad Bars.” Journal of the American Medical Association 278:389–95.Google Scholar
Toth, T. (1997). “A Window of Opportunity for the BWC Ad Hoc Group.” The CBW Conventions Bulletin, No. 37 (September): 1–5.Google Scholar
Turney-High, H.H. (1971). Primitive War: Its Practice and Concepts. 2nd edition. Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press.Google Scholar
United Nations (1983). Status of Multilateral Arms Regulation and Disarmament Agreements. 2nd edition: 1982.New York: United Nations.Google Scholar
United Nations (1991). Security Council Resolution No. 687. April 3.Google Scholar
United Nations (1996). Security Council. Report by the Executive Chairman of the Special Commission. S/1996/848. October 11.Google Scholar
United Nations (1998). Security Council. Letter from the Executive Chairman of the Special Commission. S/1998/308. April 8.Google Scholar
U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment (1993). Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.Google Scholar
U.S. Public Health Service (1995). Proceedings of the Seminar on Responding to the Consequences of Chemical and Biological Terrorism, July 11--14, 1995. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.Google Scholar
de Vattel, E. (1758). The Law of Nations. Chitty, J., translator (1863). Philadelphia: T. and J.W. Johnson.Google Scholar
Vittachi, V.T. (1993). Between the Guns: Children as a Zone for Peace. London: Hodder and Stoughton.Google Scholar
Ward, R. (1795). An Enquiry into the Foundation and History of the Law of Nations in Europe from the Time of the Greeks and Romans to the Age of Grotius. Volume 1. London: Butterworth.Google Scholar
Warner, E. (1967). “A Liberian Ordeal.” In Bohannan, P. (ed.), Law and Warfare. Garden City, NY: National History Press.Google Scholar
Whitehead, N.L. (1990). “The Snake Warriors---Sons of the Tiger's Teeth: A Descriptive Analysis of Carib Warfare, ca. 1500--1820.” In Haas, J. (ed.), The Anthropology of War. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
William of Malmesbury (1991). Gesta Regum Anglorum. Translated by Stevenson, J., William of Malmesbury: A History of the Norman Kings. Dyfed, Wales: Llanerch Enterprises.Google Scholar
Wilson, E.O. (1975). Sociobiology: The New Synthesis. Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Wilson, E.O. (1984). Biophilia. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar