ACQUETTA

[ It. , Little Water. ] Syn. Aqua Toffana ; A. Toffania ; Acquetta di napoli dell a Toffana, It. A celebrated poison, prepared by an Italian woman named Toffano, or Tophana, and in great request in Rome about the middle of the 17th century. The composition of this poison has been a matter of frequent controversy. Pope Alexander VII, in his proclamation, described it as “aquafortis distilled into arsenic.” This would produce a concentrated solution of arsenic acid. The Emperor Charles VI, who was governor of Naples during Toffano’s trial, declared to his physician, Garelli, that it was arsenic (arsenious acid) di olved in aqua cymbalariá . According to Gerarde this cymbalarià was an aquatic species of pennywort, highly poisonous. The only objection to the latter statement is the smallne of the dose, regard being had to the comparative insolubility of arsenious acid; but if the woman Toffano prepared two poisons, as is probable from history—one, a single dose of which was fatal, and another, of which the dose required repetition, and which was more gradual in its activity—the discrepancy will be at once removed.