Jane Austin could die from a mouse poisoning, scientists found out

Literary scholars from the British library organized a study of glasses that belonged to Jane Austin, and concluded - the famous writer was blinded by the end of her life and, apparently, died of arsenic poisoning.

In the library in excellent condition, three pairs of points that the author of pride and prejudice used were preserved. When checking with the help of a dioptimeter, it turned out that during the wearing of the first pair, Austin's farsightedness amounted to +1.75 diopters to each eye, and by the third pair it grew to +5, that is, by the time of death, she hardly read and wrote, the Russian Air Force service reports.

“There is an assumption that she could accidentally be poisoned by such a heavy metal as arsenic. We know that arsenic poisoning can cause cataracts. The mouse often became part of some drugs for various diseases, such as rheumatism, which, as we know, suffered from Jane Austin,” says Sandra Tappen British library curator.

Researchers admit that they do not know whether the glasses in the turtle rim were registered with a writer living in Steventon or she acquired them herself. Library employees hope that the OPALISTS will help them continue research.

Recall that Jane Austin, who gave the world six novels about the life and morals of English society, died at the age of 41 in 1817. In the late XVIII - early XIX centuries, heavy metals, including arsenic, were part of some drugs. So, for example, arsenic was considered a stimulating agent. According to one version, Napoleon also died from a mouse, which suffered from the rotten climate of the island of St. Elena.