Ever since Napoleon Bonaparte died in St Helena in 1821 there have been arguments over whether he was poisoned or died from gastric cancer. According to a report in Science for May 26, the issue was raised again in Paris at a meeting of the International Napoleonic Society on May 5, the 179th anniversary of Napoleon's death. Here it was argued that the dictator was murdered by arsenic introduced into his wine. The alternative view has been that Napoleon was slowly poisoned by emanations from the arsenic pigments present in the wallpaper of his residence, under the influence of damp and moulds.
Hair analysed by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigations in 1995, and claimed to be taken from Napoleon's head, was found to contain 20 to 50 parts per million of arsenic. The normal content is about one ppm. Reports current at the time of Napoleon's terminal illness mention that he complained of light sensitisation, loss of hair, sleep problems and neurological disturbances, all consistent with arsenical poisoning. And post-mortem reports indicate that at the time of his death he was fat, which was inconsistent with a diagnosis of gastric cancer.
However, these arguments have been dismissed by other students of the case. There is no proof that the hair specimens tested actually came from Napoleon. Important signs such as leathery texture of palms and soles of feet were not present. And eight doctors at the time made post-mortem reports agreeing that extensive stomach cancer was present at death. Further hair samples have been acquired, but useful tests for DNA identity call for more than is at present available. There have been suggestions, not adopted, that Napoleon should be disinterred from Les Invalides in a last attempt to settle the matter one way or another.