More than a century after his untimely demise, there are still rumors and legends about how the author met his end. Many of the writer's horror stories were based on a haunted reality. From television shows and films to comic books and sports, "The Raven" remains not only one of Poe's most famous works but also one of the most sampled and parodied.
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It may be logical to assume that alcohol played a role in Poe's death, given that it intermittently surfaced as a negative influence during his adult life. But how does it explain why Poe was wearing somebody else's clothes?
As his close friend J. Poe died in town here at the hospital from the effects of a debauch. He fell in with some companion here who seduced him to the bottle, which it was said he had renounced some time ago. The consequence was fever, delirium, and madness, and in a few days a termination of his sad career in the hospital. Poor Poe! A bright but unsteady light has been awfully quenched. Though the theory that Poe's drinking lead to his death fails to explain his five-day disappearance, or his second-hand clothes on October 3, it was nonetheless a popular theory propagated by Snodgrass after Poe's death.
Snodgrass, a member of the temperance movement, gave lectures across the country, blaming Poe's death on binge drinking.
Modern science, however, has thrown a wrench into Snodgrasses talking points: samples of Poe's hair from after his death show low levels of lead, explains Semtner, which is an indication that Poe remained faithful to his vow of sobriety up until his demise.
In , public health researcher Albert Donnay argued that Poe's death was a result of carbon monoxide poisoning from coal gas that was used for indoor lighting during the 19th century.
Donnay took clippings of Poe's hair and tested them for certain heavy metals that would be able to reveal the presence of coal gas. The test was inconclusive, leading biographers and historians to largely discredit Donnay's theory.
While Donnay's test didn't reveal levels of heavy metal consistent with carbon monoxide poisoning, the tests did reveal elevated levels of mercury in Poe's system months before his death. According to Semtner, Poe's mercury levels were most likely elevated as a result of a cholera epidemic he'd been exposed to in July of , while in Philadelphia. Poe's doctor prescribed calomel, or mercury chloride.
Mercury poisoning, Semtner says, could help explain some of Poe's hallucinations and delirium before his death. However, the levels of mercury found in Poe's hair, even at their highest, are still 30 times below the level consistent with mercury poisoning.
In , Dr. Michael Benitez was participating in a clinical pathologic conference where doctors are given patients, along with a list of symptoms, and instructed to diagnose and compare with other doctors as well as the written record.
The symptoms of the anonymous patient E. According to E. Moran, E. Within four days—the median length of survival after the onset of serious rabies symptoms—E.
It was Poe whose death the Maryland cardiologist had diagnosed as a clear case of rabies, a fairly common virus in the 19th century. Running counter to any prevailing theories at the time, Benitez's diagnosis ran in the September issue of the Maryland Medical Journal. Live TV. This Day In History. History Vault. Recommended for you.
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