ancient Chinese poison, one of many potions residing in that blurry historical space between fact and legend. Presumably, a variety of venomous creatures such as snakes, lizards, scorpions, and insects were confned in a container and left to devour each other until only one was left. This survivor thus concentrated in its body the toxins of all its former cell mates and the venom extracted from it was believed to be superbly potent.