Three degrees of inquisition

QUESTION When someone is being interrogated, why do we say they are getting ‘the third degree’? The ‘ third degree’ is usually associated with Dublin-born U.S. immigrant Thomas F. Byrnes (1842-1910).

his family moved to New York when he was a child and he trained as a gas fitter and later worked as a firefighter.

Byrnes joined the police force in 1863 and quickly rose to prominence after working on several high-profile cases, notably the 1878 Manhattan Savings Bank robbery.

Byrnes took this robbery as a personal affront and tracked down the criminals through thorough, detective work. he was made detective bureau chief in 1880.

he had a reputation for his tough, sometimes brutal, methods of extracting information from suspects, dubbed ‘ the third degree’. The first degree involved verbal persuasion, the second outright intimidation and the third and final stage was physical pain.

Under his stewardship, the New York detective force was increased from 28 to 40 men and the number of arrests doubled to about 800 a year. In 1882, he obtained legislative approval for changes in the department, which gave him complete control of the force.

In 1886, he instituted the Mulberry Street morning parade of arrested suspects before the assembled detectives in the hope they would recognise suspects. Also in that year, he published Professional Criminals Of America, a book of photographs with descriptions of wanted criminals and their crimes, which he described as his ‘rogues’ gallery’.

The use of the ‘third degree’ was outlawed in the U.S. in the Thirties, but Byrnes was heralded by reporters at the time as ‘the greatest crime-buster in the history of the New York City police force’.

even today he is still credited by many as having changed the face of police work for ever. Leanne Douglas, Durham.

QUESTION Arsenic was taken by 18th and 19th-century English women to make their skin look beautiful, and it has long been used in a variety of ways, even for medicinal purposes. Does anyone know the full story? FUrTher to the earlier answers, in the Fifties my father suffered badly with eczema.

he was referred to a dermatologist, who prescribed a course of arsenic. The dose was slowly built up over 12 months until he was taking enough to kill a person.

The treatment was successful; his skin was completely clear and the eczema never returned.

Robert S. Miles, Bedworth, Warks.