I agree it can be fun to speculate.
Thanks, Joe for your response.
Actually, I don't find all the speculation that I see on this site to be very much fun. Most of it is useless and a distraction. I am however interested in novel ideas that, through further research, might lead to tentative conclusions or probabilities.
My hope was that further exploration of this (admittedly speculative) postulate might lead us somewhere. Not to a "conclusive" conclusion, because we don't have too many (or any?) of those, but to some resolution. Right now we have dozens of "elusive" threads on this site, each of which may have reached a point of near-exhaustion, but they can be useful in building a case and suggesting directions for further research, even if not proven or provable.
I do think that if we had five or ten pieces of evidence - like the possibly oversized shoes, good one! - that the postulate might rise to the level of serious consideration. I don't agree that creating a longer list of similar evidence would make it shakier, unless the evidence itself were shakier. Aggregated evidence should work like parallel electrical circuits that can carry more current, whereas you suggest it should be analogous to circuits wired in series that can carry less with each addition. I think a dozen inconclusive pieces can add up to something more conclusive, as Ric has said.
And already I see progress in your fact-based response, thank you!
1. I was aware of the loss of coordination symptom (these symptoms are describes as "like Parkinson's disease") and wondered about the Luke Field accident, but that seems like a serious overreach.
2. You indicate that you believe that brain symptoms due to mercury poisoning would be concurrent with loss of coordination. I wonder if the effects are so predictable. I am still looking for some good case studies of people with mercury poisoning.
3. We know that the round-the-world flight put AE in a very sunny environment for an extended period, and that the windshield of the Electra would not block UV. She also was interacting with media continuously during the trip. All are reasons that she might have increased her use of a freckle cream.
4. AE may have been one of very, very few women of that era that:
- had very fair, sun-sensitive skin,
- had freckles,
- were very concerned about their appearance,
- needed to look good for professional reasons,
- were routinely and continuously exposed to extremely strong sunlight, and
- had sufficient income and leisure time to be able to seek out and buy (or have compounded) unusual cosmetics.
Thus it is unlikely that there were many (or any) other women of that era that might have used a freckle or skin cream with the frequency and weight that AE may have. If we were to find a single case in the 1930s of a woman poisoned by the mercury found in a skin-lightening lotion, it seems to me we would find Amelia.
In any case, we now have good reason (physical evidence) to believe that AE may have repeatedly applied a highly toxic substance to her skin. The "freckle cream" jar works both ways: it is not only an indication that AE may have been on Niku, but it is also an indication that AE may have routinely and possibly for years been exposed to a bioaccumulative poison, a poison notorious for (among other things) its effects on mood and cognition.
Jon