ts of these highly skilled pro fcssionals must be m large part attributed not only to years of careful refinement of their ait, but to the tutelage of such repositories of conning as The Assassin's Handbook The handbook was divided into four major parts, the first dealing with poisons-a lega cy from the first version-the second with other weapons and their uses, and the third section with a discussion of strategies and odds, as well as methods of circumventing the Great Convention, and the rules of kanly The fourth section of the Handbook de scribed certain professional standards and rules of prudence In the section devoted to poisons, the various po^-abilities of chaumurky and basiha receive the greatest attention Chaumurky was a genera! term for any poison administered in a drink and was thus a logical agent for murder for a political world heavily dependent on festivals and ceremony Basiha is a poison which aUs swiftly when injected into the bloodstream and which was therefore often placed on the tip of a knife or sword Since basiha was also nearly invisible to the naked eye, it was a favorite with many professional assassins in the Old Impenum though its use depended usually on some context where the rules of hand to hand combat would apply Yet another poison of note discussed in the manual was knmmon, a gas capable of being earned in a tray capsule, which upon its release might well prove lethal to the occu pants of a large room, even an auditorium Students of the history of the Atreides family will recall that Duke Leto was armed by his traitorous physician with a tooth containing knminon When Duke Leto depressed the false tooth, at his last audience with Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, the expanding cloud killed the baron s master assassin and very nearly brought about the baron s death Finally a poison of particular interest be cause of its painful side effects is given a bnef but special eminence in the Handbook Most of the poisons m the book were \alued because of their switt action, and their ability to be disguised But one seldom-used poison zenobia or the 'throat of hell " was highlj respected because of the excruciating pain it imposed on the victim when ingested m food or dnnk Zenobia was recommended for those special occasions when the prospective victim was completely at the assassin's mercy, and the killer wanted to ASSASSIN S HANDBOOK 40 ASSASSIN S HANDBOOK impose a remarkably horrifying demise on his-and often her-enemy Generally the professional assassin was advised to eschew personal feeling and to approach his work with a suitable objectivity and craftsmanship beyond mere vulgar expressions of personality, but the Handbook acknowledged that there were some occasions when even the professional using the logical approach stressed by mentat training might well find it pleasurable to allow himself some of the enjoyment of personal revenge The second section of the Handbook devot ed itself to die discussion