The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1872-08-01
HeHIjSt'S Story.

am chemist. Many, doubtless
would find it difficult TO define what
the duties OF a chemist are, if asked
To such, l say, chemist is a collect
or of facts. It is the duty of his life tC
aid in unmasking, for the benefit o.
mankind, the good and evil towering
even in the air we breath, burrowing
in the earth we tread, mingling in
| the food We eat and swimming in the
water we drink. Then, again, the
law waits on the chemist. A human
being has passed suddenly away
Somebody thinks there has been foul
play. The chemist examines the
body of the victim. The law listens,
hat in hand, to science. The suspect
ed party trembles in anticipation.
The oracular lips OF the chemist move,
henames one of the fearful list of poi
sons. 1t is either strychnine, prussiC
acid, or that deadly oil of bitter al
monds. The law then puts on its hat,
takes the decision into court, and
hangs the prisoner.
In short, the chemist must know
the why's and wherefOres of every
thing in the phenomena of life, as
far as feeble man can know. The
composition of the ocean lie must be
familiar with; he must be able 10
name the gases of the air, and capa.
ble of resolving the human body into
invisible vapOrs. 1 am the occupant
of this responsible position in the
medical college of F.
1t was about II O'Clock, ION a stormy
evening, that bade good night to my
student, Tom Richards, at the door OF
my laboratory, at the south end of the
college buildings.
"GOod hight, Professor" said Tom ;
1--WE are going to have.a fall of Oxy-
! gen, hydrogen, and trace of saline u
Hydrogen and oXygen-in our no.
menclature-is water.
al hope" said ], in answer to Toms
playful words, "that it will not rain
before 1 get home"
Oh, no; it won't for an hour yet, u
said TOm- FrasHa. ~
Then, y j said. with q sigh, motto
ing that the barometer was falling, a
sign of violent storm, L shall certa in
ly get wet"
Tom was very anxious to know
what would keep me up after twelve
O'Clock, so 1 told him that I was
about to commence analyzing the
the stomach of Mrs. johnson, whose
husband now lay in P Jail, just
across from the college, on suspicion
that he was her murderer. Tom said
that l had worked hard enough that
day and deserved the night to myself.
He spoke the truth; still I had delay
ed examining the woman's stomach
so long, and the trial was so near at
hand, thatI could not In conscience
put off the examination further, al
though had heard several classes re-
cite at the different public schools in
the morning; had delivered lecture
in the college proper that afternoon,
another in the laboratory that even
| ing, besides attending to 10y several
duties as police surgeon during the
day.
As Tom was passing out of the col
lege yard through the gate, his head
turned, bidding me good night, he
brushed against q man standing with
| his back to the college and bis lace tC
the prison. The street lamp showed
me that the man was in police uni
form.
Re-entering my laboratory, 1 took
down a glass jar from the shelf, and
sat down before the fire to examine it
The jar which contained Mrs. John.
sons stomach, was covered by cloth
duly tied with string, and properly
sealed with my official seal in red
wax. Breaking through the cloth,
/ lifted the stomach out with a dissect
/ ing hook and laid it on a white plat.
ter before me; then became busily
employed in applying those tests Z
| its contents by which we detect the
presence ofinjurious Substance
An hour had passed since tie depar
ture of young Richards. ] had care
fully emptied the contents of the
stomach into a number of bowls anC
basins. I had labOred hard to discev
er traces of poison in all this, but haC
been unsuccessful. Joe johnson, tht
suspected man, had been a student o
mine few years before. 1 though
him a gOo6-hearted, intelligent fel
low, only a little wild, -Rnd really be-
gan to hope that he might prove in
nocent; when, among the macerateI
food, j came upon . small, infinites
imal white grain. By careful manip
ulation and the use of my magnifyinl
glass, managed to get this upOn ;
smoked glass to examine it.
1 was then certain had DISCOVERIES
arsenic, but, to make assurance dOub
ly sure, determined to apply wei
known test for poison. AceOrdingl,
I placed in the woman's stomach tn,
usual acids, and then turned on the
blowing flame, and presently there
appeared the brilliant metallic mark