Knoxville weekly chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1875, 1872-02-28

Unfortunate Biuuder OF DruggISt's
Clerk.
A Life the Price Of Carcies.nes..

clerk.
A Life the Price Of CareIessness.
The city was excited yesterday with ru-
mors concerning the sudden death of Mrs.
Col. j. M. Thornburgh. As usual in cases
of the kind, hundred different stories
were in circulation. As the exact
facts are always certain to do
all interested parties fuller justice,
than the false rumors, we have been at
pains to ascertain the exact truth.
On "Wednesday afternoon DIR. J. NJ,
Boyd was called upon to attend Mrs,
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS was suffering from slight
indispositlon. He prescribed for her as
follows, ...t.g.4l -..
Salicine, grains.
Quinine... grains.
The prescription was sent to Messrs.
Head & Locke's drug house. The pills
were prepared by their prescriptionist.
About eight O'clock on Wednesday night
Mrs. Thornburgh took sir of the pills.
She manifested some little excitement
after 10, but soon fell asleep, apparently as
usual About midnight her husband was
aroused by the loud breathing of his wife.
He found herapparently suff0cating, and a
once dispatched q servant for DIR. Boyd. In
the meantime, with presence of mind and
q Judgment rarely manifest under similar
circumstances the Colonel used every effort
TO induce artificial respiration. By exercise
of great physical power and by persistent
efforts, he managed to protract respiration
for three-quarters of an hour, until the ar
rival of DR.. Boyd The latter at once real
lied the situation, and that the patient
was laboring under narcotics. Drs. Boyn-
ton and Dcaderick were sent for and reach
| ed the house within an hour. Every effort
and appliance known to these gentlemen
were used.
pa Occasionally some grounds were given
| for hope. On Thuraday, Drs. w. Z. Rod
efer and j. w. Thornburgh arrived and
consulted and acted with the physicians
| first named. But the patient was beyond
| the reach of medical skill, and at one and
| a half O'clock Friday morning she expired.
| THE CAUSE OF HER DEATH.
| On yesterday afternoon the physicians
above named, assisted by Drs Curtis and
| Rodgers, and in the presence of Mr.. Thos.
Head, made an analysis of the remaining
| six pills. in order to see what caused the
| death. The prescription, as we have be-
fore stated, called for salicine and
quinine. The test applied was nitric
acid. The unmstakable red resulting
from the test showed beyond question that
morphine had been put into the pills in
stead of quinine. Five grains of morphine
in twelve pills or two and half grains in
the six pills Mrs. Thornburgh took. The
drugs from which the pills were com
pounded were then tested, but they were
found pure.
The only conclusion, therefore, left, wa,
that by mistake the prescriptionist haC
put morphine in the pills instead of qui
nine.
1t is useless for us here, in view of the
unfortunate result, to do more than stat,
the facts. "a
The drug house where the mistake hap
pened had but recently employed the pre-
scriptionist. He came to them, however
with the highest recommendations. H
was graduate of a school of pharmacy IL
England and had letters from Scheiffien
, the great druggist of New York. BY re
cent changes in the bottling of quinine; i
: is put up in the same sized bottles rs NOR
phine, and the clerk assigns this as reason
! why he more easily made the mistake.
The price of this mistake is a preeiou
> life. We can not feel it consistent will
3 our duty to the public to suffer the occa
, sion to pass without some comment 1t
: impossible to recall the life that has dc
< parted, or to doubt that the unfortunat
clerk and his still more unfortunate en-
: ployers, upon whom the blow falls hardest
d suffer remorse, to which we would nj
q needessly add but the public must /
= protected against repetition of such e
r rors. With those who occupy such pos
1 tons, carelessness is highly culpable.
G Skill is not alone the protection d.
manded. Great and constant vigilance
l. quite as necessary as professional trainin,
g Had that care and vigilance which II
s public have right to expect in those VIII
9 occupy such positions been exercised
! this Instance, we should not be called upo
= to announce the terrible bereavemeI
g which has just befallen the friends an