The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1872-02-29
THE CHEMISTS STORY


THE CHEMISTS STORY
l am chemist Many, doubtless
would find it difficult to find what tht
duties of a chemist are if asked. IL
such, say chemist is q collector O.
facts. 1t is the business of his life tt
aid in unmasking, for the worlds ben
eft, the good and evil lowering i'll the
all. we breathe, mingling with the fooG
we eat, burrowing in the earth we
tread and swimming in what we drink
Then, again, the law waits on the
chemists. A human being has passed
suddenly away. Som sbody thinks
there has been foul play. The chem.
ist examines the body of the supposed
victim. The law listens, hat in hand
to science. The suspected party trem.
bles in anticipation. The oracuiar lips
iof the chemist move; he names one
out OF a fearful list of poisons. 1t is
either strichnine, prusslc acid, or that
deadly oil of bitter almonds. 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 everything in
the phenomena of life. as tar as feeble
man can,know. The composition of the
ocean he must be familiar with; he
must be able to name the gases of the
air, and capable of resolving the hu-
man body itself into invisible Yapors.
1 am the occupant of this responsible
and important position in the medical
college of p.
1t was about IL o'clock on a stormy
evening that babe good night to my
student, Tom Richards, at the door of
my laboratory, at the south end Of the
college buildings.
Good night, Professor, I" said Tom ;
" we are going to have fall of hydro
gen, oxygen, and trace OF saline"
- Hydrogen and oxygen-in our NOM
enclature III. O.-is water.
- q hope" said, in answerto Tom s
playful Words" that it will not rain
before I get homer
. "Oh, no; it won't for an hour yet,v
said Tom. gs9
Z" Then" said, with sigh, noticing
that the mureary in my barometer was
falling, sign of q violent storm, l
shall certainly get wet"
Tom was very anxious to know
what would keep me up after u O'Clock
so told him was about to commence
analyzing the stomach of Mrs. John
son, whose husband now lay in P
JAIL just across the road from the col
iege, on suspicion that he was the
murderer. Tom said T had worked
hard enough that day and deserved
the night to myself. He spoke the
truth still, had delayed examining
the woman's stomach so long, that the
trial was SO near at hand, that / could
not in conscience, put off the examin-
alton farther, although l had heard
several classes recite in the different
public schools in the morning; had
delivered a lecture in the college pro-
per that afternoon, another in the lab
ratory that evening, besides attending
to my 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 man standing with
his back to the college and his face to
heprison. The street-lamp showed
me that the man was dressed in the
police uniform.
Z Re.entering my labratory, I took
down a glass jar foom the shelf and
sat down beside the sink to examine
it,~ The jar, which contained the
stomach of Mrs. Johnson, was
covered by cloth, duly tied with
string, and properly sealed with my
my official seal in red wax. Breaking
through the cloth, / lifted the stomach
4,,f xr,ffh q. 1foennfsnr h0oI- fosl -
on white platter before me then be-
came bnsily engaged in applying those
tests to its contents by which we de-
tect the presence of injurious SUBJ
stances.
An hour had passed since the de-
parture of young Richards. l had
Cal efully emptied the contents of the
stomach into number OF bowls and !
basins. ] had labored hard to detect
traces of poison in all this, bur had
been unsuccessful. Joe johnson, the
man, had been student OF
mine a few years before, only little
wild. and / really began TO hope that
he might prove innocent; when
among the macerated food, | came up
on a small, infinitesmiaI white grain.
By careful manipulation and the use
of my magnifying glass | managed to
get it upon a piece of smoked glass
and examined it.
L was then certain l had discovered
arsenic, but to make assurance douhly
sure determined to apply a we'll
knewn test for THAT poison. Accord
iDgly placed in the woman's stomach
the usual acids, and then turned on
the blowpipe flame, and presently
there appeared the brilliant mark,
worthy of Gains brow, which is the
sign of the poison fiend.
q Yes" ! exclaimed, as saw the
fatal blazon, Joe johnson is the muir
derer of his wifel With the evidence
of that mark TO back me no power
can save him from the rope.
DO you really think so? said
calm voice behind me.
/ turned quickly, and discovered a
tall, lank policeman, having red, weak
and watery eyes, standing at my office
door and staring in. His body looked
as if it had been rolled out long be-
tween his hands. like molasses candy
stick. His nose was merely an elon-
gated fieshy pug, and his forehead was
decorated with two red streaks instead
of eyebrows. He had no expression
at all in his face, and his policeman's
hat was so large that it threatened to
settle down on his shoulders.
His unifor treasured me, and | ad-
dressed him with some impaticnce.
: My friend, suppose am wanted
to attend an inquest, or what is your
purpose ?"
"No, doctor, the man amt dead yet.
hApything in the surgical way =
| was police surgeon as well as cor
oner.
"No.,
!" Well, then, why am sent for al
this time of night?'
"Don't bother, porfessor; The man