The Lake County star. [volume] (Chase, Mich.) 1873-current, 1874-07-02


got one"
"Has it been procured about herg' /
asked little uneasily.
"No," they both said in breath. "It
came from place long distance from
here"
Every WE'LL" said I, "Iwill be with
you this afternoon"
And that afternoon went. The dead
body lay upon the table, covered with a
large blanket, and in the small CRATE
was fire enough to make the place COM
Portable, without producing heat enough
to endanger the tissues of the subject,
some of which they might wish to keep
two or three weeks, if possible.
"We amt over and above pleased
with our purchase, DOCTOR" said Gordon,
as moved towards the table, after hav-
ing warmed my hands. owe expected
little better subject than this. How
ever it's better than nothing" And as
he spoke he threw off the blanket, leav-
ing the corpse fully exposed.
shook my head with disappointment.
A more attenuated body had never seen.
1t seemed as though skeleton, with a
single integument drawn over it, was all
there was before us.
81 declare, boys, you'll get but little
idea of the development of the tissues
from this affair. You will find the
tendonous connections intact, and, may
be, you'll find"
had placed my hand upon the head of
the subject, and had turned the face to-
wards me as spoke these words. / had
been about to remark that they might
find muscle enough for demonstration,
when those features attracted my atten-
ton, and arrested my speech.
"What's up, doctorY' as l came to
this sudden stop. Is it any body you
know ??
Up to the moment of this question
had recognized nothing; but as the last
words dropped from his lips the truth
flashed upon me.
"I saw the man once," said. 81
was called in Consultation upon his case
five or six weeks ago. He lived in Bor-
tOndale, and his name was Ebenezer Var
ney."
"Whatw exclaimed one of the young
gentlemen! cold Varney, the drover?
Mercy couldn't all his gold keep more
flesh than this on his bones? Yes; 1
know him now. 1t is the old fellow him
self; and here's the end of the wealth
he's been heaping up so carefully and so
pcrsistently"
Doctor-Doctor Williamsp' cried
Stearns, "what do you find in the face
that binds you so %
Gentlmen," said /, having made an
end of the reverie into which had fallen
"I was thinking of that consultation
that told you of. There was something
very mysterious in this mans case, and
am determined now to investigate it.
Mr.. Gordon, you will of course wish to
overhaul and remove the abdominal Wis
cera first; so will thank you if you
will take the knife, and give me the
stomach and bowels as soon as you can."
"Eh what's up nowT'
"Ask me no questions. You shall
know all in good time"
l may as well state the case plainly
at this point as any other. From the
first had held strong doubts concern
ing the character of Ebenezer Varney's
disease. 1t did not look to me like con-
sumption That terrible nausea of which
the sufferer complained-which afflicted
him continually-was not an attendant
upon any form of consumption. l sus-
pected poison. And / knew of but one
poison that could be administered with
out the patients knowledge, and which
could produce such atrophy as was pres
ent in his case-and that poison was
antimony-probably the protoride.
1t is not my purpose here to enter into
detailed account of the manipulations
necessary to the result have in view.
Suffice it for me to say that in the end
we had thick ring of metallic antimony
i'm the tube of the apparatus, showing
clearly that this poison had been freely
administered; and from quantity OBJ
tained, it struck me that towards the last
the doses had been increased.
Having pledged my students to secrecy,
/ told them of my visit to Mr.. Varney,
and then gave them lecture upon the
antimony as poison. They had no
doubt read of the instances of slow
poison, where the fatal portion had been
destroying life-and so gradually that
the patient seemed to be dying of linger-
ing disease; and they might have sup
posed the said slow poison was some
wonderful invention, akin to the con-
coctions of those famous alchemists of
olden times. But simple protoxide of
antimony would do the work as well as
anything yet found in the whole range
of toxicology. And furthermore, an ex-
pert might have administered the poison
30 that but little, if any, traces could
have been found; but in this case the
poisoner was evidently in hurry.
And that is all the reader cares to
know of the mortal body of the poisoned
man only, / will say, that found the
resurrection man who furnished the
corpse, and from my own pocket payed
him goodly sum to return the remains
to the place whence he took them.
As soon as / could do 50, called upon
DIR. Turney, and asked him about his
patient i'm Bortondale.
"Poor fellowp said Turner; he hung
on some time after our consultation, but
/ could do nothing for him. twas
evidently case of gallOping consump-
tion."
"Did you hold post-mortem g'
"No. / wanted to; but his friends
wouldn't allow it. They couldn't bear
the idea of having his body cut up So"
He left considerable property, didn't
hep
Yes; twenty thousand pounds, the
administrators say; but it is more than
that"
"Who are his heirs ?''
His nephew is his only heir--Adam
Varney. You saw him when you were
there"
"And I saw his wife, toop l said.
Yes," replied Turner. She nursed
the old man through his entire sickness !;
only once in while Mrs. Downing came
in to relieve her."
Who is this Mrs. DowningT
"a widow living close by Varney's
residence-Mary Downing is her name !;
and she is one of the finest women ever
knew. She expected that Mr.. varney
would have left her something by his
will; but il seems that he made none
or, at least, no will has been found"
0Vae this widow related TO Varney Y'