The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1879-01-22
The Dangers of Chemistry.

A most unfortunate accident which has |
occurred at Prague recalls in many of its |
details and circumstances the quaint |
traditions that were once prevalent in re-
gard to the medieval alchemists. Profess
or Fischer, of the Prague Gymnasium, a |
young man, only twenty-five years OF age,
and of the highest eminence in his pro-
tession, that of chemistry, has come to an
untimely end under the most melancholy
circumstances. No one needs to be told
that cyanide of potassium, drug largely
used in photography, is poison of the
most deadly character. Its active in
gredient is prussic acid. Prussic acid in
lis pure, or, as chemists would term it,
.nhydrous" form, is substance too dan
gerous to be kept or even Manufactured.
If glass capsule containing a wineglas1
full of pure prussic acid were broken in
the pit of theater, those among the
audience who were nearest the doors
might perhaps escape, but the great
| majority would be killed on the spot. The
prussic acid ordinarily sold, and occasion
| ly used for killing dogs and cats, contains
about drop of the pure acid to aquarter
of pint of water. Pure prussic acid no
chemist dare keep. He might as we'll
compress ton of dynamite into single
cartridge, supposjng such package to be
possible, and then leave the deadly parcel
| lying loose upon his table.
Cyanide of potassium is not, like prus-
sic acid, volatile. It is white powder,
rather resembling flour or chalk. It is,
/ however, so poisonous that mere pinch
sorinklea over an open wound or sore,
will cause almost instantaneous death !;
that fragment almost imperceptible to
the the eye will, if swallowed, prove
equally fatal; and that its mere smell
has before now produced Immediate
death. It was, it seems, the ambition of
Professor Fischer to discover some means
of rendering cyanide of potassium harm
less. We can do this with gunpowder-
although the analogy is not strictly exact,
the means employed with gunpowder be-
ing mechanical, while those for which
, Professor Fischer sought were chemical
We know what happens if a light is ap'
J piled to a key of gunpow eer. Ifhowever
| we mix the powder with four or five times
its bulk of sawdust, torch may he ap.
piled to it with impunity. The mechan.
. zeal resistance of the sawdust makes il
. impossible for the explosion to at once
spread to the whole mass, and the coDse.
quence is that sort of sputter ensues
: like that Of sqib or blue light. PROBES
sor Fischer's idea was that, if cyanide o.
q potassium were thoroughly mixed witt
e sal ammoniac, it would be as harmless a.
gunpowier mixed with sawdust, bu
r would still remain equally available fol
/ all those purposes of photography TO
s which it is at present absolutely indis
t pensible.
' In the course of his researches Mr.. Fisch
r cher made a mixture of which in his owl
e mind he felt assured that it would NEE
b the conditions of his problem. He com
Y pounded the cyanide with some othe
n substance, and then, turning to his lab
e orato1y assistant, said:
e "Sclence has now so far advanced a
e, to be even able to render harmless so dan
gerous an agent as cyanide Of potassium
" With these words he tasted the mix
y ture, and was almost in an instant seize
le with the most violent and excruciatin
r, agonies. He at once implOred his assist
II ant to send for medical aid. Cyanogel
or however, whether as prussic acid or eye
D. hide Of potassium, kills almost insta1
is taneously. In a few seconds Professo
70 Fischer was beyond help. We are tol
g that there is no possible reason to SUI
st pose that deliberate suicide had bee
s. planned and carried out under the mas
es Of reason to believe that the Professt
IN has met the fate which befell only tt
in many Of the early chemists and the
predecessors, the alchemists.