The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-02-07

especially In Italy. l had copies made for me
| from the secret archives of France and tbns
which confirmed the contemporary suspicious as
| to the cause of the death of Louvos. Core
| spondents in Italy sent me the useful fragments
| of unpublished memoirs as frank as those of
Benvehuto Cellini or Casanova de Seingalt, and
| as useful for the understanding of the past.
Many strange and tortuous transaction settled
| by the sudden hand of death was able to read
by the light of modern science, and to explain as
| clearly as Sir David Brewster explained the
mystery of the legion of devils which appeared
at midnight to Celln in the Colosseum at Rome
! three centuries and /, half ago.
Besides the books about poisoning, had the
| posons themselves. l arranged in chronological
| order collection of the famous poisons of his
/ tory and in little walls on single shelf of
| bookcase might be seen the hemfock draught OF
| Socrates, the potion which Locusta got ready at
the bidding of Nero; the famous poison of the
| Borgias far simpler and far more easy to coun-
teract than its reputation warranted); the curl
| Gus substances composing the candle which
! lighted Pope Clement VII to his death; the mix
| tuPe, also Italian, which Catharine de Medici
| gave to Charles TX; the subtle perfume as deadly
| as the odor of the upas, with which the bouquet
| of Adrenne Lecouvreur was charged; the sue
cession powder of the Marquse de Brinvilliers;
| the unpretending but efficacious dose given by
Madame Lafarge to her husband; and. worse
than all, the Italian acqua tofana. colorless and
odorless. yet deadly that a single drop admin
stored once a week caused death at the end of
/ y
ailment was inevitably fatal / have stood be-
fore that little of posons hour after hour in
rapt contemplation of the awful possibilities of
destruction pent up within the scant score of
| tiny Walls
In time my researches were noised abroad;
was known as an earnest student; was called
upon to testify as an expert; and was soon
recognized as an authority on toxicology. My
| testimony decided more than case; and more
than mans life hung on the words that
! fell from my lips. In the great Hungerford
| trial it was my original investigation and my
| startling experiment, repeated in court before
| the jury, which revealed the prisoners guilt in
controvertibly in spite of the feeble protests of
a professor of analytical chemistry, the poor
| ignorant creature whom the defense had relied
| on to combat me. suppose ought not to call
| him ignorant now, as he has heard me testify SO
often that even he must have been forced to
| pick up a little knowledge of the elementary
| principles of toXicoogy.
1t was at this time, just as my position was
| assured, that a strange thing happened to mel
fell in love was in court bearing witness against
| ayoung man named Morgan, who was accused of
| having poisoned his father. Before had said
| twenty words became conscious of look of in
tense appeal in the face of beautiful girl sitting
| just below me. l turned my head as
| not to see her, but her large mournful eyes rose
| before me. and the wistful twitch of her mouth
/ could not but remember. / caught sight CT
| the prisoners face, and in second | was as
sured that the tall, pale creature, with the sad
and pitiful expression, was his sister minute
more and my plan was made my testimony.
which was wont to be firm and unhesitating, be-
| came weak and wavering. The.counsel for the
| defense was a clever man, and he saw the open
| lngs had left for him, and III five minutes of
| hurried cross examination he got from me just
| the evidence his needed By great good
| fortune the prosecution had also engaged the
absurd old professor of analytical chemistry
and the counsel for the defense had no difficulty
in turning the feeble old fellow inside out, and
| In revealing the emptiness within. The jury
! acquitted Wilfred Morgan without leaving their
| seats; and within six months Lillian, his sister,
| was my bride.
| We made wedding trip to Europe and we
| did what all newly married couples are won't to
| do We wandered through Scotland and Eng
land, and we spent few days in London. where
| found little to interest me. Life in humdrum
England is tame to mar whose thoughts are
set on the more mysterious tragedies of human
| existence. We paused in Paris while picked
up rare volumes, long lacking on my shelves.
| We walked in Switzerland and rowed on Lake
| Geneva by moonlight, under the shadow of Mont
! Blanc. We crossed into Italy, and here felt
| my interest in humanity revive. We were
happy, as man may be once in his life at least,
| for little space. We found our happiness in
each other, and each enjoyed the others pleas
ure AT times it has seemed to me that the
memory of this happiness has embittered the
! sorrow which followed it swiftly. In a dream
sometimes live those joyful days again. and
then awake TO feel myself alone, and to know
myself what am. After all, sleep is but pal
lative for the disease of life-death is the only
remedy
When we left Italy we passed up into the Tyrol,
and there one day heard chance allusion to
the arsenic eaters. and recalled an early desire
to investigate for myself the habits of the work
ers in the arsenic mines. who feed daily on "a
fixed portion of the deadly mineral, not merely
without injury or danger, but with advantage,
in that they are thereby protected from the in
siduous assault of the fatal product of their
labor. went to the mines alone for my wife
had horror of poison in all its FORMS The
word even was painful to her. She believed her
brother to be innocent, but whenever she chose
| to close her eyes she could him lying in
prison, under the awful accusation of parricide
My examination of the mine was to me most
| interesting and instructive. Strange as it may
seem. discovered that it was possible to poison
by refusing to give poison; in other words, when
man has learnt to eat arsenic in fixed dose
with lmpunity, that dose is necessary to him,
and if it is denied then apparently the cumula-
tive force of the mineral in his system
is released. and he dies with every
superintendent of the mines told me
| that at the age Of eighteen, to protect himself
from the pernicious effects of his daily toll, he
took grain of arsenic every morning in his
coffee, and that he had gradually had to increase
the dose until, at the time saw him, at the age
of thirty five, he took fifteen grains every day.
Now knew that fifteen grains is quantity suf
| fcent to kill five men, Twice had the superin
| tendent been induced by timorous friends to try
to stop the dangerous habit: and twice he had
failed miserably. On the seventh day of the alb
stinence from arsenic he had been obliged to re-
turn to it again. on the penalty of his life. He
was fully resolved SO he told me- that ne would
not again attempt to break off the habit sudden
ly, for he knew that the result would inevitably
be fatal He intended, when he should retire
from his position, at the age of forty five. to
begin to reduce the daily dose gradually, until at
fifty he might give it up altogether. I took
notes of his statements and of my own corrobora-
tory observations, and l sat down in bold
black and white the fact which had most struck
me: 1t is possible to cause death by ceasing to
administer a poison.
1t was in the midst of the happiness of my
bridal tour when l smiled at the world and the
responsive world willingly smiled back and
when the future was full of hope and desire, it
was then that caught the first glimpse of my
grand idea. and was conscious of the first vaena
| intimation of my great discnuaru ponha nc l.