The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1889-11-03

once yesterday morning, anu aIUer lew
hours delay adjourned to meet again at 5
o'clock in the afternoon owing to lack of
quorum and absence OF witnesses. On
resuming the afternoon session Professor
Hirsching was present and made the fol
lowing report Of the result of the analysis
made by him of the contents Of bottle
number /. (the bottle found in Meech's bed
after his departure):
SALT LAKE CITY, November % 1852
To the coroner George ]. Taylor, and jury:
The remainder of the contents OF the bottle
No. has been examined and carefully analyzet
in the presence of Prof. j. T. KingSbury and
found to contain none OF the cyanldes.
PROF II. HIRSCHING.
DIR. BENEDICT,
under whose charge the post norton was
held. then made the following verbal re-
port of the results of the investigation:
The external appearance of the body ex-
amined yesterday indicated nothing. The
pupils of the eyes were practically normal
neither contracted nor dilated. The
heart was perhaps near.y doubleit natural
weight, though not so very large, but was
very heavy The left lung was compare
lively free from adhesions, while well
studded with black spots found in almost
all lungs. The right lung was firmly ad-
herent to the chest wall throughout its
whole extent and deeply congested-
almost a blue black color. The smaller
bronchial tubes were largely dilated.
There was considerable static congestion
of the right lung at the lower porteriOr pOr
ton, which might have been expected as
she lay on her right side constantly. There
was but little fluid in the percardium, or
heart sack-perhaps two ounces of straw
colored fluid. AS to the heart, there was
no disease of the valves, but the cavities
were filled with large coagula which may
have been post norton. No pus was found
in the bronchial tubes. The stomach pre-
scented no unusual appearance whatever.
The fluid contents were of molasses color,
practically odorless, and without any special
characteristic. The lining membrane of the
81 omach and its wrinkles (rugI) were eX
amined and there was no evidence in the
stomach of a corrosive material. The
mucous membrane of the stomach was some
what congessed, purctate in appearance,
especially the lower curvature and near the
pyloric orifice. The pyloric valve and
a portion of the duodenum presented the
same appearance. The smaller intestines
were deeply congested, almost a purple
color and containing a peculiar,
yellowish mass which was quite
tenacious and as far as l saw
contained no elements of blood. The
stomach itself was of a normal size, not
distended and containing about 3 per cent.
of fluid, similar to that found in the mites
tines. Theliver was not enlarged, butpre-
scented every evidence of congestion. The
lobules of the liver were well marked by
their color. The consistency was firm and
the other appearances that of normal con-
dition. The spleen was of the natural size
and good color The left kidney was the seat
of peculiarly diseased condition, which
I
secreting portion of the kidney was de-
stroyed and replaced by a Gaseous material
opening into the pelvis of the kidney and
making the kidney entirely worthless, no
part of the secreting portion of the kidney
being useful under any circumstances. 1t is
impossible to say how long this degenera-
ton had been going on but undoubtedly
| for four years at least The right kidney
was in fairly good condition but upon
opening it found in one of the infundib-
uli two calculi or stones about the
size of a small pea. They are what
is known as renal calculi otherwise
the kidney was in good condition and IN
doubtedly had for years been doing the
work of both. The intestines were all
glued together and to the omentum and
mesentery, and each attached by adhesion
not only to each other but to the abdominal
walls. This is necessarily the result of
some previous infammatory action, what
ever that might have been. The adhesions
were so firm that it required the use of the
knife and scissors to loosen them up
Passing now to the womb, the two
ovaries, both right and left, were
the seat of cystic trouble. The
womb itself was composed princi-
pallY of four tibroid growths, one occupy
ing the body of the womb, about the size
of goose egg; one outside of it about the
size of hens egg, one about the size of a
walnut and one about like the end of a
| thumb. The right thigh and leg was nearly
double the size of the other, and upon its
under and porterior surface were four
deep alterations unhealed and about the
size of the end of a finger. There
were no evidences of disease about
the groins or external genetives
The other abdominal viSera We're, as befol g
stated, glued together SO as to require con-
| siderable dissection to separate them. AS
| TO the brain, the condition was good one
practically, that is nominal condition
with one exception and that was peculiar
cystic appearance of the valve of
vieusens, otherwise the brain was healthy
in every particular and no evidences
! of int1ammatory condition. In all my
autopsies and study and reading I never
saw nor heard of anything like this
fringe, which was full of little white
globules, on both sides of the brain.
This could not have been a sudden
growth and it undoubtedly took years
The general condition of the body was
that of perfect health, and the patient
would weigh about one hundred and forty
or one hundred and fifty pounds.
The woman was of dark complexion, had
heavy head of hair slightly tinged with
gray, and beard covering the chin about
three-eighths of an inch long. There was
no discoloration of the body except static
condition of the neck and shoulders, which
might be expected in few hours of death.
saw no evidence of poison having been
administered, but have plenty of evidence
for disease from natural causes.
The woman was absolutely living with
one kidney, if anything should happen to
it urea would collect in the blood and cause
muttering delerium, slight commissions,
coma, death-her symptoms as 1 have
heard them-and this appears to me the
most feasible theory of the cause of her
3ath. The rensal calculi found in the
right kidney would have tendency to stop
its action. If cyanide of potassium had
been used she would have lived from one
to forty minutes after taking the dose and
as the cyanideS are not accumulative a
slow system of poisoning with them could
not have been accomplished. If the arsenic
mercurial or similar poisons would have
been used they would have accumulated
and resulted in final death but
then poison would readily have
been detected. Something might have
been given by Mech that would
causing the action of the one remaining
kidney to cease, thus causing the urenic
condition of the blood which would pro-
duce death within few days. 1t looks to
me that man leaving under these peculiar
circumstances, and being her only relative
in no o1y rnnSt no nm tO Gonna da1riI