Huntsville gazette., 1890-03-29
MURDER BY CHLOROFORM.
It Is So Difficult That 1t May Be Con-
sidered Impossible.

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Very soon after the discovery Of
chloroform as an anRsthetic, and the
wide publication of its wonderful pow
ers, grave fears were entertained of it's
more or less extensive use by burglars
and criminals. Notwithstanding, how
ever, the feeling of alarm, which at the
time was shared by many Legislators
and other leading men in Great Britain,
agitated as it was by all sorts of exag-
gerated propositions, there has been
little, if any, experience in the juris-
prudence of such cases up to the present
time. Scarcely dozen of these have
come before the courts, and these were
either for burglary or felonious assault,
but never yet, as far as we can ascer-
tain, for murder. In no instance has it
been proven that chloroform when al
legged to have been used at all for either
of these crimes, was to any purpose.
DR.. Snow, the eminent authority on
an9sthesia, boldly expressed his belief
in that direction many years ago, and
more recently the exhaustive paper on
the subject by the late Stephen Rogers,
of this city, placed the possibility of the
use of chloroform for burglarious pur-
poses at least almost beyond the pale of
argument. After examining with critical
care the alleged cases in which such at
tempts were made, he very properly
concludes that there is great liability to
err on the part of courts, unless, upon
detailed inquiry into the circumstances
and manner of giving the chloroform,
they be found consistent with the thor
oughly well-known facts and phenomena
uniformly attending the administra ton
and action of the agent.
The same conclusion would apply with
especial force to the supposed cases of
murder, especially when the crime is al
legged to have been committed while the
victim was asleep. Concerning the lat
ter element of this proposition, enough
has already been written to place the
settlement upon very well-recognized
basis. The numerous observations re-
garding the possibility of inducing
an4sthesia during sleep have quite con-
clusively shown that it is only with the
greatest care ON the part of an ex-
PCiiSiiOCet III dCtAt1oIcI budJ SuCH Gall DC
accomplished at all, and then only in
exceptionally favorable cases, with par
ticularly fortunate surroundings. Again,
while the condition of things can be
sometimes produced with infants and
young children, it is virtually impos-
sible in the cases of adults.
The interesting observation of DR.. J.
II. Girdner, of New York, on this point,
prove how easy it is to awaken sudden
ly and with alarm the soundest sleeper
at the very commencement of the in
kalation, even when the napkin contain
ing the chlOroform is held a considera-
BILE distance from the face. Aside from
the favorable surroundings necessary
for success in these cases the element of
time in the effective administration of
the drug is no inconsiderable one to
take into account adding as it does a
proportionate risk Of detection in the
act
Considering also the comparative
rarity of induced an@sthesia without
struggle, noise or vomiting by the vic
tim, the chances of being discovered are
increased in proportion. Such Incl
dents also would be likely to alarm the
criminal even more than the victim, in
fear that, if not detection, actual muir
der might be the the result.-N. Y.
Medical Record.