St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-02-26
BACK TO ST. MARY's.
The Vial of Koch's Lymph Is Given
UD to the Doctors.

The little vial of Koch's lymph, which
has been under the care of Sheriff
SwenSOn ever since he tore it from the
charge of DR.. Tord Nielsen on an order
OF the court following supplementary
proceedings, was the subject for wran-
gle in the court house yesterday. At
torney Petersen, for the doctor, began a
replevin action on the ground that the
medicine was an implement used in the
profession OF the defendant. Judge
Hicks heard the case in the morning,
but in the afternoon Judge Lochren as
sisted him i'll his decision, which gave
the precious stuff back to its original
owner.
The case was opened by the defend
ants attorney, who read several atfida-
wits from the nurses and patients at st.
Mary'S affirming the beneficial effects of
the lymph, and believe that they will
die if the treatment is not continued.
He argued the lymph should be exempt
from execution. The opposing attorney
denied that the lymph was necessary TO
the recovery of the patients, and was of
the opinion that the phial should not be
exempt. Mr.. Peterson worked OIL the
humane sid6 of the case, and insisted
that the results might be serioas if the
The affidavit of Dr. Nielsen was pro-
duced and read: 1t claimed that he
alone knew the constituents of the
lymph in the vial and he alone knew
how to use it. The vial wouldn't be OF
any use 10 any other physician. He
was sure his patients were improving
right along, and he was equally sure
that if they didn't get their reg ular in
Jections they would soon be worse. aud
maybe die. The vial was one of his i'm
plements. The doctor declared that he
was anxious to pay those judgments,
but had been unable to do so, and now
that his lymph was gone he wouldn't be
able to continue his practice and sup
port his family. His patient, Bertha
Schuster, of Rochester, and B. 5. Lewis,
of Waseca, swore they were improving,
but wouldn't without the lymph. lie
claimed also that the syringe, which
had also been seized, was only for use
in injecting the precious liquid, and for
no other purpose,
Judge LELAND spoke at considerable
length for his client, and was more than
ordinarily spiteful. He ridiculed the
claim of the defendant that no one else
could use the lymph but himself, or
knew of its constituents. He said that
the stuff was a piece Of merchandise,
and cited cases where $50 had been
offered for two grammes Of the liquid,
but the owner had demanded $500. He
read some affidavits from other doctors.
The first was from Knut Hoegh, a reg
ular graduate in medicine from the
Royal University OF Norway. He says
he has read Nelson's affidavit. The
statement that TOrd knows all about
the lymph, and no one else does, he
says is not true. On the contrary, DIR.
Robert Koch, of Berlin, knows some
thing about it. He himself has i've vol
umes on the subject, and the papers had
been full Of it. There was only one
Koch lymph, and it was all alike. 1t
was difficult to obtain the fluid, but two
other physicians in the city aside from
DR.. Nelson were using it.
The arguments on the statutes fol-
lowed, and finally, in the afternoon, the
Judges decided to grant the order for
the return Of the medicine to DR.. Mel
son.