The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1893-04-18
THE CHEMIST DOES NOT
REACH A RESULT.
The Alleged Poisoning Case
Will Probably Remain
Mystery.

Prof. A. B. Lyons handed in his
report on Saturday regarding the
Barracks poisoning case. The
chemist does not arrive at a con-
clusion, but he is inclined to think
that the poison originated in the
stomachs of the men, as result
of incipient putrefaction."
To people who were present at
the Barracks on last Tuesday night
the report of Rrof. Lyons is not a
disappointment, as it is known
that he did not have the proper
material to work on. In the first
place the stomach elections which
were handed him to analyze were
obtained from men who had been
attacked with several fits of vomit-
ing, and by some oversight the
original stomach elections, or the
ones which would contain the
poison, if any, had been thrown
away.
Another unlucky circumstance
came to light when it was learned
that the food which was not eaten
by the men had been thrown in a
waste barrel, and as a result was
all mixed up.
Judging from the chemists re-
port it looks as though the mystery
will not be cleared up, for the pres
ent at least.
No amount of talk can convince
the men who were poisoned that
they suffered through an accident,
as they feel sure that they were the
victims of some diabolical plot.
Appended is the report of Prof.
i. B. Lyons:
HONOLULU, H. /, I
April 10, 1898. J
Hon. w. O. SMITH, Attorney-Gen-
eral.
DEAR SIR: In accordance with
your instructions ! have made investi-
cations relating to the cause of the ill
ness of men in the service of the
Government, with results sufficiently
meagre, but which may be of some
service.
Two bottles were submitted to me
containing matters vomited by
some of the men, with request
that l examine these for poisOns.
The nature of the symptoms
clearly indicating the action of
some powerful irritant, l have |
made tests for the principal irritant |
poisons, but have not discovered any
of these. | have made also general |
tests for alka1oids, these constituting |
the most active vegetable poisons, the |
result again being negative.
There is present in the vOmited !
matters certainly something of an |
irritating nature, which the stomach
refused to retain. | have endeavOred
to isolate by means of solvents this
irritating substance and have been
able to concentrate it sufficiently to
demonstrate its acid nature, but am
unable to give definite opinion as to
its identity.
The postponement of symptoms so
long after food was taken, and the
nature of the symptoms themselves
lead certainly to suspicion that the
poison has been generated in the
stomach itself as result of incipient
putrefaction, or of abnormal fermen-
tative changes.
The chemical nature of pOisons gen.
Grated in this manner-of which the
number is possibly targets as yet
little understood, the compounds
themselves being probably very I'M
stable, and so easily altered in any
to isolate them. One which
is generated in cheese, and sometimes
in milk, has been identified, proving to
be an exceedingly unstable body. This
has not the reaction of an alkaloid, as
some other poisonous products of
putrefaction (ptomainesl have.
l received also some articles taken
from the tables (condiments) and
from the waste barrel, which / have
examined somewhat in cOmparison'
with the vomited matters, but thus
far only with negative results.
There are, of course, numerous poi
sonous substances, the chemistry of
which has not yet been studied, and
this circumstance must be borne in
mind in forming any conclusion.
Respectfully submitted,
A. B. LYONS.