The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1895-02-09

FERRY. Inese ne Hau hePS ~ ~ ~ w - IN
until he gave them to Officer W. F.
Firth to deliver to Prof. Robinson at
Bowdoin College.
Witness then related how he had
brought Monahan and Hughes together
at the JAIL When the doctor entered the
reception room asked the doctor II ne
had ever seen Monahan before, and ne
said he mad. / asked Monahan if he
had ever seen the doctor, and he salo ne
had. This was the Thursday evening
following the Sunday when the doctor
came into the station.
i When Cross examined witness stated
that DIR. Hughes, on surrendering him
self, had said that he did not want to go
to Jail until Sunday. In talking about
the visit of the woman and man TO the
DOCTORS Office on Saturday, witness made
no attempt to describe them or idenlfy
them as Mary Dunn and Monahan.
Deputy Sheriff ". F. Firth said that
he was police officer last Novem Der,
and received from City Marshal Tricky
a package of two pills. which he was in
structed to deliver to Professor Robinson
of Bowdoin College This he did.
Deputy Marshal Joseph C.Sterling was
next called, and testified in corrobora-
ton OF the circumstances related OF DR..
Hughes's arrest.
conversation with DR.. Hughes Judge
Symonds asked particularly whether the
prisoner had been informed that he need
not answer questions. Witness thought
be had not been. On the point of the
doctors readiness to talk, the witness
said the doctor objected to teing ques-
toned as to his whereabouts; but in
other respects witness could not say that
be objected to answ ering.
Judge Symonds took exception to ad-
mission of the testimony as to this con-
versation.
Witness testified in su distance the same
as Marshal Tricky. DR.. Hughes had
said that he did not wish to be in jail
Sunday. as he did not wish to be de-
prived of his smoke, which was an i'm
portant event of his Sunday.
When thelintermission came at O'CLOCK
and DR.. Hughes was about to be taken
from the court room to the Jail to dinner
the members of his family gathered
about him and EN- braced him as they
sem bled they were present to greet him.
PROFESSOR FRANKLIN c. ROBIN.
of the department of chemistry at Bow.
doin was the first witness of the after
noon. He testified to having received
two pills from officer FIRTH, and Mr..
|
position of the pills to be.
here Judge Symonds interposed: ~
object to this testimony There is abso'
lutely nothing to connect these pills
with the respondent.
Attorney General Powers-That is fol
the jury to determine.
Upon the evidence being admitted
ProfessorsRo then went on to
say that the pills were composed OF
erqot. aloes, and iron sulphate in about
equal proportions. There was also pres
ent an aromatic su distance like myrrh.
On cross examination Judge Symonds
asked ii the active principle OF ergot had
ever been discovered.
Witness replied TO the effect that there
was no one active principle, but several.
Then Judge Symonds asked for the
process used in identifying ergot ana
being told that many special processes
had been used, asked for details OF the
general process
Witness replied that the general pro-
cess would consist in extracting the
A alkaloids of ergot and identifying them.
"Now tell us the details ;"
"a chemist would not pretend to do
that, as the process extends over days
! and weeks"
!, "Tell us some of Them"
Witness replied that there were the
alcohol and chloroform tests. In testing
ergot the ergoTlnlne IS extracted from
the ergot, and that is identified.
Glow much ergotinine is there in a
grain of the drug ergot?"
81 cannot say"
"Would there not be about cne-thou-
sandth part of grain of ergotinine in a
Grain of ergot?n asked Judge Symonds,
Duct ~ iob
ael of Bowdoin. who sat at the Judge
elbow.
"How did the ergotinine look when
you got it,"
II cannot remem ber."
"Was it anonymous or crystalline?"
asked by Judge Symonds, still ADVISED
by Professor Carmichael.
Witness did not think it was crystal
line
"Did it have any color?"
"My impression is that it was slightly
colored."
"What color?"
Probably slightly yellow"
"Do you mean by probably tha5 you
do not remem Der?"
81 do"
"Did you have an original method in
doing this, or did you use works OF au-
thority?"
81 had no original metnOQ.
Witness then told what works he used,
saying he had follow ed most recently
published dictionary of active plant
principles. He had identified the drug
by the peculiar violet effiorescence which
erpot gives, aDd it's peculiar behavior
with certain reagents.
a care the reactions thus produced pecu-
liar to ergotinine, or common to other
su bstances?"
"The violet eff1orescence may be seen
in others, but l know of no others which
act the same with ether, etc".
Would you say that there are no 9TH
ers that would act the same?"
mo, SIR"
"The material of the pills was small
in amount. was it not?"
ayes"
"Was it sufficient for the tests?"
ut was"
"Have you any left?"
"No."
would you say that tests for ergot
could DE made with the same certainty
as for arsenic or strychnine?"
ii should"
"Wbat do the authorities say generally
with reference to the certainty of these
tests for ergot?"