Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1895-05-07

"Ybu mustn't blame me II You don't
get ON with him." he said. II know
nothillg more of him than have learned
from injecting him occasionally in the
labor1tory. You proposed this arrange
ment, so you must not hold me respon-
sible. I
"lfj We don't get on, 1t will be easy
to paft company" / answered 1T
seemslto me. Stamford, added, look
ing hard at my companion, THAT you
have sbme reason for washing your hands
of the jmatter. Is this fellows temper
so for,bidable, or what is it? Don't be
mealyimouthed about it."
1T is not easy to express the mex
pressiille," he answered, with laugh
"HolHes Is little too scientific for my
fastest 1t approaches to cold blooded-
ness could imagine his giving friend
a littld pinch of the latest vegetable al
kaloidi not out Of malevolence, you un-
| derstaHd, but simply out of spirit Of
inquiry in order to have an accurate idea
Of the effects. To do him justice, think
that ht would take it himself with the
samo readiness. He appears to have n
passion for definite and exact knowl-
edge y
"Veiy right too"
"Yel. but it may be pushed to excess.
When i comes to beating the subjects
| in the bissecting rooms with stick, it
is certtinly taking rather bizarre
shape.
"Belting the subjectsp'
"Ye.i 10 verify how far bruises may
be prod Iuccd after death. saw him at
il with my own eyes"
"An{ yet You say he is not medical
studentf"
mol Heaven knows what the objects
Of his studies are But here we are, and
you mtst form your own impressions
nbont him" As no spoke we turned
down aInarrow lane and passed through
a small side door. which opened into q
wing oi| the great hospital. II was fa-
miliar around to me, and needed no
guidingi rs we asccnded the bleak stone
staircase and made our way down the
long co tridor with its vista Of white
washed wall and dun colored doors.
Near thl farther end low arched pas
sage br|nched away from it and led to
the chertical laboratory.
This Eas n lofty chamber, lined and
Uttered with countless bottles. Broad.
low tablbs were scattered about, which
bristledIwith retorts, test tubes and lit
tie Bunien lamps, with their blue flick
ering fjnes There was only one stu
dent int the room, who was benGing
over n Instant table absorbed in his
work. .kt the sound Of our steps he
glanced round and sprang to his feet
with q ely Of pleasure. I've found il!
I've found it.' he shouted TO my com
panion. lunning toward US with test
tube in His hand. II have found re-
agent which is precipitated by hemoglo-
bin, and 10y nothing else" Had he dis
covered ia gold mine greater delight
could mol have shone upon his features.
"Dr. Taison-Mr. Sherlock Holmes,
said star lford. introducing us.
How lare you;" he said cordially,
grippingl my hand with strength for
which lhould hardly have given him
credit 4 You have been in Afghanistan.
peroeivI.
How pn earth did you know that?"
| asked ih astonishment
"Nevet mind" said he, chuckling to
himself. ! Tho question now is about
hemogloltn. No doubt you see the sig
nificance bf this discovery of mine:"
''lt Isl interesting. chemically. no
doubt, Unanswered. but practically'-
Why man, it is the most practical
medico-leeal discovery for years Don't
you see THAT il gives US an infallible test
for blood ttains? Come over here nOw!'
He seized me by the coat sleeve in his
eagerness land drew me over 10 the table
at which bc had been working. "Lct US
have som,i fresh blood" he said, dig
ging LONG bodkin into his finger and
drawing df the resulting drop Of blood
in chem )cal pipette. Now, add this
small uabtity of blood to liter of wa
ter. Youi perceive that the resulting
mixture bhs the appearance of true wa
ter. The proportion of blood cannot be
more thar one in million. have no
doubt, however, that we shall be able 10
obtain thel characteristic reaction. As
he spoke lie threw into the vessel few
white cryItals, and then added some
drops of aItransparent fluid. In an in
slant the Gontents assumed dull ma
hogany color, and brownish dust was
precipitatdd TO the bottom Of the glass
jar.
"Ha, hhl" he cried, clapping his
hands and blocking as delighted rs child
with new toy. What do you think OF
that?"
1T seer4s to be very delicate test,
! remarked
Beautiful, beautiful! The old guaia-
cum test yfas very clumsy and uncer
tain. So is the microscopic examination
for blood cbrpuscles. The latter is value
less if thdstains are few hours old.
Now, this Appears TO act as well whether
the blood is old or new. Had this test
been invented, there are hundreds OF
men now Walking the earth who would
long ago hive paid the penalty Of their
crimes.
'Indaedl" ! murmured.
"Crimirhl cases are continually hing
ing upon that one point. A man is sus-
pected uf j crime months perhaps after
il has beSh committed. His linen or
clothes arb examined and brownish
stains discovered upon them Are they
blood stainS or mud stains or rust stains
or fruit stains, or what are they? That
is q question which has puzzled many
an expert shd why? Because there was
no reliabletest. Now we have the Sher.
lock Holm,js test, and there will no Ion
ger be any difficulty.
His eyes fairly glittered as he spoke,
and he putl his hand over his heart and
bowed as l., to some applauding crowd
conjured uA by his imagination.
"You ard to be congratulated, re-
marked, considerably surprised at his
enthusiasm
"There Was the case of Won Bischoff
at Frankfort last year. He would GER
tainly havelbeen hung had this test been
in existence Then there was Mason OF
Bradford, and the notorious Muller and
Lefevre of Montpelier. and Samson OF
New OrleaIIs. could name score OF
cases in which it would have been deci-
sive."
"You SCI tm to be walking calendar
of crime" laid Stamford, with q laugh.