St. Paul daily globe., 1895-12-16
WAS He POISONED?
Continued From First Page.


went to White Bear Wednesday and
prepared the remains. He found no
burns except on the left hand and
Slnged The faSe Was not Wds burned
| Dr. G. l.. Clark, who had assisted
DR.. Farmer, is the health officer of
White Bear. He said yesterday that
d he had received from DR.. Farmer
certificate, which he exhibited, dat
BED Thursday, signed by Dr. Farmer,
+ and stating that Albert M. Hull died
Y from the effects of burns from lamp
I explosion and shock" He himself
had only seen young Hull when the
| boy was at the point of death. He
| had administered apomorphine, afro
Epine, strychnine and nitroglycerine,
i but with no effect whatever. But
DR.. Farmer was regular practition-
4 eT, and DR.. Clarke, having no person
I al knowledge of anything to the con-
trary, had been obliged to accept
| DR.. Farmers certificate as correct.
However, he had gone to st. Paul
| Thursday and exhibited the certifi-
cate to Coroner Whitcomb. He had
| told the coroner that there were un-
|
that he knew nothing personally to
| substantiate the rumorS. He belieV-
| ed that the death certificate was
| correct. The coroner had replied that
| in that case he thought it unneceS-
] sary to take any action, inasmuch
as there were no tangible grounds
| presented, but he asked DR.. Clark to
report any further rumors, especial
| ly any report that the family of the
young man had made a complaint,
in which latter case he would be glad
| to make any investigation that the
| family desired.
King & Co.'S clerk refused to show
| the reporter the prescription for DIR.
! Farmers powders. Mr.. King himself
| would be back soon.
Then DR.. Farmer was interviewed.
| He is a small, boyish-looking man,
! with smooth face. He was polite,
| but nervous, and visibly disturbed at
| the mention of young HulPs case. He
| said that he had given the powders in
| good faith, believing that Bert's case
| required special treatment not apply
| ing to many other cases. He knew
some people would object to what he
| had done. There
HAD BEEN COMPLAINTS
! in other cases. Would he show the
reporter the prescription? Well, 1t
| wasn't necessary. The doctor could
| remember it very well. Each powder
| called for one-eighth of a grain OF
morphine. Yes, he had given, maybe,
five injections of morphine when first
called to see Hull, but the total amount
| of morphine injected was only one
| quarter of grain. The injections
were so numerous because, his syringe
being out of order, he had been OBJ
| liged to dissolve the tablet of morphia
in a tea cup.
| He was sure that Hull was feeble
boy. His parents weren't in good
| health, and the boy himself had been
| i'll for several weeks, and even con-
| fined to the house. Besides, he was
| suffering from a cold on the lungs at
the time of his accident.
| The reporter pointed out that the
! doctor would seem to be acting against
| his own interest if he did not allow
! the newspapers to see the original pre-
| scription. DR.. Farmer then said he
had, of course, no objection, TO snow
ing the prescription, but it WASH
necessary at all. r
By the way, he had said, hadn't he,
that each powder contained one-third
of a grain of morphine? Then DR..
Farmer went with the G o b e re-
| porter to the drug store. The doctor
| seemed anxious to wait for the return
of the druggist, but adopted, at last,
| the reporters suggestion that Mr..
| kings clerk could find the prescr1p-
! tions. Having the number and the di-
rections copied from the original en-
velope, retained by Mr.. Hull, wherein
! five powders still remained. the
| Glob man readily found prescrip-
| ton No A. 4O1. 1t is that given here
with, with the number on the corner.
But while a careful copy of this i'm
portant paper was being made, Dr.
| Farmer insisted on explaining that
| "grs ill.," meant, really, "grms. .0S-
that is, that three grains were .O3
| grammes, the latter metric denomi-
nation expressing a quantity equal to
| about one-half grain. But the reporter
| didn't alter his copy. So the doctor at
| last suggested that he himself make
a copy to be used by the G o b e. He
| then carefully wrote out the second
| prescription. The difference between
this amended copy and the original
/ prescription is marked. Three grains
of sulphate of morphine are reduced to
about half a grain According to the
| revised copy, young Hull took two
| ninthS, or not quite one-fOurth of
| grain of morphine in the whole of the
| four powders, and, besides, his father
should have given him but two or
| three powders instead of four. Accord
! ing to the prescription actually filled,
| the young man took within three
! quarters of an hour one and one-third
! grains of sulphate of morphine, to-
/ gether with eight drachms of bromide
of sodium, which is itself seda tive,
and this on top of a quarter of a
| grain of morphine injected a couple of
hours before, and which had already,
| perhaps, caused Berties inability to
use his limbs.
WHAT IS A DOSE?
The United States Dispensatory, the
standard authority of druggists, gives
! the maximum ordinary dose of sui
| phate of morphia as one half a grain.
| Local physicians said last night, in
| answer to a hypothetical question, that
! they would rarely give more than one
half grain of this powder poisons within
one hour, even If a patient were strong,
and suffering intense pain. One grain
would be a dangerous dose in most
cases, and would require the personal
attendance of a physician, who might
I act promptly in case of i'll effects.
! Death had been known to result from
a single dose of one sixth Of a grain.
Two drachms was the full dose Of
81 bromide of sodium. It will be observed
q that Mr., Hull, in giving his son four
\ powders within an hour, was following
carefully the original directions.
= DR.. Whitcomb corroborated last night
the statement of DR.. Clark. The cor
oner said that DR.. Clark, physician of
excellent reputation, had assured him
that there was no grounds whatever
for the rumors in the village.
Bert Hull was buried at 2 p. m. Fri
day, in the Presbyterian or Union cem-
a etery of White Bear. At his funeral Of
II ficiated Rev. Samuel White, Metho
dist minister, formerly Of White Bear,