The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-02-26
Aconite Was Discovered in eau
fields Stomach.
ENOUGH TO CAUSE DEATH
Mrs. Cauf1eld Is on Trial Charged With
Murder - 1t Is Not the First
Time She Has Faced
Jury.

r. +. Matchette, coroner of the county
at the time the homicide is alleged to
have been committed, being the first
witness. His testimony in substance
was as follows:
II am physician and surgeon of II
years practice, a graduate of the St.
Louis American college. I arrived in
Chatcolet on Aug. 16, 1898, and met
Sam Avery, who told me Caufield was
poisoned, and went over to the house
with him. Met the defendant near the
saloon. She said Caufield had been
dead about 20 minutes. I found eau
field at his house dead and held an
inquest the following day. I sent for
DR.. Stone to hold an autopsy. 1t was
held on the 18th. I was present at it.
He removed the stomach, together with
it's entire contents, holding them in with
ligatures before cutting. 1t was then
put in a glass jar, sealed, and I took it
to DR.. Martin at Spokane. Saw de-
PENDANT at her home afterward. Didn't
hear her say anything after meeting
her at the saloon
On cross examination the witness
said: Avery thought he had been
poisoned from the actions of defendant
and her actions before. Mrs. Caufield
had asked him to telephone me, but I
had already left for Cataldo on other Z.
business. Defendant went from the sa-
loon to the house with us. Caufield was
lying on a bed or cot, his mouth partly
open and froth issuing from it. His face
was very white and muscles in the
back part of it were rigid. Left Mr..
Russell and another man to look after
and care for the body and went back
down town. Didn't do anything else
about it that day. Party named Bub
or Bob Smith swore out warrant be-
fore Justice Daily, on which I arrested
defendant Placed defendant in charge
Of Thompson and went back to Ward
ner. Didn't tell officers not to let her
prepare the body for burial, but simply
not to let her get away. Saw body
again on the 18th Saw no evidence
that it had been touched. Still had
clothing on. Autopsy was held because
of the rumor that he had been poi
soned. Autopsy was held just outside
Of the house. There were quite num-
Der present. Didn't notify defendant
or her friends of my intention to hold
an autopsy, nor invite them to be pres
ent, although it was open to the public.
DR.. Stone used his own instruments.
Don't know If he disinfected or steril-
lied them. Opened the body just
enough to take out the stomach. Think
he examined heart and lungs but am
not sure. Think he examined liver, but
not kidneys. Don't know if there was
any evidence of congestion or inf1am-
nation of the stomach. The jar in
which the stomach was put was an
ordinary fruit jar. Was sealed with
cover and afterward with wax. Didn't
hear anything about aconite before the
stomach was sealed Afterward heard
that she kept it and had used it on an
old lady with fever. Didn't hear. of any
other kind of poison. Delivered the
stomach to DR.. Martin to test for poi
son. Didn't tell him anything about the
case"
DR.. Henry S. Martin, the Spokane
chemist who made the analysis of the
stomach. was the next witness. After
giving the schools from which he grad
uated, the length of time of his prac-
tice and his facilities for making such
| an analysis, he testified as follows:
Or. Matchette delivered a stomach for
analysis on Aug. II, 1898. Stomach and
contents We're in large fruit jar, sealed
| with wax. Was in a good state of
preservation. I kept it locked in re-
| frigerator two or three days before
! making analysis. He gave me no clue
to what poison I should look for" He
then described infinitely the various
| steps of his analysis.
| Il searched for nearly every known
| poison before trying for aconite. There
is no certain chemical test for aconite,
but suspecting it from the taste, tried
it on white mice and guinea pigs. Di-
luted it and used it by injecting a few
drops. 1t killed about Is mice during
my experiments. I tried them with
poison from the stomach and with some
| prepared where the amount was known.
| Kept reducing the amount Of poison
from the stomach and noticing the re-
suit. The first time I killed mice in
one and one-half to two minutes.
| think the first time I used probably
one four housandth of the poison in the
stomach, certainly not more. The
amount of aconite required to kill an
adults varies largely. AS low as one-six-
tenth of grain has been known tc
| produce death. The amount in the
| stomach, I think, was sufficient to kill
human being. In health, a consider
able portion of the aconite taken into
the stomach would be carried into the
system if death did not result for an
hour and a half
| On cross examination a great deal of
time was taken up by having the doctor
read from medical authorities. explain
| ing or stating wherein he differed from
| the authority. Aside from this, his ev-
| idence was: Have tested for aconite
! in a stomach several times, but think
only twice before have l found it.
Tested this stomach for morphine, di-
gitalis, strychnine and nearly all known
vegetable poisons before testing for
| aconite. There was considerable par
TALLY digested food in the stomach.
Thought I recognized pieces of yellow
carrot. There was much liquid in It
and l thought / recognized the smell of
| stale beer. I also found some greenish
| substance. If aconite was taken as
prepared for medicine or eaten as food
| the result of "a chemical analysis would
| be the same, but in the latter case
| there would be fragments of it left in
| the stomach. I based my conclusions
| on the taste and physiological tests
| there are no chemical tests for it. Aeon
lite is one of the deadliest poisons.
| swear positively that there was aconite
| in the stomach when | analysed It, and
| the only possibility of it not being there
when l received it was for a burglar to
| have got into the refrigerator. ! Consid-
err examinations of Stomachs after death
unsatisfactory but l think all elements
| of Doubt were eliminated in this case