The Cook County herald. [volume] (Grand Marais, Minn.) 1893-1909, 1901-05-25
MIJRDERE Frs EN ENVY
CHgMisTS. GIVE TESTIMONY IN
roIs oMfNG CASES.
The Analytical Chemist lie the witness
Most Feared BY Prisoners Who Havss
TO Face the Charge 81 Murder Nv
"a Poison $s3sS III $sss.s

Poison. .5s.5 b s
That prisoner who has to face a
charge OF murder by poison has no.
witness against him who is so much to
be dreaded as the analytical chemist.
In many cases the life or death Of the.
prisoner has depended upon simple
experiment in the laboratory Of the
chemist. One method of tracing poi-
son is to transform the suspected de-
posts into crystals and submit them
TO the powerful scrutiny of,the micro
scope. But that test is successful only
where comparatively large doses Of
poison have been given. In another
form Tor n OF test the grave issue depends
upon up the color Of a fragment Of cop.
perfoil or the hues of a LIQUID in a
dlminutive crystal globe When ar
senlc Is suspected to be the cause of
death the copperfoil experiment is
tried. It the result is a dead black de-
poslt the case looks equally black for.
the prisoner. Strychnine, when admin.
1stered in a most minute form. is de-.
tected by subtle process of chemical
concentration by means of which the
suspected fluids are reduced to a single
drop, which is placed in tiny glass
globe. Into this is then dropped
minute particle of potash bichromate.
II strychn1ne is present the result is
a display of changing colors-blue,
purple, red and lastly, a rich mauves
TINT. These colors are pretty to look
at, but they may mean death for the
suspected criminal When opium is
suspected to be the cause of death the
Hulds are chemically cleansed, and
then reduced to a drop or two. Nitric
acid is first applied and if morphia is
present it is revealed by the drops
changing to lovely carmine hue.
Then, if sulpho-molybdic acid is an
piled the drops change first to brill
liant magenta color and then to a sky
blue. In spite of all the care and
knowledge devoted to chemical analy-
Sis IN criminal cases mistakes some
times are made. On one occasion :
famous analyst Professor Tyler-was
nearly the unconscious cause of send
ing an innocent man TO the gallows.
Inc professor, after careful expert
ments, declared that arsenic had been
the cause of the death with which the
prisoner Was charged. The prosecution
proved that tie prisoner. was the only
man who possibly cold have admin
lstered the poison. The mar pleaded
his Innocence in the most frank and
pitlable way, but the evidence was
against him. He was sentenced to
death, and the day of his execution
was approaching when Professor Ty-
Ter received a letter from the condemn
ed one se.,lng forth his side Of the case
in such forcible manner that the pro-
lessor was induced to reconsider his
analysis and make another examina-
ton. He found, to his amazement. that
the arsenic which he had discovered
had been placed in the fluids by him
self in the ordinary course Of. his
analysis. He at once confessed his
blunder and the condemned man was
saved from the galloWs. The difficulties
of a chemical analysis may be imagin-
ed when it is realized that Of some poi
sons it requires only an infinitesimal
amount to produce DEATH One-tenth of
"a grain of aconite will kill a powerful
man, and of strychnine half a grain
is enough to send a man out OF this
World.-New York Press. "