The Savannah morning news., 1901-09-15
A POISONED BULLET
MAY HAVE CAUSED THE DEATH OF
THE PRESIDENT.
EUGENE WASDlN'S OPINION.
EMINENT EXPERT DECLARES Bull
LET WAS COATED WITH POISON.


A Rumor When President McKin-
ley Was Shot, That This Had Been
Done by the Assassin-Rumors,
DispeIled by Early Improvement,
Revived by Results of Inquest.
Further Investigations Will BE
Made.
Buffalo Sept 14.-Immediately after
President Mckinley had been shot
rumors were rife that acting under a
general order of anarchy the assassin
had probably poisoned the bullets.
The early days of splendid improve
ment in the patients condition dispell-
ed these rumors, but they were renew
ed when the final collapse began. This
morning they found their way into the
autopsy room and when the gangren-
Gus condition of the tissues in the
course of the bullet was discovered,
discussion was had as to whether or
not the assassin had used poison to
make more complete his deadly work.
OF the doctors who who attended
President Mckinley through his strug-
gle for life and who were at the au-
topsy this morning but one can be
found who positively states it as his
belief that the bullet of the murderer
was poisoned. This doctor is Eugene
Wasdin, an expert in yellow fever
cases, who has lately made this city
his home and who is familiar with the
action of poisons in the human body.
DR.. Wasdins opinion during the prog
ress of the case was much valued by
the other physicians, and his theory as
to the poisonous matter upon the bull
let is herewith given:
The Opinion of DIR. Wasden.
1.-THE breast bone wound showed a big
impact. Still the area of infiltration of
sub cutaneous tissues was entirely too
extensive to be accounted for from con-
fusion or the force of the bullet. The
sub cutaneous tissues were in par
TALLY gangrenous condition. The bull
let that went into the abdomen and
penetrated the stomach also was fol-
lowed by extensive necrosis of tissue
or gangrene wherever it passed. The
skin wound on the point of entrance
was livid gangrenous and this process
extended to the entire line of invasion
made by the surgeons through the alb
dominal wall The point of entrance
into the stomach was necrotic or gan
grenous.
The sutures made by the surgeons
were still intact at the autopsy, but
the line of sutures were surrounded by
a necrotic area through the entire
thickness of the stomach wall and ex-
tending on all sides about one and
one-half to two inches. The same is
true of the wounds of exit of the bullet
on the posterior wall of the stomach,
which was also still closed by sutures
in the center of an extensive area of
necrosis.
The further passage of the bullet
through the soft tissues of the back.
where 1t became embedded, was also
surrounded by necrotic tissue. These
different necrotic areas all had the
same appearance as to time of dura-
tion-that is they were due to the same
influence acting at the same time. All
these conditions lead me to believe that
there has been an influence exerted by
the passing bullet through these It's
sues entirely dissimilar to that infiu-
ence exerted by an ordinary missile. In
this case there was not the appearance
of single effort at natural repair at
any point along the track Of the bullet.
The Influence of the Bullet.
THE influence 1 speak of might be
either bacterial-the microbe being
carried in on the bullet and giving
rise to a growth of bacteria in the
abdominal cavity, with resulting perl
tontis and possible abscess, or in the
case of some rare germs to necrosis of
tissue. From meteorological observa-
tons made thus far this does not seem
to be the case. There was no perl
tonitis or pus formation at any point
within the abdominal cavity, only
the gangrenous influence from the
bullet, which from these facts
l believe to have been due to some
possible organic poison placed on the
bullet. Further meteorological tests are
in process and possibly germ capa-
BILE of giving rise to this gangrenous
condition of tissues may be found But
the presence of gangrene only at the
passage of the wounds and the length
of time-seven days-required for the
necrotic or gangrenous changes rather
convince me that it is not bacterial
influence but must be due to some or
ganic poison.
Tests were made of gangrenous ma
terial when the stitches in the Presl-
dents wound were removed, and the
wound redressed. They have not shown
as yet the presence of gangrene pro
ducing organism, leading inferentially
to the opinion that the bullet was coat
ed with some poisonous substance
Park Doesn't Believe 1t.
DR.. Roswell. when asked as to the
likelihood of the bullet being poisoned:
II do not think that the bullet was
poisoned"
How, then. do you explain the gan
grenous conditions?"
Il fail to subscribe to the theory
that the bullet was poisoned for the
simple reason that l have elsewhere
and often seen bullet wounds similar
TO those sustained by the President,
and I have seen conditions similar to
those which resulted in the Presidents
death in cases where no question OF
poisoned bullets was raNed.
DR.. Herman Mynter pooh hooed the
idea that the bullet was poisoned
Dr. Mann did not know whether the
bullet was poisoned or not and said 1t
would be difficult to determine
Superintendent of Police Bull said to-
night regarding the poisoned bullet
theory, that nothing had yet been done
TO investigate it, but that the police
would begin work on 1t Immediately
He said that the cartridges had not
yet been removed from Czolgosz's pis-
toll. 1t is still in exactly the condition
1t was when it was wrenched from the
hands of the prisoner.
The city chemist will probably be
asked by District Attorney Penney to
make phapofraI analVgig and IL Ia