Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1906-01-10
EXPERTS GIVE
THEIR EVIDENCE
Over Twenty-three Grains of
Arsenic Found in the Stomach
of Josiah Pratt
STATE CHEMIST ON THE STAND
Gives His opi"'o" That the co"ditio"
Found in the Stomach Was the Re-
suit of an Irritant Poison Such as
Arsenic-TriaI Will Be an Extended
One.
specinl to times Republican.

| Special to Times Republican.
| Rockwell City, Jan. 10.-The fore
noon of today's session of the Pratt
murder trial was taken up with medi-
cal expert testimony, State Chemist
| Kinney being placed on the stand fol-
| lowing DR.. A. NJ. Linn, cross s-eXamina-
| ton of whom was completed this
| morning. 1t was established that the
ach of Pratt practically precluded that
! it found its way in there in the tablets,
prescribed by DIR. Speaker or that it
was the result of arsenic in the fluid
from fly paper which Mrs. Pratt claim
ed had been spilled upon the tablets.
The evidence of State Chemist Kinney
| was very conclusive. He said he found
a little over twenty-three grains Of
arsenic in the walls and contents of
the stomach. There were one and
eighty four hundredths grains In the
embalming fluid used. The fly paper,
1t was admitted, contained some arsen-
ic Kinney was of the opinion that the
condition of the stomach was caused ty
an irritant poison, such as arsenic. Ar
senic was also found in the spleen ana
kidneys.
The case has entered fully On ths.
| medical expert stage and thus far has
| been very damaging to the accused. So
! far the cross examination of DR.. Linn,
who was on the stand yesterday after
noon and the cross examination of
State Chemist Kinney today have not
shaken the states case. The attend
ance is as large as ever. The case
,aromises to extend into next week, un-
less the defense should have fewer wit
nesses than is anticipated.
In these dispatches yesterday a mis-
take was made in the name of one of
the witnesses, the published report
making 1t appear that State Chemist
Kinney was called in the afternoon.
The witness was DR.. A. NJ. Linn, Of
Des Moines, who assisted DR.. Kinney
in making the chemical analysis of
Pratt's stomach and whose testimony
related to the same matters upon which
SllClillSl IAiIIIlSy viii lCSlIly lOuuy. LII.
Linn's evidence was important, as here
| tofore stated. because it tended to es-
tablish the fact that Josiah Pratt's
death was due to arsenical poisoning.
DIR. Linn stated that the stomach show
ed plainly the effects of the irritant
poison and the lining showed about a
dozen perforations where the poison
had eaten thru. The mucus membrane,
or lining, was red and congested in
| the upper part Of the stomach as it
would be located in a person lying
down. In the lower part. which had
been covered by the liquid contents of
the stomach, the mucus membrane
was the lark colored and eaten thru in
spots. There were ten or twelve points
where the stomach lining was per-
forated or eaten thru. There were no
indications of ulcers that had existed at
a prior time and healed up. The size
of the perforations or ulcers was from
that of dime to that Of nickel. The
walls of the stomach near the cardiac
end, or lower part, were thin. The ul-
GERS or perforations were ragged
around the edges and not sharply de-
fined. Ulcers such as are caused by
gastritis are sharply defined. The
stomach was markedly congested or
inf1amed in the end near the pyloric
orifice. The ulcers were not character
istic.- or gastric ulcers. They had the
appearance of ulcers caused by some
active or violent irritant. These condi-
tions, witness believed, could not have
been caused after death. An irritant
applied to dead tissues will not cause
congestion or awaken Inflammation,
because the circulation of the blood has
been stopped by death. There may be
what is called auto digestion after
DEATH caused by destructive action of
tho secretions or dead tissue. The con-
ditions in this stomach could not have
been caused by these secretlons be-
cause they would attack the lining un-
iformly and these perforations were in
patches and because Inflammation
could not occur after death
Embalming fluid containing arsenic.
and injected into the brachial artery
or squeezed into the mouth, could not
have caused the conditions found In
this stomach, even if arsenic was de-
structive to dead tissues.
Arsenic does not exert a destructive
influence on dead tissues.
Witness described the difference be-
tween a case of arsenic poisoning with
large doses and one With small doses
extend over a considerable period of
time. the latter would show same
symptoms in nilder form, but they
would not appear so soon.
The state then asked the witness a
long hypothetical question. covering
symptoms similar to the ones described
by witnesses existing in the case of
the late Josiah M. Pratt and asked:
Assuming these to be the facts of a
case. what would you say was the
cause"
II should say these were all charac-
terstc symptoms of arsenical poison
ing"
.Doctor. what in your Judgment,
e. IL Al 9,1