The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1907-10-04
DRUG .PETRIFIES
ANIMAL TISSUE
WONDERFUL DISCOVERY MADE
sY ITALIAN cHEMfsT-wILL
HARpEN ORGANISMS.
May Marx sis Revolution AZ . Pre-
sentative. -piseoxsrsd Four
teen Years Ago.

II
There is a possibility that the chem
list OF fiction who discovered a chemi-
cal which would turn human organisms
into marble has appeared in flesh and
blood in the person Of Agostino Gu
seppe Crosse, an Italian chemist. who
is in this country TO demonstrate to
scientists that he has a powerful drug
which win preserve and harden tP
\ the consistency of stone all kinds OF
organisms, says the New York Globe.
Crosse differs from the remarkable
man Of the story book in that he does
not propose to inject the magic fluid
into the bodies OF living persons and
will, therefore, be spared the shock OF
seeing petrifed objects come back to
life after abiding for SUFFICIENT period
in the hard state, as was the case
with the formers wife, who accident
ally fell into the marble Transforming
fluid one day and became a statute
for a time.
The italian chemist, who may have
something which will astonish scien-
lists, was discovered aboard ship by
Camille Andrea. a student of Column
bia University, who arrived here on
Saturday in the steamer Re d'Italia,
and is living temporarily at II st.
Luke's Place. Crosse cannot speak
English, but Italian, French and Span
ish> are at his tongues end, and, had
he not met the young Columbia stu,
dent it was his purpose to try, alone,
to prove to scientific men that his dis
covery Is practical. Andrea expects
to arrange matters so that the chem
list can make demonstrations in one
of the big city hospitals and at Co
lumbfa University.
If Crosse can do what he claims is
possible-and he has some very con-
vincing proofs OF his prowess, In the
shape of specimens-the method OF
preparing bodies for medical students
and for use in museums is likely to
undergo a great change.
The nature of the chemical the
scientist uses is, Of course, profound
secret Crosse says he discovered II
by the merest accident. Fourteen
years ago, while he was in Peru, he
had occasion to send a case OF eggs
to Ecudor. He had no way of re-
frigerating the consignment and be-
gan experimenting with preservatives.
He bored tiny holes in the eggs and
tried injecting various chemicals. In
trying one powerful drug he injected
a small quantity into several eggs and
a few hours later found every one OF
them as hard as rock. He contin-
ued his experiments on beef and veg ,
etables. The result was the same
with each trial. No matter how soft
the original substance, 1t was con-
verted into a stonelike matter. :
The chemist went to Vercelli and
before a gathering of doctors gave a i
series of demonstrations. The body $
Of a dog was petrified in standing I
position. and the animal was made to +,
ook as natural as life. Beetles, frogs, /
snakes and other things were put .
through the. process and after being q
,etrified retained their lifelike appear i
lnce. 4
In a big box Crosse has several g
specimens which he says are nearly q
hree years old. They include kitten, y
chicken, some frogs. lizards, beetles I
md the vital organs of other ami y
nails. All are as hard as II they had !,
,een frozen, and in each case the orig y
nal colors are preserved. The speci- A
mems are odorless and the transpar- q
ncy Of certain tissues when held to !,
he light Is not destroyed. a..
Crosse is a very modest man. He n
avs he does not expect anybody to m,
elieve in the potency OF the drug ~
,ithout demonstration. The oppor- a,
unity to demonstrate is what he :,
ants. II hospital physicians permit -
i'm to experiment with human body &c
e will insist that 1t be placed under =,
,ck and key for a month, else the N
rug he uses could be discovered. At ~
lie end of thirty days, he says, all In
ace of the fluid disappears. The drug :,
hich is not a poison, is introduced =,
it'll hypodermic syringe. -