The San Francisco call., 1910-12-18
CHEMISTRY AIDS
In SOLVING crime
Analysts Played important Part
in Crippen and Other MUIR
der Cases

Analysts played an important part in
the Crippen case, and il 1t were not
for these men hundreds of crimes would
be added to the police list of unsolved
mysteries. Medical detectives, as the
analysts employed by Scotland Yard are
called, Invariably carry through their
duties7with skill certainty and absence
Of prejudice They have mastered the
action and character of every poison
under the sun and this fact has de-
creased poisoning to considerable eN-
tent
Practically the poisoners can hide
nothing from the modern analyst for
that gentleman Is not only familiar
with all poisons, but can recognize
their presence almost as easily as he
can recognize the dome Of st. PauIs
cathedral. says the Chicago Record
Herald. BY the aid of his test tube, his
microscope and his spectroscope he is
able to lay bare the prisoners secret
and track him down. If any great
criminal were suspected of poisoning
his wife, the analyst, upon examining
the remains. would he able to prove
that poison was used and in what guam
tity.
Delicate are the tests employed by
analysts In the case of poisons. If
tomorrow and were buried without be-
ing examined internally an analyst
could a quarter of a century later
gather from the remains of the BODY
a considerable amount of the poison
that killed him and in the same state
as that in which it was administered.
Probably arsenic has been more fre-
quently used by murderers as death
dealer than any other poison. 1t is
hot T11n \
women take arsenic in small doses as
a medicine, while the inhabitants of
Syria are said to eat it as freely as we
eat salt. TO a person who has never
touched, eaten or smelt arsenic a me-
dunn sized dose would have a fatal
effect Chapman, who was hanged for
poisoning his mistresses, used arsenic,
and the drug was also used IN the
memorable Maybrick case.
Nine. LafaFge poisoned her husband,
an irOnmaSter, by means of arsenic.
While NJ Lafarge was in Paris on
visit his wife pretended TO send him
parcel. in which was her portrait, five
small cakes made by his mother and a
letter. This parcel was sealed IN the
presence of Witnesses. When the par
eel reached Lafarge it contained only
one large cake. He ate this, and nine
days later died Nine Lafarge was ar
rested and charged with murder by
poisoning. At the trial it was alleged
that she had made the large cake with
arsenic as one of the ingredients and
substituted it for the five small ones.
She was found guilty after a trial eX-
ceeding a fortnight, and condemned to
Imprisonment for life.
To micro-p photography the discovery
Of many a crime is due. The spectre
scope is infallible in revealing the pres
ence of the minutest trace of blood, but
it is unable TO distinguish between hu-
man and animal blood. The microscope
can, however. The corpuscles of differ
ent mammalia can only be distinguished
by their size and shape.
The corpuscles of men and animals
are all circular with the exception of
those of the llama. alpaca, camel and
their kind, which are oval.
A man suspected Of murder was
found to own an AK covered with
blood An analyst examined the blood
and found that it was that of goat.
on this evidence he was found not
guilty
Cloth stained with red thought to be
blood is touched with ammonia. II the
stain is caused by fruit juice it turns
blue or green; if by Condy's fluid it
becomes blue, and if by cochineal it
becomes crimson. But IL it be blood,
human or animal, the color under the
influence Of the ammonia does not
change in the least
n Rogier who was found burned TO
death in a cottage in France was said
TO have been murdered. An analyst
took a few drops Of blood from the
dead mans lungs and examined them
by means of a spectroscope. He dis
covered that their condition was nor
nal. which proved that death must
have occurred before the cottage was
set on fire.
A man was found in Cornwall with
his head battered in. The detectives
found a hammer some distance from
the corpse Upon it were two gray
hairs. and a medical man declared that
they came from someone's eyebrows.
on comparing the hairs with those of
the dead mans eyebrows they corre-
sponded The two hairs on the ham
mer brought the murderer to Justice.
"a to+ g ,,,ora that ic ex-