The sun., 1913-12-28
~ WILLIAM BRADY, N. u.


L. science in the mind Of the aver
age person. and any wild yarn
such as that OF the needle men, which
is at present exciting public interest
Is consequently given II great deal Of
attention which II hardly merits.
Most Of us harbor the fancy that the
ancients possessed wonderful secrets
about the action Of pOisons and applied
their knowledge in disposing Of their
enemies without arousing unpleasant
suspicion on the part Of the law. Per-
haps they did accomplish some artistic
homicides-artistic enough for those
crude times--but II any one should per-
petrate Il similar felony to-day We would
at once conclude the person must be
insane.
What the ancienis and their modern
biOgraphers deemed art in the applica-
tion Of pOisons IL now called brutality.
The acme OF their alleged art was
reached when some old reprobate in
vited guests to dinner and then sea-
soned their drink with hemlOck or some
other popular drug. II must be remem-
bered that people died early and often
in those days and pOst-mortem investi-
cations were unknown.
Even in fiction II IL exceedingly dif-
fcult to plan and execute a murder by
the use Of drugs that Is. n murder
which shall furnish IA real problem for
the expert tracer Of crime. our H.
lustrious colleague Dr. Conan Doyle
wisely selects vague or non-eXistent
posons for Holmes to detect; IL he were
to employ the po!sons that really exist
DR.. Watson himself could handle the
case without eXhausting his elementary
medical knowledge.
\ very common belief is that n thief
can chloroform II sleeping person with
out the latters knowledge. And yet
even n skilled anarsthctist who devotes
his life to the Use Of chloroform in sur
gerry is rarely or never able to Chloro-
form Il sleeping person without awaking
the subject and meeting with resist
ance. The inevitable conclusion is, Oh
viously, that persons who allege that
they have been thus victmized are
either mistaken or else taking.
In stories ii is all very we'll TO obtain
strange and imaginary effects from
real or fanciful agents; the plain facts
would scarcely be suitable to the re-
quirements Of romantic fiction. In real
life. however, drugs have way of
producing very definite results which
speak as plainly as may be to the med-
cal observer
The idea that a drug may be in
the hands Of criminal without making
the unwilling victim cry out with pain
is absurd. And the common belief
that drug so injected renders the VIC
tim unconscious or incapable of self
defence within a moment or two is
equally absurd. Few drugs show any
appreciable effect within fifteen minutes
after injection under the skin: mean
while the intended victim would have
time to create an uproar.
"knock out drops" cannot be given
hypodermcally. for the reason that the
size Of dose necessary to render a per-
son unconscious is beyond the capacity
Of hypodermc syringe. In beer and
other drinks this drug is often admin
istered without the victims knowledge.
Medical examination Of the unconscious
or recently recovered victim of knock
out drops will usually inform the physi-
clan correctly as to the drug employed:
in fatalities from this drug the post
mortem investigation readily discloses
the cause Of death
In fact, there isn't a poison obtan n
able to-day. not excepting the notorious
hydrocyanic acid, that does not leave
behind it dangerous if not damnng evil
dence.
1t has been suggested that the al
tSeu HteuIt men SUNG tHelT N!CtlfTs
with an injection of woorari. This is
South American arrow poison. From 1t
Psychologists obtain an alkaloid called
curarine, which is extensively used in
experimental operations in the physi-
illogical laboratory. Its action is simply
one OF motor paralysis, the senses be-
ing little affected.
While a sting" of curarine might
render the victim powerless to eXcr;
physical resistance it would not leave
the mind stupefied or unable to recall
clearly all details of the experience.
Curarine, or woorari is, however, notori-
ously uncertain In its effects; even in
the laboratory much difficulty is found
in obtaining active specimens Of the
drug.
Hyoscine Is another drug which it is
alleged the needle men employ. 1t
would be poor agent for their pur-
pose. Hyoscine Is slow in action
Given as a nerve sedative the patient
may take 1t hypodermically in the doc
tors Office and have plenty of time to
walk several blocks to his residence
before feeling any particular sleepi-
ness. And even when the sleepiness
comes it il not so overpowering that
the individual cannot fight it off if
need be.
found his hero confined in a prison in
some vague South American republic
South America. you will notice. figures
in many startling episodes OF news and
novel-but just wait till Mr.. Roosevelt
gets back; he'll explode n few of these
imaginations! The author. in order to
bring about the escape OF his hero,
adopted the simple expedient OF snug
Cling in bottle OF chloroform. with
which the hero proceeded to chloroform
his guards and make a successful de-
livery. The principal fault OF the in
cident was that 1t happened about a
hundred years before chlOroform was
discovered.
Can drug be injected hypodermi-
cally without the victims knowledge
Yes, II the victim Is very drunk at the
time. The expert physician or surgeon
can administer a hypodermc dose OF
certain non-irritating drugs with very
little pain, SO little that the patient, II
suffering or In highly nervous state
may hardly notice the prick OF the