Evening star., 1922-05-26
obtruded at these little enforced par

obtruded at these little enforced par
ties In the laboratory.
DIR. Leslie and DR.. Ross were the
krst to arrive. They had not come
together. but had met at the door.
I fancied I saw q touch of profes.
sional jealousy in their manner, at
least on the part OF DR.. Ross. MAS
terson came. as usual ignoring the
seriousness of the matter and Accus-
ing US all of conspiring to keep MN
from the first night of light opera
W Mich was opening. Mrs. Manlana
followed. the unaccustomed pallor OF
her face heightened by the plain
black dress. l felt most uncomfort-
able, as indeed l think the rest did
She merely inclined her head to MAS
eye OF DIR. Ross, glared at DIR. Leslie
and absolutely ignored me.
Craig had been standing aloof az
his laboratory table. beyond nod OF
recognition paying little attention 10
anything. He seemed to be in no
hurry to begin.
Great as science is." he commenced.
at length, lit is yet far removed from
perfection There are, for instance.
substances so mysterious. subtle anu
dangerous as to set the most deifcate
tests and powerful lenses at naught'
while they carry death most horrible
in their train"
He could scarcely have chosen MS
words with more effect.
"Chief among them" he proceeded.
ARE those from natures own Iabo-
ratory. There are some sixty species
venom. Among these. as you doupt-
less have all heard, none has brought
greater terror to mankind than the
cobra di-capello, the Naja tripudians
of India. 1t is unnecessary Tor me
to describe the cobra or to say any
1t n ri
who have yielded up their lives to II.
have here small quantity of the
venom" Gle indicated 1t in a glass
beaker) TT was obtained in New
York, and / have tested II on guinea
pigs. 1t has lost none of its potency
of relief when Kennedy by his ac-
tions indicated that he was not going
to repeat the test.
This venom" he continued, dries
in the air into a substance like small
scales, soluble in water but not in
taste and odor, and. strange to say,
is inoffensive on the tongue or mu-
cous surfaces even in considera Bile
quantities. All we know about it is
that in an open wound 1t is deadly
swift in action"
1t was difficult to sit unmoved at
the thought that before US, in only a
few grains of the stuff. was enough
to kill us all if it were introduced into
a scratch of our skin.
Until recently chemistry was pow
erless to solve the enigma, the micro
scope to detect it's presence. or path
ology to explain the reason for its
deadly effect. And even now about all
we know is that autopsical research
reveals absolutely nothing but the
corpuscles. In fact. such poisoning
Is best known by the peculiar symp-
toms-the vertigo. weak legs and
falling jaw. The victim is unable to
speak or swallow. but is fully sensi-
BILE. He has nausea. paralysis. an ac-
rapidly by a weakening, with breath
slow and labored. The pupils are
contracted, but react to the last. and
he dies in commissions like asphyxia
1t is both blood and a nerve poison"
+ AS Kenendy proceeded Mrs. Malt
his face.
Kennedy now drew from a large en-
velope in which he protected it the
typewriter note which had been
about the "suicide" as he quietly be-
gan a new line of accumulating evil
dence.
"There is an increasing use Of the
typewriting machine for the produc-
ton of spurious papers," he began,
rafting tne nOCe SlS IL 10
partly due to the great increase In the
use Of the typewriter generally, but
more than all it Is due to the errone-
Gus idea that fraudulent typewriting
cannot be detected. The fact is that
the typewriter is perhaps a worse
means Of concealing identity than Is
disguised handwriting. 1t does not
afford the effective protection to the
criminal that is supposed. On the
contrary. the typewritins Of fraud
ulent document may be the direct
means by which It can be traced to
its source First we have to deter
mine what kind of machine a certain
piece of writing was done with. then
what particular machine
He paused and indicated a number
of little instruments on the table.
Concluded in Tomorrow Star.