H庄园的午餐59

VI

“You are James Arthur Littledale. You are a qualified¹ chemist and employed by the wholesalechemists, Jenkins & Hale?”

“I am.”

“Will you tell me what this scrap² of paper is?”

The exhibit was handed to him.

“It is a fragment of one of our labels.”

“What kind of label?”

“The label we attach to tubes of hypodermic tablets.”

“Is there enough here for you to say definitely what drug was in the tube to which this label wasattached?”

“Yes. I should say quite definitely that the tube in question contained hypodermic tablets ofapomorphine hydrochloride 1/20 grain.”

“Not morphine hydrochloride?”

“No, it could not be that.”

“Why not?”

“On such a tube the word Morphine is spelt with a capital M. The end of the line of the m here,seen under my magnifying glass, shows plainly that it is part of a small m, not a capital M.”

“Please let the jury examine it with the glass. Have you labels here to show what you mean?”

The labels were handed to the jury.

Sir Edwin resumed:

“You say this is from a tube of apomorphine hydrochloride? What exactly is apomorphinehydrochloride?”

“The formula is C 17 H 17 NO 2. It is a derivative³ of morphine prepared by saponifying morphine byheating it with dilute⁴ hydrochloric acid in sealed tubes. The morphine loses one molecule⁵ ofwater.”

“What are the special properties of apomorphine?”

Mr. Littledale said quietly:

“Apomorphine is the quickest and most powerful emetic⁶ known. It acts within a few minutes.”

“So if anybody had swallowed a lethal⁷ dose of morphine and were to inject a dose ofapomorphine hypodermically within a few minutes, what would result?”

“Vomiting would take place almost immediately and the morphine would be expelled from thesystem.”

“Therefore, if two people were to share the same sandwich or drink from the same pot of tea,and one of them were then to inject a dose of apomorphine hypodermically, what would be theresult, supposing the shared food or drink to have contained morphine?”

“The food or drink together with the morphine would be vomited⁸ by the person who injectedthe apomorphine.”

“And that person would suffer no ill results?”

“No.”

There was suddenly a stir of excitement in court and order for silence from the judge.

 

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