第53章 PART I(52)
"With regard to the second of the poisons,which (if you remember)I have entitled--in anticipation of its employment as medicine--'The Looking-Glass Drops,'I regret to say that I have not yet succeeded in discovering the antidote in this case.
"Having now sufficiently explained my present position,I may tell you of the extraordinary accident to which I have alluded at the beginning of my letter.
"About a fortnight since,I was sent for,just as I had finished my lecture to the students,to see one of my servants.He had been suffering from illness for one or two days.I had of course offered him my medical services.He refused,however,to trouble me;sending word that he only wanted rest.Fortunately one of my assistants happened to see him,and at once felt the necessity of calling in my help.
"The man was a poor half-witted friendless creature,whom I had employed out of pure pity to keep my laboratory clean,and to wash and dry my bottles.He had sense enough to perform such small services as these,and no more.Judge of my horror when I went to his bedside,and instantly recognized the symptoms of poisoning by "Alexander's Wine!""I ran back to my laboratory,and unlocked the medicine-chest which held the antidote.In the next compartment,the poison itself was always placed.Looking into the compartment now,I found it empty.
"I at once instituted a search,and discovered the bottle left out on a shelf.For the first time in my life,I had been guilty of inexcusable carelessness.I had not looked round me to see that I had left everything safe before quitting the room.The poor imbecile wretch had been attracted by the color of "Alexander's Wine,"and had tasted it (in his own phrase)"to see if it was nice."My inquiries informed me that this had happened at least thirty--six hours since!I had but one hope of saving him--derived from experiments on animals,which had shown me the very gradual progress of the deadly action of the poison.
"What I felt when I returned to the suffering man,I shall not attempt to describe.You will understand how completely I was overwhelmed,when Itell you that I meanly concealed my own disgraceful thoughtlessness from my brethren in the University.I was afraid that my experiments might be prohibited as dangerous,and my want of common prudence be made the subject of public reprimand by the authorities.The medical professors were permitted by me to conclude that it was a case of illness entirely new in their experience.
"In administering the antidote,I had no previous experiments to guide me,except my experiments with rabbits and dogs.Whether I miscalculated or whether I was deluded by my anxiety to save the man's life,I cannot say.This at least is certain,I gave the doses too copiously and at too short intervals.
"The patient recovered--but it was after sustaining some incomprehensibly deteriorating change in the blood,which destroyed his complexion,and turned his hair gray.I have since modified the doses;and in dread of losing the memorandum,I have attached a piece of notched paper to the bottle,so as to render any future error of judgment impossible.At the same time,I have facilitated the future administration of the antidote by adding a label to the bottle,stating the exact quantity of the poison taken by my servant,as calculated by myself.
"I ought,by the way,to have mentioned in the cipher that experience has shown me the necessity,if the antidote is to be preserved for any length of time,of protecting it in blue glass from the influence of light.