EFFECT OF PUTREFACTIVE BODIES ON CHEMICAL TESTS. 167 



THE EFFECT OF PUTREFACTIVE BODIES ON THE CHEMICAL 



TESTS FOR MORPHINE. 



M. W. CLIFT. 



In at least three important trials for murder, the possibility of putre- 

 factive products being- mistaken for morphine, has arisen. The first of 

 these was the Sonzogna trial at Cremona, Italy, in which it is probable 

 that the experts confounded a putrefactive body with morphine. This 

 substance was extracted from either alkaline or acid solutions with ether, 

 but could not be removed with amylic alcohol. It reduced iodic acid, 

 but in its other reactions, also in its physiological properties, it bore 

 no close resemblance to morphine. In the Buchanan case, in New York, 

 every test for morphine was duplicated with putrefactive products, so 

 that the distinguished chemists present were not able to tell which of 

 the two portions contained the alkaloid. In the case of Dr. Urbino de 

 Freitas. of Oporto, Portugal, who was accused of attempting the whole- 

 sale murder of his wife's family by the administration of morphine, the 

 toxicologist, who investigated the case, relied for the detection of this 

 alkaloid upon the color reactions applied to residues obtained by follow- 

 ing Dragendorff's method. The chemist reported not only morphine, but 

 narcein and probably delphinin. The defense questioned the reliability 

 of the tests used, and manj' of the most prominent toxicologists of 

 Europe became more or less involved in the controversy. These cases 

 are enough to illustrate the desirability of further investigation along 

 this line. Many methods have been suggested for the extraction of mor- 

 phine in medico-legal cases, without confounding it with any putrefactive 

 body. The best of these methods is that advanced by Kippenberger, who 

 holds that the alkaloidal tnnnates are soluble in glvcerin. while the 

 putrefactive bodies, likely to interfere with the tests for morphine, are 

 insoluble in this agent. A careful reading of Kippenberger's paper shows 

 that this statement does not rest upon any extensive experiments. 



Therefore, in order to ascertain the validity of his claims and, if 

 possible, throw some light on the determination of morphine in organic 

 mixture, the following experiments were undertaken. The method of 

 the work may be described briefly as follows: Six flasks (II/2 !•) were 

 cleaned, rinsed with distilled water, and in each of these there was placed 

 500 g., of chopped beef liver, and 1,000 c.c. of distilled water. These 

 flasks were then placed in the autoclave and sterilized at 120° C. for 

 forty-five minutes. After having' been heated, the flasks were allowed 

 to stand at room temperature for twenty-four hours, when their sterility 

 was proven by inoculating tubes of beef tea with material from each 

 flask. After this, these flasks were treated as follows: 



No. 1 was inoculated with bacillus pyocyaneus ; 



No. 2 was treated with 100 mg. of morphine and then inoculated with 

 bacillus pyocyaneus; 



No. 3 was treated with 200 mg^ of morphine and then inoculated with 

 bacillus pyocyaneus; 



