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1 | 1 | "It is interesting, chemically, no doubt," I answered, "but practically—" |
2 | 2 |
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3 | | -"Why, man, it is the most practical medico-legal discovery for years. Don’t you see that it |
4 | | -gives us an infallible test for blood stains. Come over here now!" He seized me by the coat |
5 | | -sleeve in his eagerness and drew me over to the table at which he had been working. "Let us |
6 | | -have some fresh blood," he said, digging a long bodkin into his finger, and drawing off the |
7 | | -resulting drop of blood in a chemical pipette. "Now, I add this small quantity of blood to a |
8 | | -litre of water. You perceive that the resulting mixture has the appearance of pure water. The |
9 | | -proportion of blood cannot be more than one in a million. I have no doubt, however, that we |
10 | | -shall be able to obtain the characteristic reaction." As he spoke, he threw into the vessel a |
11 | | -few white crystals, and then added some drops of a transparent fluid. In an instant, the |
12 | | -contents assumed a dull mahogany color, and a brownish dust was precipitated to the bottom of |
13 | | -the glass jar. |
| 3 | +"Why, man, it is the most practical medico-legal discovery for years. Don’t you see |
| 4 | +that it gives us an infallible test for blood stains. Come over here now!" He seized |
| 5 | +me by the coat sleeve in his eagerness and drew me over to the table at which he had |
| 6 | +been working. "Let us have some fresh blood," he said, digging a long bodkin into his |
| 7 | +finger, and drawing off the resulting drop of blood in a chemical pipette. "Now, I |
| 8 | +add this small quantity of blood to a litre of water. You perceive that the resulting |
| 9 | +mixture has the appearance of pure water. The proportion of blood cannot be more than |
| 10 | +one in a million. I have no doubt, however, that we shall be able to obtain the |
| 11 | +characteristic reaction." As he spoke, he threw into the vessel a few white crystals, |
| 12 | +and then added some drops of a transparent fluid. In an instant, the contents assumed |
| 13 | +a dull mahogany color, and a brownish dust was precipitated to the bottom of the |
| 14 | +glass jar. |
14 | 15 |
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15 | | -"Ha! ha!" he cried, clapping his hands and looking as delighted as a child with a new toy. |
16 | | -"What do you think of that?" |
| 16 | +"Ha! ha!" he cried, clapping his hands and looking as delighted as a child with a new |
| 17 | +toy. "What do you think of that?" |
17 | 18 |
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18 | 19 | "It seems to be a very delicate test," I remarked. |
19 | 20 |
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20 | 21 | "Beautiful! beautiful! The old Guiacum test was very clumsy and uncertain. So is the |
21 | | -microscopic examination for blood corpuscles. The latter is valueless if the stains are a few |
22 | | -hours old. Now, this appears to act as well whether the blood is old or new. Had this test been |
23 | | -invented, there are hundreds of men now walking the earth who would long ago have paid the |
24 | | -penalty of their crimes." |
| 22 | +microscopic examination for blood corpuscles. The latter is valueless if the stains |
| 23 | +are a few hours old. Now, this appears to act as well whether the blood is old or |
| 24 | +new. Had this test been invented, there are hundreds of men now walking the earth who |
| 25 | +would long ago have paid the penalty of their crimes." |
25 | 26 |
|
26 | 27 | "Indeed!" I murmured. |
27 | 28 |
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28 | | -"Criminal cases are continually hinging upon that one point. A man is suspected of a crime months |
29 | | -perhaps after it has been committed. His linen or clothes are examined, and brownish stains |
30 | | -discovered upon them. Are they blood stains, or mud stains, or rust stains, or fruit stains, or |
31 | | -what are they? That is a question which has puzzled many an expert, and why? Because there was no |
32 | | -reliable test. Now we have the Sherlock Holmes’ test, and there will no longer be any difficulty." |
33 | | - |
34 | | -His eyes fairly glittered as he spoke, and he put his hand over his heart and bowed as if to some |
35 | | -applauding crowd conjured up by his imagination. |
| 29 | +"Criminal cases are continually hinging upon that one point. A man is suspected of a |
| 30 | +crime months perhaps after it has been committed. His linen or clothes are examined, |
| 31 | +and brownish stains discovered upon them. Are they blood stains, or mud stains, or |
| 32 | +rust stains, or fruit stains, or what are they? That is a question which has puzzled |
| 33 | +many an expert, and why? Because there was no reliable test. Now we have the Sherlock |
| 34 | +Holmes’ test, and there will no longer be any difficulty." |
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