doubt, may be accounted for by the natural desire to
substantiate the statement made in the death certificate. But this
same witness tells us later that exactly three and a half grains of
morphine is missing from his medicine-case, the one from which the
defence admits that the morphine was taken. We find also that the
defence seem to lay more stress upon explaining the death by morphine,
than upon any effort to prove that diphtheria killed this girl.

"I think, then, that, with no injustice to the accused, you may adopt
the pet theory of the defence, and conclude that this girl died of
morphine poisoning. But, gentlemen, I shall now even admit more than
that. Let us grant that a diseased kidney will cause accumulation of
morphine, and that this girl had such a disease. More than that, let
us admit that she had taken a considerable quantity of morphine prior
to her illness, and that a large portion of it was held secreted in
some part of her body. Now, what is the situation on that last evening
of her life? She has been ill for several days with diphtheria, but
she is recovering. She is so far convalescent that the senior
physician deems it unnecessary for him to see her again that night.
She also has slight kidney trouble, and she has some morphine stored
up in her system; an amount, however, which has been tolerated
throughout the attack of diphtheria, when vitality was at its lowest
ebb, but which has neither acted fatally, nor even affected her so
that symptoms of its presence attracted the attention of the doctors.

"Gentlemen of the jury, now follow me closely if you please. We can
often bring witnesses to a murder where a weapon is used, but rare
indeed is it that the poisoner is actually seen at his deadly work.
But, by a singular act of Providence, that is what happened here. The
prisoner arrived at that house that night, and dismissed the trained
nurse. Observe that this occurs precisely upon the night when the
patient has been declared to be convalescent. Here, then, is this man,
a physician himself, alone in the presence of a weak woman. Does not
this surely indicate to you that he had the opportunity to commit the
foul deed? Supposing that he wished to rid himself of this girl, how
gladly would he have awaited for her death by natural causes? How
willingly have seen the dread diphtheria remove her from his path, and
save his soul from the stain of crime? But no! It was not to be! On
this night, his skilled