272: a picture of the two colleagues, taken about a year . . . : Photographs provided by the family of Alexander O. Gettler.
EPILOGUE: THE SUREST POISON
276: “If any one person deserves . . . ”: A. W. Freireich, “In Memoriam: Alexander O. Gettler 1883–1968,” Journal of Forensic Sciences 14, no. 3 (July 1969), p. vii.
276: what toxicologists now call “wet” chemistry . . . : Henry C. Freimuth, “Alexander O. Gettler (1883–1968),” American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology 4, no. 4 (December 1983).
276: The work was so often grisly . . . : Irving Sunshine, Was It a Poisoning? Forensic Toxicologists Searching for Answers (New York: American Academy of Forensic Scientists/ Society of Forensic Toxicologists, 1998).
276: “If they did not” . . . : Ibid.
278: “His interest in his former students . . . ”: Freireich, “In Memoriam.”
278: His son, Joseph . . . : Eugene Pawley, “Cause of Death: Ask Gettler,” American Mercury, September 1954, pp. 62–66.
INDEX
abortion
acetic acid
aconitine, in monkshood plant
alcohol
denatured
See also ethyl alcohol (C2H5OH); grain alcohol; Prohibition; wood alcohol (CH3OH)
alcohol intoxication
Gettler’s investigations of
scientific scale of
alcoholism, death rates for
aldehol
alienists
alkaloids
detection in human tissue
isolation of
nicotine as
alpha radiation
ALS
A. M. Byers Iron Factory
American Chemical Society
American Journal of Clinical Pathology
American Medical Association
ammonia
ammonionitrate of silver test, for arsenic
ammoniosulfate of copper test, for arsenic
Anderson, James
Anderson, Walter
Anderson, William
aniline
aniline dyes
in consumer products
Gettler’s studies on
antifreeze cocktail
Anti-Saloon League
Appelgate, Ada
Appelgate, Agnes
Appelgate, Everett
argyria
arsenic (As)
availability of
decline in use of
detection in human tissue
in dyes
Gettler’s investigations of
gradual dosing effect
medicinal use of
Mors’s use of
mummification and
in pesticides
as poison
poisoning symptoms
as poudre de succession
white arsenic
arsenic trioxide (As2O3)
atropine, medicinal use of
automobiles
drunk-driving arrests
engine exhaust and
ethanol and
fatal accidents
licensing law and
traffic and
autopsies
arsenic detection and
of Blue Man
carbon dioxide detection and
carbon monoxide detection and
chloroform detection and
civil service examination and
cyanide detection and
ethyl alcohol poisoning and
instruments of
in Jackson case
mercury detection and
nicotine detection and
Norris and
procedures of
radium detection and
standards for
thallium detection and
Avery, Charles
Bailey Radium Laboratories
Banger, Adam
Banton, Joshua
Barnet, Henry
Becquerel, Henri
beer, return of legal beer
Bee’s Knees
Bein, Olga
belladonna
Bellevue and Allied Hospitals
autopsies and
forensic medicine department of
history of
influenza deaths and
Norris and
psychopathic ward of
“Bellevue Black Bottle,”
Bennett Cocktail
benzene
in dyes
Gettler’s investigations on
government denatured industrial alcohol and
Berlin, Irving
beryllium
Berzelius’s modification of Marsh’s test, for arsenic
beta radiation
Bettendorf’s test, for arsenic
bichloride of mercury (HgCl2)
Bismosal
bismuth, medicinal use of
Black Hand Society
“Black Tuesday,”
blood-alcohol levels
Bloomingdale’s department store
Blue Man
blues songs
Borgia, Cesare
Borgia, Lucretia
Bowery
Bradicich, Albert
British Medical Association
Broun, Heywood
brucine
burglars, use of chloroform
Butler, Nicholas Murray
Byers, Eben M.
Cain, James M.
calcium
calomel
Campbell, Robert
camphor
la cantarella
carbolic acid
carbon
carbon dioxide (CO2)
carbon monoxide (CO)
blue-violet flame and
carboxyhemoglobin levels and
detection in human tissue
environmental hazards from
Gettler’s investigations of
as industrial by-product
lethal levels of
as poison
poisoning symptoms
in tobacco smoke
carboxyhemoglobin
Carson, Rachel
Celluloid Company
Charles Norris Fellowship in Forensic Medicine
Chemist’s War
chloral hydrate
chlorine gas, in World War I,
chloroform (CHCl3)
accidental deaths from
burglars’ use of
detection in human tissue
Gettler’s investigations of
industrial use of
as irritant
medicinal use of
Mors case and
as poison
popularity of
Snyder case and
Christie, Agatha
cigarettes
Citizens’ Union
coal tar (cresol)
codeine, medicinal use of
Collins, Joseph
coniine
Consumers’ League
Consumers’ Research Union
Coolidge, Calvin
Cornell University
Cornish, Harry
coroners
complaints about
incompetence of
coroner system
Martland and
Wallstein’s investigation of
Cotton, Mary Ann
Country Trust Company
Creighton, Annie
Creighton, John
Creighton, John, Jr.
Creighton, Mary Frances
Creighton, Ruth
Creighton, Walter
Crones, Jean
Crookes, William
Curie, Marie
Curie, Pierre
cyanide-by-mail murder cases
cyanide gas
as disinfectant
in World War I,
cyanide salts
cyanides (HCN, KCN, NaCN)
cyanid
e-by-mail murder cases
detection in human tissue
dyes and
evidence from
fumigation with
Gettler’s investigations of
history of
hydrogen cyanide
industrial use of
as poison
poisoning symptoms
potassium cyanide
sodium cyanide
in tobacco smoke
cyanobacteria
Daisy Fly Killer
D’Aloia, Victor
DDT
Decker, Ingraham & Smith Pharmaceuticals
Democratic Party
in New York City
Prohibition and
Tammany Hall
denaturing alcohol
depilatory creams
destructive distillation
detectives, Norris’s training for
Diesbach, Heinrich
diethylene glycol (HO-CH2-CH2-O-CH2-CH2-OH)
diethyl phlatate
digitalis, Gettler’s studies on
Doran, James
Double Indemnity (Cain)
Drexler, Samuel
“Drunk-o-Meter,”
dry ice
Dupont Company
Dupuy, Eli
Durant, Will
Dutcher’s Fly Paper
Eastman, George
Edison, Thomas
Egyptians
Eighteenth Amendment
moral standards and
opposition to
passing of
ratification of
repeal of
Roosevelt and
Alfred E. Smith Jr. and
Volstead Act and
See also Prohibition
Einstein, Izzy
elements, identification of
elevator accidents
El Fay Club
Elixir Sulfanilamide
Empire State Building
ethanol
ether
as anesthetic
denatured industrial alcohol and
Gettler’s studies on
ethyl alcohol (C2H5OH)
chemical structure of
Gettler’s investigations of
Ginger Jake and
history of research on
medicinal use of
Norris and
as poison
poisoning symptoms of
wood alcohol compared to
Everybody’s Sweetheart (film)
Federal Trade Commission
flame tests
The Flapper (film)
Fleitmann’s test, for arsenic
Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act
Food and Drug Administration
Ford, Henry
forensic medicine
challenges for
as department at New York University
as investigator’s tool
standards for
formaldehyde
Gettler’s studies on
in tobacco smoke
wood alcohol and
formic acid, and wood alcohol
Formula
Fowler’s Solution
Fredericksen, Alice
Fredericksen, Anna
Fredericksen, Frederick
Freeman, Frank
Freimuth, Henry
Freindlich, Harry
Freindlich, Leah
Freireich, Abraham
Freon
Fryer, Grace
funeral home directors
Gallagher, Joe
gamma radiation
Gannett, Frank
gas chromatograph
gasoline, lead as additive in
General Motors
Geoghan, William
Gettler, Alexander
arsenic poisoning investigations
automobile engine exhaust studies
benzene investigations
Blue Man investigation
carbon monoxide investigations
chloroform investigations
cyanide fumigation crusade
cyanide poisoning investigations
death of
education of
ethyl alcohol investigations
fluoride investigations
as forensic chemist
forensic medicine department at New York University and
gambling interests of
impatience with journalists
influenza epidemic of 1918 and
legacy of
liver test of
mercury poisoning investigations
Norris’s funeral and
Prohibition and
radium poisoning investigations
retirement of
salary of
Snyder case and
tetraethyl lead investigations
thallium investigations