Posted by Kat on Dec-21st-03 at 4:13 AM
"Nailing The Poison Story / Neither Nor Any Relatives Bought Prussic Acid at Brow's," Boston Herald, August 8, 1982: 2.
"It was claimed Lizzie made a second attempt to purchase prussic acid at Walter J. Brow's Drug Store at 62 Second Street. A Boston Herald reporter interviewed Mr. Brow to verify the rumor. Mr. Brow said Lizzie traded at his store and had known Lizzie for the past twenty years. He assured the reporter Lizzie did not purchase any prussic acid. He recalled that Lizzie stopped trading at his store about four years ago. Her last purchase was chloroform, stating she wanted it for the purpose of killing a cat. Mr. Brow states Miss Borden asked for the stuff in rather a surly manner, and he answered just as saucily. Miss Borden paid for the chloroform and went out. She has never been in the shop since."
All these questions and theories I have read on the forum about poison being used to subdue Andrew so there would not be a struggle, or Lizzie waiting til he went to sleep to provide her a perfect opportunity, and wondering how was Abby killed with so little of an apparent struggle? So many questions and so many different theories. When I read this in a post from Kat in the archives, I wondered if the idea that came to me had ever been considered by any of you. There is a written eye witness statement to Lizzie buying chloroform.Chloroform could be bought over the counter? No one thought that maybe this is how the victims were subdued? Just an idea that occured to me, decided to see what you all thought about it.
"Chloroform (also known as trichloromethane and methyl trichloride) is a chemical compound with formula CHCl3. It is a colorless liquid with a pleasant, nonirritating odor and a slightly sweet taste. It does not support combustion in air, although it will burn when mixed with more flammable substances."
"In 1847, the Edinburgh obstetrician James Young Simpson first used chloroform to effect general anesthesia during childbirth."
"In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, chloroform was used as an inhaled anesthetic during surgery. However, safer, more flexible drugs have entirely replaced it in this role. The major use of chloroform today is in the production of the freon refrigerant R-22. However, as the Montreal Protocol takes effect, this use can be expected to decline as R-22 is replaced by refrigerants that are less liable to result in ozone depletion."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chloroform