The broken window

[David Orsam]

Except for the fact that the doctor was not a gynaecologist.

Hi Simon,

I hope you won't mind me asking you a question re. the above.

Why do you say that Dr Gabe was not a gynaecologist?

[DJA]

Best of luck with the itching St Devil

The TB rate was around 20%,so might be a clue.

Ex May & Baker, also experienced in alcohol and drug rehab. No eye dear.

[Robert St Devil]

Extract of deadly nightshade or Bella Donna.

Once similar was used for gastric ulcers.

Thanks for the link.

Glad to help DJA. Think I may have found one for vaginal itching. What would have been prescribed to her 3 times a day is beyond me...

[DJA]

Already SULFATE OF ATROPIN has been marked for its poisonous qualities. Reports of a suicidal man drinking an EYE LOTION containing the drug.

Extract of deadly nightshade or Bella Donna.

Once similar was used for gastric ulcers.

Thanks for the link.

[Robert St Devil]

Thanks Simon.

Puts a dent in part of my theory

Surmise she took her tablets with her.

DJA. I found the following link for PHARMOCOPOEIA OF ST BARTHOLOMEWS HOSPITAL 1896. It was the only one available online:

http://wellcomelibrary.org/player/b20405662#?asi=0&ai=0

I'm having to learn Latin real quick. Some prescriptions are obvious lotions (Lotio). But there are also eye lotions (Collyrium) and salves (Unguentums). Still working on the others. Want to discover which lotions would have been marked as POISON and what they may have treated.

Already SULFATE OF ATROPIN has been marked for its poisonous qualities. Reports of a suicidal man drinking an EYE LOTION containing the drug. Guessing that hiding Visine in alcohol in a prank isnt anything new.

[David Orsam]

Hi David,

No problem.

Mecklenburgh Square is around two-and-a-half miles from Church Street.

That's exactly my point Simon. Not very far away at all. Through Clerkenwell, which was an area in which Dr Gabe operated, across the City and you are in Whitechapel. Not a particularly long walk but a short journey in a cab in 1888 (as today).

I was contrasting to any Dr Gale who you might find in Plymouth or somewhere like that. The newspaper report referred to a 'Dr Gale' treating patients at the London Dispensary. Find me a Dr Gale who was closer to Spitalfields.

[Simon Wood]

Hi David,

No problem.

Mecklenburgh Square is around two-and-a-half miles from Church Street.

Regards,

Simon

[David Orsam]

Hi David,

"We know that Dr Gale did not live very far away from Whitechapel in 1888."

We do?

I meant Dr Gabe, Simon.

[Simon Wood]

Hi David,

"We know that Dr Gale did not live very far away from Whitechapel in 1888."

We do?

Regards,

Simon

[DJA]

If the pills were to treat the TB that had invaded her brain.......

Jack attempted to take her head off.....who knew apart from her treating doctor.

She had transferred the contents of the prescription packet to a torn envelope.

[Simon Wood]

Hi DJA,

Excellent point.

The two medications described by Timothy Donovan were liquid.

Where did Annie Chapman get her pills? She certainly didn't have a container of any sort.

Regards,

Simon

[DJA]

Hi DJA,

Annie Chapman's medications apparently came from St. Bartholomew's Hospital—

Morning Advertiser, 10th September 1888—

“Timothy Donovan, deputy at the lodging house, 35 Dorset Street, stated that after the deceased left on Monday last he found two large bottles in the room, one containing medicine, and labelled as follows: ‘St. Bartholomew’s Hospital. Take two tablespoonfuls three times a day.’ The other bottle contained a milky lotion, and was labelled ‘St. Bartholomew’s Hospital. The lotion. Poison.’ This confirmed her statement that she had been under medical treatment.”

St. Bartholomew’s did not supply medicine bottles free of charge. Patients brought their own, or bought one from an itinerant bottle-seller outside the hospital.


Regards,

Simon

Thanks Simon.

Puts a dent in part of my theory

Surmise she took her tablets with her.

[David Orsam]

Hi David,

And so do I.

Regards,

Simon

Well Simon, we know for a fact that Dr Gabe was referred to in the newspapers as 'Dr Gale'. We know that Dr Gabe was associated with the London Dispensary, having lived at 21 Church Street for a number of years in the 1880s. We know that Dr Gale did not live very far away from Whitechapel in 1888. We have a reported example of a 'Dr Gale' treating patients at the London Dispensary in December 1887. In the absence of any other candidates for who this 'Dr Gale' could possibly be, I would be very optimistic of a judge concluding on the balance of probability that the 'Dr Gale' referred to in the Birmingham Daily Post was, in fact, 'Dr Gabe'.

[David Orsam]

Now, you would really be onto something if you could place Dr. John Rees Gabe, General Practitioner and Surgeon, at the London Dispensary, 21 Church Street, Spitalfields, on the morning of Friday 9th November 1888.

I don't need to go this far. If Dr Gabe was still treating patients at the London Dispensary during 1888 - with it being possible that he treated Mary Jane Kelly - then this alone would provide a satisfactory explanation as to why he was called to Miller's Court on the afternoon of 9 November. If he happened to be at the London Dispensary that day, it's a bonus.

[Simon Wood]

Hi David,

And so do I.

Regards,

Simon