Chapter 115: Lee Dae-Ron… I Don’t Think It Will Work [2]
Methanol. Maybe it was ignorant of me, but the only thing that came to mind was how soldiers went blind from drinking it when they were not allowed real alcohol. Damn.
“Oh, methanol? That’s not difficult to make.”
“Really?”
I was just about ready to give up when I heard that. Dr. Liston, after learning I had some use for methanol, took me to the condom factory. Apparently, they had made so much money that the factory had even changed locations. The Chemist who once worked with rubber looked completely different now, wearing a polished suit and a stylish hat. As soon as he saw me, he gave me a smug little shrug.
This bastard… Didn’t he act the same way when I brought up arsenic compounds?
I could not fully trust him after the arsenic incident. He seemed to catch my expression and quickly started defending himself.
“No, seriously! Methanol has been around for over a hundred years.”
“Really?”
“Wait, are you suspicious again?”
“Arsenic.”
I reminded him of how I had asked for a syphilis treatment using arsenic, only for him to hand me a colorless, odorless poison. This crazy guy made the arsenic more toxic! At least he had the decency to blush.
“Okay, okay… but that’s different! You really can treat syphilis with arsenic!”
Oh, sure. You actually wrote that in the books? Of course, times were different… But still. I could not say that out loud.
“But methanol is different. You just need to buy it.”
“I see. Then is it possible to oxidize it?”
“Oxidize it? Sure, you just expose it to oxygen. That’s easy. But… you know it’s poison, right?”
“Yes, it’s poison.”
“Then yeah, no big deal. Just don’t expect it quickly. Why do you even need it?”
So it was not just me. Everyone thought of methanol as a toxic substance. The Chemist even cringed at the idea. And really, who would want to touch the stuff? Even now, the memory of Formalin from the Anatomy Lab still haunted me. But…
No… body snatching is one thing, but killing people for corpses?
If I could prevent that with just a little inconvenience, was it not worth doing? I wished I could just tell them to stop, but these were not the kind of people who listened to reason.
“Someone said something once… I think it was someone you knew. If you soak an animal in water mixed with methanol, it won’t rot at all.”
“Hmm. Really? Are you talking about my boss?”
“Yes.”
“I did hear something about tiger hunting in India… Taxidermy is tricky business.”
That sounded like nonsense. Formalin was so strong there was no way tiger skin could handle it. Still, this Chemist had made a fortune off condoms, and now he believed whatever I told him. He just nodded.
“All right then. I’ll get it. Won’t be hard. Trash has value now. Someone will bring it.”
“Great. Please take care of it.”
And in no time at all, he delivered. Not only did I get methanol, I got it already oxidized. He said it was not that difficult. He heated copper, added methanol, and collected the gas released. It condensed into a pungent liquid. In other words, Formalin. I had to admit, he was more capable than I expected.
“Ugh.”
The smell hit hard. Sharp, acrid, and intense.
This stuff is a carcinogen… and it feels thicker than I remember.
If the usual smell from the Anatomy Lab was like black coffee, this was like espresso. But I could not say anything to the Chemist. Did he even understand concentration levels? Probably not. He likely just did what I asked. Thankfully, there was a miraculous thing called water. I could dilute it.
“Why the hell did you bring this stuff?”
“Ah… I feel like I’m going crazy just standing near it.”
“You’re my teacher, but… this is too much.”
Before mixing it, I brought it to the hospital, and chaos erupted. Joseph, Alfred, Colin, everyone freaked out.
“If you tell me to wash my hands with this, I’m going to kill you.”
Even Blundell backed away.
“Don’t come any closer.”
Liston was the worst. Ironically, the same guy who did not even wear a mask in the dissection lab was now holding his nose like a dainty aristocrat.
“It’s a preservative. You don’t wash your hands with it.”
“Antiseptic?” Liston asked, still several steps away, nose pinched shut.
“Yes. We’ll use it to embalm bodies. I’ve told you, we need so many corpses because they keep rotting before we can use them.”
“That’s true…”
“If we don’t do something, the grave robbing won’t stop. Two thousand bodies disappearing from one cemetery? Don’t you think this has to end?”
Two thousand bodies… even if just five percent of them were buried alive, that was still one hundred people murdered. That was horrific. Compared to that, this smell was nothing.
“Ugh… Fine, but still…”
“Yes. Exactly.”
Liston and Blundell nodded slowly. In a way, were they not all accomplices? Not just them, but all the professors at London’s medical schools. The entire system was complicit. Could you really justify that by saying it was all for the advancement of medicine? There had to be a better way.
Grimacing, I started diluting the Formalin in water, testing different concentrations to find one that matched the smell I remembered from proper embalming fluid.
“Ugh.”
Each time, the sharp stench punched straight into my nose. Even if you did not know it was dangerous, your body would instinctively reject it. That was what smell was for, to warn us. Still…
Damn it… I don’t even need anatomy class.
I had no reason to mess with corpses. Not even for surgical practice. Why? I already had years of experience. Even with new techniques, I could improvise. Who here could teach me anything? It was better to keep pushing forward on my own.
“Whew…”
Eventually, I finished the dilution trials, my mask soaked in vapor and my lungs burning. I could not smell anything by the end. My nose was numb.
“Phew…”
I stepped outside to catch my breath. Blundell approached, also holding his nose, but with something in his other hand.
“What’s that… a weapon? Are you going to punish me with the smell?”
“It’s a Stethoscope.”
“Oh.”
It was a Stethoscope, sort of. Crude and bizarre-looking, since this era did not have proper rubber, let alone plastic. Using it required both patient and doctor to position themselves carefully.
“Hmm…”
“How is it?”
“It might hurt a bit.”
“Hurt?”
“Yes… here in the ears. The ends are iron, right? It presses right in.”
The tube, about twenty centimeters long, split at the end and bent so you could stick the metal tips into your ears. I figured attaching rubber would make it much better. But did it even work?
“Let me try!”
“No, me first!”
“Let the students go first!”
Surprisingly, people were eager to try. The nineteenth century really was wild. Just like when they pulled teeth to test anesthesia, everyone was ready to experiment. Not just students, either. Random people walking by joined in too.
Well… I guess it’s good.
Everyone’s chest and lungs sounded a little different. Some were louder, some fainter. Body type played a role, of course. I listened carefully, pressing the device directly against skin.
“Hmm…”
Compared to using the Stethoscope, putting your ear straight to the body felt vulgar, but no one complained. They all just accepted it.
I can hear it clearly… Definitely better than before. Not perfect, but still…
It was not as accurate as an Electrocardiogram, but for this time period, it was revolutionary. With some rubber packing to prevent sound leakage, it could become something remarkable.
“Nice. This is great.”
“Good thing… because you just got a message.”
“Huh?”
“It’s from the police. They said the execution is today.”
“…Ah.”
Footnotes
Translator’s Notes
Methanol — Simple alcohol that is toxic to humans and can cause blindness or death if ingested.
Formaldehyde — Chemical compound produced here through oxidation of methanol; when dissolved in water, it becomes Formalin.
Taxidermy — Process of preserving animal bodies or skins for display.
Carcinogen — Substance capable of causing cancer.