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Solution to the Episode One Mystery
"Plague?" William frowns. "According to
my chart, the symptoms of plague only fit some of the five victims, not
all of them.
| |
VITTET |
TABOT |
BANCAIRN
(Younger)
|
SETTERLY |
BANCAIRN
(Elder) |
DR.
TWOMBY |
HARPER |
WYLIE |
ADDAMS |
| AFFLICTION |
"brain fever"
|
"dry fever"
|
"dry fever"
|
"wet fever"
|
"dry fever"
|
"wet fever"
|
"dry fever"
|
"wet fever"
|
"wet fever"
|

symptoms of... |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
...rabies?
|
yes
|
no
|
no
|
no
|
no
|
no
|
no
|
no
|
no
|
|
...polio?
|
no
|
maybe
|
maybe
|
no
|
maybe
|
no
|
maybe
|
no
|
no
|
|
...influenza?
|
no
|
no
|
no
|
maybe
|
no
|
maybe
|
no
|
maybe
|
maybe
|
|
...yellow fever?
|
no
|
maybe
|
maybe
|
no
|
maybe
|
no
|
maybe
|
no
|
no
|
|
...scurvy?
|
no
|
no
|
no
|
no
|
no
|
no
|
no
|
no
|
no
|
|
...plague?
|
no
|
maybe
|
maybe
|
no
|
maybe
|
no
|
maybe
|
no
|
no
|
| TREATMENT |
ducking
|
phlebotomy
(bloodletting)
|
phlebotomy
(bloodletting)
|
phlebotomy
(bloodletting)
|
phlebotomy
(bloodletting)
|
phlebotomy
(bloodletting)
|
none
|
James' Powder
(antimony)
|
James' Powder
(antimony)
|
| OUTCOME |
died
12 Oct 1833
|
died
7 Jan 1834
|
died
10 Jan 1834
|
died
13 Jan 1834
|
died
13 Jan 1834
|
died
15 Jan 1834
|
lived
|
lived
|
lived
|
| BURIED? |
at sea
|
Ice Grave 1
|
Ice Grave 3
|
Ice Grave 2
|
Ice Grave 4
|
Ice Grave 5
|
|
|
|
| |
|
"THE
ICE GRAVE VICTIMS" |
|
|
|
"The one common thing for the five in the ice graves,"
he goes on, "is phlebotomy." He runs a highlighter pen
along the row marked TREATMENT.
"The people may have been weakened by disease,"
Claudia says slowly, "either the 'dry raging' fever or the 'wet coughing'
fever... but it was the bloodletting that pushed them over the edge."
She shudders. "'That huge crimson spot on the ice.'"
"Look at the people who survived," you say.
"Harper refused to be bled. And he alone survived the dry raging
fever."
"And Addams and Wylie," Claudia nods. "They
came down with the 'wet coughing' fever after the doctor died.
And they recovered quite nicely."
William solemnly unrolls the photo from Ice Grave 5. You
all look at the young doctor's pale face. "'Physician, heal thyself,'"
William quotes. The photo slowly rolls back up. There is a moment of awkward
silence.
"Right," William declares. "Time to get
some rest."
You settle down in sleeping bags. Above the roar of the
wind you can hear an occasional crackle, grind and boom.
"Just the pack ice shifting," William calls
out. "Nothing to worry about. Goodnight."

An Access
Excellence Science Mystery sponsored by Genentech,
Inc.
Copyright © 1997 Genentech, Inc.; all rights reserved.
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