Question

Read the excerpt from The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

My provision of the salt, which had never been renewed since the date of the first experiment, began to run low. I sent out for a fresh supply and mixed the draught; the ebullition followed, and the first change of colour, not the second; I drank it and it was without efficiency. You will learn from Poole how I have had London ransacked; it was in vain; and I am now persuaded that my first supply was impure, and that it was that unknown impurity which lent efficacy to the draught.

What is the complication in this excerpt?

Dr. Jekyll’s formula will work only with an impure salt he can no longer find.
Dr. Jekyll has forgotten the secret formula needed to make his transformation.
Mr. Poole finds Dr. Jekyll’s chemicals and is trying to use them himself.
Mr. Poole has discovered and disclosed the true identity of Mr. Hyde.

Answer 1

Dr. Jekyll’s formula will work only with an impure salt he can no longer find.

Explanation: Jekyll says his original salt had an unknown impurity that made the draught effective, and his new, “pure” salt produces no transformation.