Plot

Professor Steinfeldt, a scientist, is engrossed in his work and spends the greater portion of his time in his laboratory conducting experiments. He is well along in years and has a young and handsome wife, who resents his neglect. Carl, a nephew of the professor, returns from college to stay with his relative, and spends many hours in company with the wife. Thrown together so constantly they learn to love one another and. while the professor is pouring over chemicals, they indulge in love-making in the parlor. Steinfeldt returns to the room in time to see his wife in the arms of his nephew, and he is astonished and shocked. He withdraws quietly and returns to his workroom in despair. He is soon joined by Carl, and the elder man plans to cure his wife of her mad infatuation. He shows Carl a phial, which he tells him contains a deadly poison, and leaves a glass of water standing on a table from which he has drank. Once alone Carl resolves to put the uncle out of his way and pours a quantity of the poison into the glass in desperation. He is soon joined by his uncle and the wife. The professor manages to pour out the poison and substitute pure water. He drinks of the contents and Carl is stricken with remorse. He is about to confess when his uncle offers the glass to his wife. She is about to drink, when the thoroughly frightened young man strikes the glass to the floor and attracts the suspicions of the wife. The professor sternly bids Carl rid the house of his presence and the wife awakens to the nature of her perfidy and confesses her duplicity. The husband is a philosopher and of a forgiving nature. He knows from the graphic lesson that his wife is cured of all affection for the unprincipled nephew, and he takes her in his arms—Moving Picture World synopsis