The Sun.
London, England, 1855-05-29 00:00:00

AN OPERATION UNDER CHLOROFORM.

‘' I assisted at ono very painful case, in which a branch of
the femoral artery had to be taken up ; there wore great dffl-
culties about it, E 0 much so, that one of the best surgeons
there did not seem to me to like to attempt it; it was, how-
ever, done by Dr. M'llray assisted by some others ; I am
afraid to say the length of time the patient was under the in-
fluence of chloroform his head was on my knee th 3 greater
part of the time, and I had to keep up the administration of
this inestimable agent ; at last they succeeded in getting a
ligature round • the vessel ; I was then left with one of the
surgeons, to try and recover him from the torpor, under
which ho had, without pain, borne a most severe appli-
cation of the knife, &c. Our only hope, from the quantity of
blood he had lost, was, to get some stimulant taken as
soon as we could ; in vain we tried every means of rousing
him ; the pulsation of the heart was so weak, his whole ap-
pearance such, I had begun to despair. As a last resort, I
found out his name, and had him sharply spoken to by it ; so
strong was t',e force of habit, that ho made just sufficient
effort to waken to enable us to order him to drink the wino
we gave him, keeping up the same sharp military tone .of
voice, we got more and more swallowAr-And he soon re-
covered ; I saw him some days after doingmell."

Here is S. G. o.'s Wouvermane-like pencilling
of— • 4 ,

A BATTLE-FIELD.

"The grouping of fallen men and horses,; the many heaped
up masses of dead moved strangely by the living maimed
among them, showing the points where the deadly strife had
been the most severe ; the commingling of uniforms of friends
and foes, as both lie scattered on the ground on which they
fell ; the groups surrounding this and that individual
sufferer, hearing his last words, giving to bins the last drops
of water which will ever moisten his lips upon earth. The
stretchers borne from various points, each carrying some officer
or private soldier, who now has the startling feeling forced
upon him—" it has come to this—and yet there may be
hope of life ;" his excited but overworn spirit, half
fainting as it is, vet dreaming a mixed -feverish dream
of the charge in which he met his wound, and the
thoughts og home that flashed upon the heart, as it
seemed to commit that heart to a moment's oblivion of all else.
Then comes the first dawn of the hope that life may be
spared ; the view of horrid objects passed, seen with a dim-
med eye—hope of life growing stronger, but with it now the
dread of some operation to be undergone—the sound of guns
still heard, begetting a feverish impatient desire to know the
result of the battle. Again, a partial waking up at the voice
of the surgeon; be and his attendants seen as through a mist;
the deafened feelings of utter weakness causing all to seem
as though they spoke in whispers; the still further rousing of
the mind as the cordial administered begins to take effect ;
the voice of a comrade or friend lying close by, himself
wounded yet speaking to cheer; the operation borne bravely
and. felt the less, as it gives promise of a life just now seem-
ingly lost to hope ; through it all fresh news ever arriving
from amidst the din of the strife still raging—all this has a
life and motion and-spirit in it, which mocks the real grade
horror of the scene."

Here, again, we are tempted to give two exquisite
illustrations from the same hand of the deplorable
results "at home" of a scene of slaughter like the
foregoing. The one is descriptive of a❑ actual in-
cident :

A BEREAVED MOTHER.
" On my return to England, amongst other commissions I

a carriage;ge andnig out of a train
.soenteeoffgunssmed,
-..'
had undertaken, was that -of carrying to his mother, the
..swordtei p ahp ears ,d 61. e .11;h
feor
of
Nl,liila
lvaaegwreyoooyfuodut
huaigts
Scutari.goiffi.e
green or
w 111 o m
ascertainedhad
Mrs. --- lived on the villagey
another volunteer assistant in the person of the
busine=B
was at
common, and
bon. gentleman the member for Northampton-
shire. Alluding to their joint labours in writing tinmhsealLt,nslichewolliyveedrrayantind.
They ‘poltnted out to me
asuociu,gsah
wt ;
the i leaving vpienogril
et the
acnadrirni carriage “home " for the sick and dying sufferers, Mr. some miles from it,l
wlashtiorledd
zealous assistant in this work in my
day by day and all day, he might b©
the bell'aet a garden-gate, I
askedcft oh
rme
Img
hroweanehdn; i
ete. Ia ;
vvAsawfts stoppedoetrrhde,
las
zht
co
had
u shopsaiden .
mrmy:
hand.g
Osbornefr
i,enlafomurna.
da ysasta :E most----:
rd ;
seen with his portfolio by the- side of the poor sufferers,
giving many hours to the task. Indeed he gave himself
at their doors in
walked across
almost entirely to it, sending me each night the letters he
had written ; he wont to the camp in the Crimea for ten
days, and there too he found a field for the same kind small groups, at many of the houses near the shop
tthurendewderollictr
at which I
labour." had first inquired, all looking towards the
spot where I stood;
Another glimpse we fancy we obtain of Mr.the nature of my mission had in some myst • spread
emus way
right and left
Stafford a few pages later in the same narrative, " -Having 'partly explained
where our writer, after describing the disgraceful want, I was presently
shown tihnetBeause of my visit to a*ser-
sitting-room
way in which the wounded were carried up the' just quitted by some ladies • on the tablestndi evidently
vdiidffeenreirt
steep stony road from the pier to the Barrack Hos- parts of the room I could readsomewhat of the sad tale I bad
pital of Scutari, says—" I am told that a certain yet to complete—there were many silent but yet speaking
member of Parliament was so shocked at one of proofs
of thefsithatit was a house of mourning. I recognised one
pdione at a different
afelelowTashel had known him, i
anndthaen wotiht $ eel l
these cases that he actually carried the man him- e.
self." Recollecting, indeed, all that was done at aspect and atmosphere of the roo
mwatshsaetmseetehminea to toll of the
Scutari by Mr. Osborne and Mr. Stafford, we may scenes of family grief which had so lately been acted there. I
say of them as-the former has here said, so beau- did not wonder at the length of time I had to wait ; I could
tifully at page 29,h
of Miss Nightingale and herunderstand it well. When the door again opened Mrs.—,
threis meoNsen
t.helr,sacawdidhoawa, ceanaleenttolwards
inyears
erler
upongr i e
b,f ,
er not
;sheyet
sister nurses—" They will have their reward at
that day when the Great Preacher to the. quick showed herself worthy vtio( be they writtentepirent of one who had been
and dwd shall practically prove the weight and so loved in his regiment, and had died so honoured. As
truth of the text—'l was sick, and ye visited. me!' " women ever are in these moments of severe trial, she was
Of the generous and gentle lady, who will hence- strong to bear up under it, but nature fromthu: to.tim:
would break through all powers of restraint
forth be remembered as the Heroine of Scdtar- news of what had
1) On m return to my carriage I found the
Mr. Osborne gives an animated description. None . brought me to the village was far spread—many were the
will fail to read with peculiar interest the subjoined inquries-much and deep the interest—' he was so young,
sketch by the pencil of S. G. 0. of that cynosure said one, ' and a,l hereabout so loved bim.' "
not only of neighbouring but of distant eyes— The other incident we subjoin being one painfully
MISS NIGHTINGALE. real, though purely imaginary :
"Mize Nightingale in appearance is just what you would A BEREAVED MAIDEN.
expect in any other well-bred woman, who may have seen "H. ' foreign' news corns to the ' Hall' or the ' Castle,'
perhaps rather more than thirty years of life ; her manner it is soon Has
known in the village ; and now ni,ny an anxious
and countenance are prepossessing, and this without the po ay be seen each day waiting at the shop and ' post-
-1•
session of positive beauty ; it. is a face not easily forgottens; faceofficen" whilst the clerk, who is postmaster, proceeds to unseal
pleasing in its smile, with au eye bet°keuing great self- the village mail-bag. All important as ho is, as the messen-
possession, and giving, when she wishes, a quiet look of firm ' er to deliver grief or joy to others, be has too his own
his own son is in the army of the Fast. Wit in
• • determinattou to every featury. Her general demeanour is . agialieti ;