The Sun.
London, England, 1862-12-12 00:00:00

GARIBALDIS WOUND.

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PISA, DEC. 5.
A very interesting report has just been published
by Professor Cipriani, a distinguished Italtan sur-
geon, and a tnembf?r of the Chamber, on the case of
General Garibaldi's wound.

The statement—beginning from the day of Aspro-
monte, and concluding at the period of the extrac-
tion of the ball—is so full and complete, tr.at it,
leaves no question unanswered on this most interest-

ing case.
It distinctly states that on Garibaldi's arrival at
Varignano the degree of tumefaction and inflam-
mation was such that any examination was barely
practicable, and that the Professors Porta and
Zanetti, on their consultation, could only discover
a short narrow passage—a "sinus"—passing from
above downward from the external orifice of the
wound, in which the probe could not detect the
presence of a ball. This inspired all with the hope
that the wound of one so dear to Italy would
t not prove to be very dangerous, and that the balls
having entered and fractured the inner ankle, had
i by a rebound dropped out of the wound again.
By unremitting care and attention the tumefac-
tion was subdued and the inflammatory symptom°
got under, and it was at this period—about the 16th
or 17th of October—that Mr. Partridge arrived
from England, sent by the Garibaldian Surgical
Committee, to report upon the case and inform our
public at home as to the true circumstances of the
injury.
It is necessary to bear this precise period in Mina
to understand clearly what ensued.
When Mr. Partridge presented himself at Varig;
nano, it was not as a surgeon whose assistance had
been sought for by the other medical men in Eaten'
dance. He was neither known to any of them nor
in a position to be consulted by them. He was i 0
that extremely delicate and diffieult position of a
looker-on come to observe and report on what 110
saw ; being only on sufferance, as it were, per'
milted to feel the patient's pulse or inspect the
appearance of his wound. Nothing could be more
courteous than the reception he met with, nor, as I
have heard, anything more conspicuous than hie
own tact and delicacy in a situation eminently did'
cult and awkward.
Mr. Partridge saw and questioned, but did lint
examine Garibaldi; that is, he did not do that
which, had the case been his own, or one to which
he had been called in consultation, ne might
have done—viz., submit the patient to the paL°
and suffering necessary to satisfy himself as t°
extent and nature of the injury. He heard the
history of the case, and saw the wound:
and from both he inclined to the opinion, Whic'
was then that of Zanetti and the others, that there
was not the amount of injury apparent which indi;
cated the presence of the bullet—a projectile, be
remembered, above an ounce in weight, of the f°ld
of a bolt, with a .onical extremity, and said to 110°
been discharged at the short distance of 200 metres'
That a ball of this size and shape, and. with
force proportionate to this short range, should enter in'
jury.ankle joint, implies an immense amount of 'Il;
jury. Indeed, the total destruotion of the vi'lleip
articulation, and the pulverisation of the bne-Ey
around might reasonably have been looked f°',.•
Here, however, there .was nothing to argue tiiL
such mischief had occurred. Professor Zanetti w
distinctly of this opinion, and though he agrAeci
with Mr. Partridge that nothing positively exclude
the belief that the ball might be there, yet no sirer-
torn then present implied that it was.
110
The wound, besides this, was in that cowl'
in which the fact of the presence of the ball be;l3tv
ascertained could not have influenced the treatrae"o
There was far too much local disturbance to ane
of any operation for extraction. Arthritic gout:to
disease Garibaldi had long suffered from, added u'
the pain of his injury, and increased the eonstleeo
tional derangement ; so that it w(auld have
highly injudicious to subject the 'patient at sue to
time to a very painful operation, and for the aa
reasons, in a minor degree, Wes all examination)
far as practicable, omitted. the
That nothing could be done save to continue 0,
treatment already pursued—viz., a diligent al`,
ed
tion to whatever could diminish local inflananatiOwf
and at the same time sustaiu general health-4;1
fully concurred in by Mr. Partridge, Zanetti, On
Ripari, and the other surgeons in attendance:
Indeed the aotual preacnce of the ball at tbl
time was less the important point to resolve that;
that of whether the articulation had been openedof
the wound of a joint, and the consequences e of
escaped fluid, being to surgical authorities one
the gravest forms of such injuries. Mr. Partr bide
e,O
was not of the opinion that the joint had be
opened : he distinctly declared that he believed do
wound had taken its course upwards and outiga'
"over the arch of the foot," instead of into it. go
This M. Cipriani, in his report, confirms.
arrived after Mr. Partridge had left V 04,111,0
and states that " by good fortune the Illisslie
passed over the line of the articulation," al3d
patted itself in the direction of the outer 01'
that
tbe
It will be seen, therefore, that he affirms tzheoetti
ball was certainly there ; a point on which , thei
and Partridge had not fully agreed, though ler
by no means rejected or denied it. Professor r!but
ciano, of Naples, concurred with M. cipriant;toi
all were unanimous on the essential point th
iner
operation with a view to extraction would be
pedient and ill-timed. a so'M. M. Nelaton arrived on the 28th October all •
alunis •
jected the patient to a long and painful ex had
tion, in which he affirmed that he believed
habelf ote
detected the ball at two centimetres and a
it calg
• ht
-
the external orifice, but was not positive ea
not have been a fragment of bone, and suggeete g 0
dilatation of the wound, by gradually pluggj o
Ittrac'
larger and larger each day, so as to render of ried
tion of the ball easier"—a process which ev ill re'
of humanity—not to add of good surgery--W
joice to hear was not listened to. Woo
ls
At the consultation of the day after ro Penton
„,
departure, 19 surgeons were present, and ILL' toot
after a tedious and terribly painful examin°' was
declared that the object touched by Nelat°lld 010
not the ball, but an " osseous fragment," and eat'
no change whatever should be made in the olr,
ment. " The day after," writes M. Ciprianitof the
Partridge, and M. Pirozoff, chief surgeon, eon'
Russian staff, arrived at Spezzia, and fully is to
firmed the opinion we had come to,"--thtlea
bubout°
say, that no actual knowledge of the whert
of the ball being attainable, there wad or all
course to pursue—viz., a patient proseention _
means to subdue inflammation, occasional liao aeu
of detached fragments of bone, and. t
..e veal;
of such remedies as would assist nature In 001
ing the presence of a foreign body. On t},:so and
November Garibaldi was transported to ;Jobe'
on the 9th an examination was made by t'e
etre'
which, passing up a "sinus" of four cent's bed
encountered a resistance which proved to he tit tsco
,
fragment, but on passing behind which e eel
kithcdeennttirTetthreesb,
asltlr. uck on a hard, firm substaue
By the introduction of a probe armed cosily
prepared
on h
sp sponge
22etd of November;heesseous fragmenta and :o9:h a e f01f(
detachedl:
r
lowing day, the wound being thus dilated
_d 31i
an
e
witting of easy access, the ball was safely ""
peditiously withdrawn. re to t
sect
To any one who will take a trouble jot' °
on the case, the conclusion wilt be easily arrosiu;
that it was one of those difficult and emhar to tia°
incidents, whose details being daily giCellubliC a
world in bulletins, displayed befowretchheoP..o:,;eocreof
degree of doubt and hesitation hi
medical men feel in the conduct of a case, noe!
e not prone to parade openly; and thus
.I`_ wher!
apparently, contradictions and discrepane 17_ test
in reality none existed—the real fact holm
ole o
;0, to
the changeful condition of the wound g(
each varying diagnosis, and rendered the pops
one day the probable of the next.

VICTOREMMANUEL'S FIRMNESS.—.The TOW °I'D,
respondent. of th 3 ,Siecle says that, in a conversation ,
Signor Plutino upon the late ministerial crisis, Victor Vio
in muel declared he had intended to unite alle,
parties 1110
new cabinet, but finding the project impossible, there 1/130
only one course open to him, viz.. that traced out by 'to
institutions of the country. Upon everything relating
the statute," he added, " I am firmer than the Alpe'.