The Davenport gazette. [volume] (Davenport, Scott Co., Iowa) 1841-185?, 1850-03-21
MORE SURGICAL OPERATIONS.

MORE SURGICAL OPERATIONS.
Last week we gave short and interest
T. ing sketch Of the Cinique at the S,uyvesan
Y Institute, over which the celebrated DR.
: Mott presidcs. We paid a sccond visit Il
. the scene of operations day or two since
teresting cases:
fI The first case presented on this occasion
! was that ofa pretty young girl, Of eighteen
J or thereabouis, who seemed 10 be in excel
!. lent health, oil but the joint Of her righ ell
bow. That was immoveable. She could
assign no other cause for this condition, than
that she had slept on the arm one night,
and when she awoke It was paralyzed.-
Incapable Of voluntary motion, il soonibe-
: came quite stiff and immovcable by any
means. A variety Of applications had
!, proved Of no service, and it was decided
that she should take chloroform, and have
the ligamentous fastenings Of the joint bro
ken down BY main force. Without the
chloroform this would have been a terrible
operation it, it was simple me-
chanical affair, involving neither danger
nor suffering. The girl lay upon the table.
and the choroform was administered, by
pouring it, few drops at time, on cloth,
and holding it to her mouth and nostrils.--
III few moments she struggled hard with
the suffocating feeling it sometimes produ-
ces-then became very drunk and happy
--then entirely insensible--lying perfectly
still, with every voluntary muscie relaxed.
At this stage, after testing her nsensibiiity,
two o. three men took bold Of her arm, and
guarding against fractures Of bones, they
forcibIy fexed and extended it. The liga-
mentous fas,enings cracked, and the joint
was movable again. In a few moments
the poor girl awoke will, sore but move
able arm. The operation had been pcrfecs-
| Iy successful.
/ Afterwards came poor boy seven years
old with hip disease, for whom nothing
could bc done; and then an Irish iaborer,
who had nearly all his life and quite all his
senses shnken on. Of him by the fever and
aeue. He had been at work on railroad,
where thev were making deep cuts, when
he az well as many others were attacked
with The intermittent. This is curious
phenomenon. The lniians say that The
white man first brought these fevers, or
rather that he dug them out Of the earth
with bis plough. 1t was not until the land
was disturbed by ploughing that these chills
and (evcrs were known. The poison, virus,
fungus, or whatever it may be that prndu-
ccs them, seems to have lain dormant in
the earth until il was disturbed by the i'm
piemenis Of agriculture. When the ground
had given out its morbifc agency, the coun-
try was healthy again, until they began TO
disturb the earth's surface more deeply by
the deep cuts and embankments ofrair6ads,
when we behold the disease breaking out
again among the lsborers.
1 And now came, one after another, a
dozen anxious mothers, each with a sick
babe. One had sore eyes, another scaId
head, a fourth liberation Of the gums, fifth.
some what larger than the rest, had swai-
lowed a penny. "These pennies" said the
professor, 'sare bad things. il had been
bright quarter Of a dollar, Of pure silver.
now, shouldn't doubt but il would pass"
A grave professor, will have his joke, even
ia the midst Of these serious cases. For
the benefit of anxious mothers, in such Ca
ses, we give the prescription. II was to
take, daily, doses Of sweet oil, either swal
lowed or eaten on bread.
! This las, of the babies, and but for one
deformity, very pretty one, required n
surgical operation far more terrible in ap-
pearance Than reality,t seemed. The de-
| formty was ncrus n,dternus on the under
| lip. From the vascuiarity Of these aneu-
risms and anastomosis. it is difficult to OPP
crate BY incison, and our surgeons now re-
sort TO the actual cautery, or burning them
out with hot irons. In this case several
large needles, made for the purpose, were
heated red hot in little furnace, and in
rapid succession were plunged into the lip
ofthe child. Atevery plunge ofthe needle
came a Kissing sound. the peculiar odor,
md the screams Of the child; hut the pain
did not appear to be considerable, and
ceased the moment The needle was with
drawn. 81. is mistake said the probes
sor. so suppose this operation is peculiarly
painful. Many time have had children
turn round and smile before they were car.
red from the ROOM"
/ And now came the great concluding OPP
Grafton. Our readers will remember the boy
who could not move his under jaw. lie had
come to have his mouth opened. The
brave fellow had had FIVE teeth pulled 10
favor tire application Of the instruments; (;
but now, when he came to lie on the table,
and saw the screws and levers that were
to PRIV open his mouth, and tho scalpe's that
we're to divide tendons and muscles if nee.
essary, his heart failed him, and he showed
il a strong disposition To run away. but Oe-
ling assured Of the virtues of the ch'oroform,
he lay down and hegan to breathe II, and
latter few struggles and mu.terings was
n in state Of insenshiIi'y. The instru-
,nents were now applied and the screws
n turned. but without the least effect. Now
j the professor made careful examination
for the points Of greatest resistance. In
u = LII La - EoC liz Grai