Litchfield enquirer., 1861-02-07
[From the Cornhill Iondon) Magazine.] r nGYN


 From the Cornhill Iondon) Magazine. A LEG LOST.
 We will take quiet post of observation in the area of the operating theatre at one of our metropolitan hospitals in this year of our Lord l 1860. Notice is posted that amputaton of the thigh will be performed at 2 o'clock D. m., and We occupy our seat ten minutes before the hour. l The area itself is small, efs,a horse shoe form, and surrounded by seats rising on steep in- cline, one above another, to the number of eight or nine tiers. From 100 to 150 students occupy these, and pack pretty closely, especially on the lower rows, whence the best view is obtained. For an assemblage of youths between eighteen and twenty-five years, who have nothing to do but to wait, they are tolerably well-behaved and quiet Three or four practical jokers, however are distributed among them, and so the time passes all the quickersfor the rest. The clock has not long struck two when the folding doors open, and in walk two or three of the leading surgeons of the hospital, followed by staff of dressers. and a few professional lookers-on ; the latter being confined to seats reserved for them on the lowest and innermost tier. A small table covered with instruments, occupies place on one side of the area; water, sponges towels and lint. are placed on the opposite. The sur geon who is about to operate, rapidly glances over the table, and sees that his instruments are all there, and in readiness. He requests col league to take charge of the tournquet, and with a word deputcs one of the assistants to " take the flaps" another to hold the limb, third to hand the instruments, and the last to take charge of the spongss. This done and while the pa tlent is inhaling chloroform in an adjoining apartment, under the care of gentleman who makes that his special duty, the operator gives to the now hnshed and listening auditory, a ! brief history of the circumstances which led to an ncurable disease of the left knee,joint, and ! the reasons why he decides on the operation about to be performed. He has scarcely closed when the unconscious patient is brought in by a couple of sturdy porters, and laid upon the ore- rating table, small, but strong and sturdy erec- the centre of the area. The left being the doomed leg, the right is fastened by a bandage t. one of the supports of the table, and supports the left. The surgeon who assists, encirles the upper part of the thigh with the tourniquct placing its pad over the femoral artery. the chief vessel which supplies the limb with blood, and prepares to screw up the instrument, thus to make sure that no considerable amount of the vital fluid can be lost. The operator standing on the left side of the corresponding leg, and holding in his right hand 8 narrow, straight knife, of which the blade is at least ten inches long, and looks marvellously bright and sharp, directs his eye to him who gives the choroform, and awaits the signal that the patient has be- come perfectly insensible All is silence pro- found ]; every assistant stands in his place, which is carefully arranged so as not to inter- : cept the view of those around.
 [ The words quite ready" are no sooner utter cd than the operator. grasping firmly with his left hand the flesh wlch forms the front part of i the patients thigh, thrlsts quietly and deiibcr- ately the sharp blade horizontally through the limb from its outer to its inner side. so that the i thigh is transfixed 9 little above the bone. He next cuts directly downwarts in the plane of the i limb for about four inches, andrt oblquely outwar.ls, so as to form q flap. which is seized and turned upwards, out of the way, by the ap- pointed assistant. i similar transiixion is again made, commencing ct the same spot. but the knife is this time carried behind the bone a similar ncsion follows and another flap is form ed and held away as before. Lastly. with rapid circular sweep round the bone he divides all left uncut; and handing the knife to an assistant, who takes it and gives him a saw in return, the operator divides the bene with few workman like strokes, and the limb is severed from the body. A rustling sound of general movement and deeper breathing is heard among the lockers on, who have followed with straining and crti- cal eyes every act which has contributed to the accomplishment of the task and some one of the younger students is heard to whisper to his neighbor, 6 five and thirty seconds ; not bad, by Jovc!'
 ! The operator now seats himself on the stool just vacated by the dresser, who has carried away the leg and seeks in the cut surfaces before him, the end of the main artery, on which to place a 1 ligature.
 i There is no flow of blood, only a little oozing. for the tourniquet holds lifes current hard and i fast. Only five minutes uncontrolled flow of the current from that great artery now so perfectly compressed, and our patients career in this world is closed forever. How is it permanently held in check and what have we to substitute for the missing, sparkling and sputtering iron, and the boiling pitch? The operator takes hold of the cut end of the artery with slender. deli- cate pair of forceps, and draws it out little, while an assistant passes round the end so drawn out ligature of exceedingly fine whipcord, fine but strong, and carefully ties it there with double knot, and so cfectualy closes the vessel. A similar process is applied to perhaps six or seven l other but smaller vessels, the tourniquet is re- moved, and no bleeding ensues. Altogether the patient has lost but little more than half a pint of blood! The flaps are placed in opposition, the bone is we'll covered by them, few stitches are put through their edges, some cool wet lint is applied all round the stump, and the patient, slumbering peacefully, is carried off to com fortable bed ready prepared for him in some ad- jacent ward. Half an hour hence that patient will regain consciousness, and probably the first observation he makes will be |" am quite ready l for the operation, when is it going to begin ?'' And it takes no little repetition of the assurance i that all is over to make him realize the happy l truth.
 i So it is that he who loses the limb knows less about the process than any one concerned inf nitely less my gentle reader, than you who have shared with us the quiet corner and have seen all without losing consciousness or fainting. l DPHTHERIA.-As the newspapers are full of remedies for this dangerous affection of the throat, some of them very good, and some of them very silly, we will give, enc which we know to be used by some eminent physicians, and which we have never known to fail, if applied early. Diphtheria in it's early stages may be recognized by any person of ordinary capacity, by two marked symptoms; the sensation of a bone or hard substance in the throat, rendering swallowing difficult and painful, and a marked fietor or unpleasant smell of the breath, the re- suit of its putrefactive tendency. On the ap- pearance of these symptoms, if the patient is old enough to do so, give piece of gum cam phor, of the size of a narrowfat pea, and let it be retained in the mouth, swallowing slowly the