The Greenville times. [volume] (Greenville, Miss.) 1868-1917, 1879-11-29
Wonderful Surgery.

WVo9ehAUs cUskUsys
The San Antonio correspondent
If the Galveston News tells the
story Of wonderful |
surgical operation recently per-
In the former city. San
Antonio contains . wonder the |
like Of which cannot be found in |
The United States. It il nothing |
more nor less than . child seven
years old that, instead Of mastica-
ting and swallowing its food in |
the usual manner, IL fed through
an aperture in the stomach made
for that purpose. Tho child Is
gaining strength. can walk and
play, and bids fair 10 soon be as
stout and healthy - any other
child. On Saturday last ! do
termincd to 60 and see the child
for myself. The facts are - fol-
lows: About two years ago Mr..
s. r. Lumley, at that time living
In Pennsylvania, had the misfor-
tune to have his littlc daughter
Jessie drink 4 solution ef lye,
which Z negro woman had caro-
lessly LEFT on the table. A large
quantity ofthe corrosive liquid was
swallowed, Death l. the certain
result in such cases. There have
been q number Of cases in Sah
Antonio where childcrn drank
concentrated lys, and none have
survived except in this instance.
The lye destroyed the mucous
mcmbrancc, aud q structure Of tho
aesophagus is formed, which means
the throat, or at least the channel
through which the food goes into
the stomach, IL drawn together or
contracted to such . degree that
only liquids, aud not much Of them
can pass through, II the child
docs not die at once, It lingers for
q year or 50 aud then goes into .
consumptive condition and perish
ca OF slow starvation. It Il i'm
possible for . human being to live
exclusively on liquid nourishmcnt;
but wherc concentrated lye has
been taken there are times, par
ticularly in cold weather, when the
sufferer cannot even swallow milk.
All attempts 70 open the closed
up nsophayus aru futile, hence the
sufferer slowly s,arvcs TO death.
Such was iho condition Of the
little girl, Jcs sic Lulnlcy, when
she was brought to San Antonio
for treatment. The child was
very much cmacia,etL could not
swallow oven liquid TODD for days
! at a time. Az it was The only pos
| siblc chance she had for life hel
parents consented that the opera
iion Of making AL opening in th'
stomach should be attempted
Tho operation has becu performed
IN England. butthis Is believed td
be the first time it has becn at
tempted in tho United States
Your correspondent cannot Civ
the technical terms, but can max
The mo,lus opcrandi intclligible I
tho general reader. An incisio'
four inches long was made . fe'
incb6s to the left Of the pit Of th
stomach, much stitching being re
quired. Through this incisiol
the stomach is reached. The mex
part Of the operatinn requires tn
most delicate handling imaginabl
II consists IN sewing The stoniac
10 the walls Of the abdomen, bu
tho greatest caro- has 10 be take
not TO penetrate the stomach itscl
The needle and stitches only pcn'
tratcs the skin Of stomach. III
result is that the stomach, as I'll
wound gradually heals, grows
the walls of the abdomen.
Tho patient was put under Ii
influence Of chloroform, ond Il
operation successfully pcrforme'
Unfortunately the child had q
attack of chills and fever, Whit
had TO bc cured, which gave 1t
setback. The operation describe
took place three week ago. II
stomach has grown on to tho sid
Of the abdomen, and eight da.
ago the final operation Of maxim
o email incision into the ..stomac
through which the food was
pass, was performed, and twice
day during the past week q bet
. steak cut up fine has been pass'
with the forceps into the stoma'
aud the child is steadily gainil
strength.
J, OnsSaturday last | visited Il
: child, and saw it feed. We halt
In front Of q small onc-story hou
which We entered. A little 81
with light hair aud blue eyes "
/ sitting up in bed surrounded wi
! playthings. Her mother. . your
woman Of about thirty years