Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1880-01-07
SAVED FROM STARVATION,
THE NOVEL WAY w WHICH TEXAS
GIEL ID fEp,

About two years aga MI y. u,
Lumlsy, At that time living IN Penn
sylyania, had The misfortune 10 have
his liule daughter Jessie drink = so'
luton oflye, which a negro woman
had careIessly leii on the table A
large quantity Of The corrosive liquid
was Swallowed, Heretofore, death
has been the certain result Ia such
cases, The lye destroys tho mucous
membrane, aud n structure Of the
esophagu. Is formed, which means
that channel through which tho food
goes Into the stomach u drawn to-
ether or contracted 10 such degree
that only liquids, and not much OF
them, can pass through. u The child
doe. mol die NJ once, Il fingers tor u
year ~ 50 aud then goes Into a con-
sumptIyt coalition and perlSheS OF
slow starvation, II l. impossible" Tor
a human heing 10 live exclusively 90
llouid nourishment but where con-
crntralel I've has been taken there are
times, particularly In cold damp
weather when the sufferer cannot
even swallow milk, All attempts to
open the closed up esophagus are
futile hence the sufferer slowly
starves to death,
Such was the condition 0t the little
gil, Jessie Lumley, when she was
brought to san Antonio ior'reatmcnt
The child wa. very much emac'a'ed'
aud conld not swallow even liquid
TODD for days At q time. AZ 1t was
the only possible chance she had tor
life, her parents consented that The
operation Of making an opening in tho
stomach should be attempted. 1.-The
operation has beer performed in Eng
land, In, this Is believed to be the
first time It has been performed in the
United States.
An inciSion tour inches long was
male Il few inches 10 the lett OF the
pit Of the stomach, much stitching
beng required. Through this inclS'on
the stomach is reached. The next
part of the operation requires the
most delicate handling imaginsb'c.-
1t consists in sewing the stomach to
the walls of the abdomen. but the
greatest care has to he taken not to
penetrate the stomach itself. The
needle and stitches only penetrate the
skin of the stomach. The result is
that the stomach, as the wound grad
ualIy heals, grows to the walls OF the
abdomen.
The patient %as put under the IN.
fiuence Of chlorotorn,, and the opera.
ton successfully performed. I'm
fortunately the child had an attack of
chills and fever which had to be cured,
and which gave it setback. The
operation described took place three
weeks ago. The stomach had grown
on to the sides OF the abdomen, and
eight days ago the final operation of
making small incision into the
stomach, through which the food was
to pass, was performed, and twice n
day during the past week beetsteak,
cut up fine, has been passed with the
forceps into the stomach, and the
child is steadily gaining strength.
On Saturday last Visited the child,
and saw it fed. We halted 10 front
of small oues,ory house, which we
entered. A little girl with light hair
and blue eyes was sitting up in bed
surrounded with playthings. Her
mother, "a young woman of about
thirty years Of age, was busy in the
rOop
"Don't you want your supper, Jes-
sic = said the doctor.
Iwant steak. | don't want any
bread, eos 1t hurts" said the little
girl, whose thin features and pale
complexion showed the result Of her
long fast.
The mother brought in rare beef
steak, which the doctor proceeded to
cut up into small pieces, crumbling up
some bread at the same time. The
food being prepared, the child lay
back on the bed and the opening in
the side was exposed, 1t was only an
inch in length and presented the ap'
pearance of a badly-healed cut. 1t
was little intlamed. l stood by and
saw the doctor take one piece after
another and carefully introduce it with
the forceps into the stomach, until the
plate was nearly empty. The child