Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1881-08-05
Good News from the President,
Week OF steady improvement.

A Week Of steady Improvement.
THE NATIONS PATIENT MAKING GOOD PRoa-
REss-THE BULLET LOCATED WITH PROF.
BELLS INDUCTION BALANoE-THE PHYsI-
CLANS HOPEFUL OF RAPID RECOVERY.
An agreeable monotony has marked the
news from Washington during the past week.
The White House bulletins and other despatch
es have indicated a steady improvement in
the Presidents condition, and no alarming or
unfavorable symptoms have developed. The
confidence of the surgeons in the Presidents
recovery has increased daily When asked
for detailed statement of his progress, they
say there is nothing to detail He is slowly
but steadily improving and that is all there
is to say. BY the aid of proper appliances,
he is able TO take partially reclining position
in bed during the day, which gives him great
relief. On Monday morning successful expert
ments for the location of the bullet were
made with Prof Bells electric apparatus It
was demonstrated that the ball is lodged in
the anterior wall of the abdomen, five inches
below the navel and three and half inches
to the right Of the medan line. II could not
be determine d how deep the bullet lies, but
as the abdominal wall is there about two and
half inches thick IL must be held within
that distance of the surface.
Some Of she Weeks Dispatches.
WASHINGTON, Aug .. 81 say unequivo-
| cally," said DIR. Bliss on Tuesday night, THAT
this is the best day the President has had
since he was shot. Not only was he more
cheerful, but his laughter at several incidents
that excited his visibility was perceptibly
howI 1aNV Il ole ii hat 1.s,
President evinced a Deeper concern in the af
fairs of the government, and he seemed more
| disposed than heretofore TO talk about public
| matters. He also manifests more interest in
his recovery, and complies readily with all the
requests of the surgeons. As l have often
said l never had a Drawer or more submissive
patient. He bears all the dscomforts attend
ant upon the dressing of his wound without
a murmur of complaint" DIR. Bliss says the
President is greatly altered by the ordeal
through which be has passed, but not to the
extent which has been represented by some
| papers. He has lost, Dr. Bliss thinks about
| 80 lbs. Of flesh. He evinces a stronger de-
sire each day for solid food but be is only
permitted to have it in small quantities, and
in the morning at that. He consumes daily
considerable quantities of beef juice in vari-
GUS forms, and during the night drinks milk.
Mrs. Garfield daily reads to him letters from
ing, to which he listens with great interest,
frequently expressing gratitude for the kind
sentiments expressed Mrs. Garfield also
reads to him each day from the leading news
papers, the President expressing preference
for the editorial articles on important public
questions. During the past few days consid-
cradle time has been occupied by the Presi-
dent in thus informing himself of what il TAX
ing place in the world.
Prof Rails achievement In lncafiuo tina bui-
let by means Of the wonderful electric appa-
ratus designed by him for the purpose is just
ly regarded as a notable triumph of science.
While the professor has not been able TO locate
the bullet with such exactitude that he could
place the point of pencil in the centre Of
the bullet, its position has been established
with sufficient accuracy to verify the theory
of the surgeons and to enable them to operate
with certainty. No operation for its removal
will be attempted at present, however, nor
will one be made at all, probably, unless the
bullet should prove troublesome when the
President is once more on his feet. Prof
Bell submitted the following report on the re-
suit of his experiments
Prof. BeITs Report upon IHis EAPeri-
ments.
To the Surgeons in attendance upon Pro1-
dent Garfield:
/ beg to submit for your information a
brief statement of the results obtained with
the new form of induction balance in the ex-
periments made this morning for the purpose
of locating the bullet in the person of the
President. The instrument was tested for
sensitiveness several times during the course
of the experiments, and was found to respond
well to the presentation of hattened bullet
at distance Of about four inches from the
coils. When the exploring coils were passed
over that part of the abdomen where a sono-
rous spot was observed in the experiments
made on July PC, feeble tone was perceived,
but the effect was audible considerable dis
lance around this spot. The sounds were too
feeble TO be entirely satisfactory, as had rea-
son to expect, from the extreme sensitiyeness
of the instrument, a much more marked eff
feet. In order to ascertain whether similar
sounds might not be obtained in other locali-
ties, l explored the whole right side and back
below the point of entrance OF the bullet, but
no part gave indications Of the presence of
metal except an area of about two inches in
diameter containing within it the spot previ-
ously found TO be sonorous. The experiments
were repeated by Mr.. fainter, who obtained
exactly corresponding results. We are there
fore justified in concluding that the ball is
located within the above-named area. In our
preliminary experiments we found that bull
let like the one in question used in its normal
shape produced no audible effect beyond dis
lance of two and a half inches, while the
same bullet Aattened. and presented with its
face parallel to the plane of the coils, gave
indications up to a distance of nearly five
inches. The same fiRttened bullet held with
it's face perpendicular to the plane of the coils,
produced no sound beyond a distance of one
inch. These facts show that, in ignorance OF
the actual shape and mode of presentation OF
the bullet to the exploring instrument, the
depth at which the bullet lies beneath the sur
face cannot be determined from our expert
ments. am gentlemen, yours truly,
ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL.
On Wednesday DR.. Bliss said that what par
ticularly struck him as an improvement wai
the change in the tone of the patients voice
which has become very much stronger anC
more natural and indicated greatly improv
ed condition. When asked as to when the
doctors would formally declare the President
out of danger, he said that barring accident,
he was already in that state. But the physi
clans did not care to make any official declara
tions until his restoration was assured beyond
5 the risk of error.
THE LATEST.