Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1881-09-24
Space. ~. l u. 3 m. M. L yr.
what the Autopsy Shows.

The autopsy of the Presidents body shows:
!, That the bullet passed slansipg inward on
| tho right side of the back until it struck the
eleventh rib.
9 That it frscured this eisvcuth rib and
| thea waa Itself turned slightly tc the lcfs.
5. That it pursued its path to the left, passing
! 10 ftcns Of she backbone aad spata,ius cff
soEe fakes of bone from it.
Z. That Ii di5 not rcactrase Ito backbone or
opGu iha spins G,airou,
5. Tha. It Gia not enter the abdominal
F; cavity.
! c. Tia. aiier sJli1tesins oIf feR chips from
'ha thick surface Of the backbone it passed on
about haDG's breadth to the LETT, aud lay
shere, deep beneath the muscles, bus not in tho
| abdominal cavity, or ia direct contact With any
/ vital part.
| 7. That :he bouudiog bsck Of the frsc.ur.
| ed rib into lis original piaos obscuted the
! search otter the real track of the bail and pre-
van:Cd tho subsequent free txis of mstter from
| tbAs track.
| Tie Conclusions to be drawn from this srs
| that at first there Was splintcred ribs CON
| mon enough Injury. Then chipping Il from
| the thick surface of the b.ckbope-a serious
bat not directly grave accident. Aed, huslly,
3 bullet lmbedded ID flesh nt On accessible
| though deep point from the oussldc-thst is to
| say, where 1t might have boon extracted with.
| out great dfioulty. Now, Whist follows2 The
| ahack passes, and nobody puts bis 6rger into
| the wound to probe it. Neither at FIST, which
YES jadicions, DOR after tho shock, which wss to
say the least, very pCzz'ing. Nothing is
| kooWn of the track of the woupd, nor
even tho broken rib. whose fragments lie
within hsif an inch of tho surface OF the
| Ski1. At last tower snd ether Disturbances lead
20 The disoo7eEy OF 81 almost closod pus oa7ity; it
ia opshtd. Oud the fractured rib is found. By
ih's limo the ms:ser, which could not how out.
has burrcwed canal between the muscles, lead.
:ng 2y ra;lral grayitatiol downward, aud, by
| tho direction of the muscles. forward. This is
at cco, seIzed upon as the track of the wound,
and washed out and disintec.ed, while the bali
snd the slightly spliotored backbone, that man.
utsosurc all the pus, lie above and to one side.
Then another circumstance occurs. The matter
that burrows down aud finds no outlet is not all
successfully washed out. Scms of tbs absorb
cd and taken Hp, carried through the system BY
! the absorbent vessels aud the Veins. Il is sfs
at vsrlous points and creates sbscesses. As q
consequence We have the sb:cess Of the parotid
gland, Wnlch Was discovered and treated, beioe
near The surface; and We have the large sbsoass
under tho liver. found in the autopsy, and the
small sbscess on tho kidoey. What folloWsS The
Ecucd track, the real one, With It's sharp little
Sonters of bono half way aud its epoys.ipg ball
at the other end, goes on suppuratins, rstt:no
atcay its aoalls in tho effort of nature to make
it largo cnough to sweep out tho foreign SUBJ
stances contained, at lsst, by chance, it eats
into an artery that happens to lie there. The
wsa burst, tho blood escapes. and, like the
pus previously, it finds no outlet to the surface,
but has TO make is oHn way. 1t bursts
through the pcritoDeum and flows into the ab.
! domiual cavity. Now tho caso is lost. If tho
victim bad been 6raymaa or oosl HEAVIER the
| real pesh Of the wound would have been prcbsd
and the bullet extracted The first wock of the
! patients suffering. .-Hartford Times.