The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1881-11-16

Gu IN lLS GutRIGLli ICtAGNG tAeb tHS ACs
lowing alleged circumstances are true, /
they are, then in so tar Us they are con
trary to sound surgery were the chances o
President Garield's recovery lessened
But whether true or not, desire to ex
press my profound admiration for the tidel
ity, devotion and assiduity displayed by the
attending and con ulting surgeons, Tha
the President lay for ut least ten hours be
fore any exploration whatever was made
Of the wound, other than the hurried ex
animation made at the railway station
that during all this time no serioui
attempt was made to arrest tht
hemorrhage, which caused such alarm
ing weakness; that, acting on tho
mistaken hypothesis that the ball had gone
through his liver, it was announced to him
that he had but one chance in hundref
OF recovering, thus still further depressing
his vital powers; that, when made, the ex
ploration was superficial, and based upon
tue erroneous theory that the assassin had
stood directly behind the President, and
hence the bullet had entered the peritonea
cavity, traversing the liver, and lodging
somewhere in the abdomen; that, in nc
corlanCe with this erroneous hypothesis
the patient was subjected to rigorous
antiphlOgistiC treatment, for the purpose Ol
preventing the development of peritonitis,
Of which there was no real danger, and by
reason OF which his vital powers were still
further reduced, and the liability to the
occurrence OF pyaemia greatly increased;
that no proper attempt was made to
ascertain the presence OF eXtraneous mat.
tiers in the track Of the bullet, the de-
gree OF fracture Of ribs, or to adjust the
fragments, and that, in fact the fracture Of
the twelfth rib was not discovered till2fter
death; that itSwas not till the cath day Of
July, twenty-one days after the injury,
when in consequence OF the occurrence OF
severe constitutional symptoms, indicating
the existence OF pyRmia, an incision was
made for the exit OF burrowing pus, that
then the eleventh rib was found to be
fractured in two places, and several pieces
OF bone and fragments Of clothing, which
had been driven into the track OF the
wound, were removed that from the ex-
animation then made 1t was Judged that
the bullet had not passed through the liver,
but had been DETECTED by the rib in a
downward direction toward the right groin,
and that this theory was held and acted
upon until death occurred, when q post
mortem examination revealed its erroneous.
ness; that at the autopsy II was found that
what had been supposed to be the truck OF
the ball was pus cavity, formed by the
burrOwing OF the matter from the real track
OF the wound; that there never was any
adequate reason why thorough explora.
ton OF the wound, with finger and probe,
could not have been made within twenty
four hours after the shooting, and that the
strong constitution OF the patient and his
remarkable powers Of endurance prove that
any necessary and proper examination
could have been endured; that had this
been done the track Of tho bullet would
certainly have been discovered, as 1t had
pursued q perfectly straight course, unde-
llected by any tissue through which 1t had
passed. The injury to the ribs and first
lumbar yertebrM would have been ascer.
taiued, pieces Of bone, and OF clothing
would have been extracted lessening the
suppuration and consequent danger OF
pyiGmia; and though the ball would not
probably have been reached, its approx.
mate situation would not have been, as II
was, matter Of guess work. That the fail.
ure to discover the real track OF the ball,
and to treat the fractured ribs led to the
burowing Of pus in the right inguinal re.
giOn, and the formation OF q sinus, which
during life was supposed to have been made
by the bullet; that the error thus commit.
led was one OF cardinal Importance, for had
the real character Of this passage been asCer.
tained, not only would its progress have
been stopped at once by appropriate meas.
ures, position, bOndages, congresses, but
mCans would have been adopted for caus,
ing 1t to heal. Mistaken, as II was, for
the track Of the ball, 1t was left open, and q
large amount Of pus was thus formed, the
patient unnecessarily weakened, and the
danger Of pyDmia immensely increased
that there is nothing in the revelations oI
the post mOrten to show that the pylemlC
condition which evidently existed had any
other source than this sinus, which was
supposed to be the track OF the ball
that pypmia existed from about
the 23d or oath OF July, as shown
not only by the rigors, temperature
pulse, emaciatiOn, delirium and genera
pr0stratiOn, but by the occurrence OF me
tastaCit assesses in the Presidents system
and that there was no pypmla, In the mod
ern scnse Of the word, Implying metastatit
assesses In the lungs and liver after death
that Mt no time would the surgeons have
been warranted in attempting to remove
the ball; that during the entire illness the
President was lnsuiticiently nOurlshed, ow'
ing to the rebellious disposition Of his
stomach; that the antiseptiC treatment was
carried us far rs it should have been; thai
while difficult to say whether or not the
wound would have been necessarily fata
in any man, yet it was not In accordance
with well.detlned and acknowledged surgi
cal preCepts, and that hence the President
did not have all the advantages OF treat
ment which modern surgery e capable o
Offering
(signed) WILLIAM A. HAMMOND.
DR.. Ashurst, after carefully reviewing the
ctse, sums up by saying that the mistake
made regarding the course OF the ball wal
unavoidable; that there was no evidence o
malaria; that death was probably direCtl,
due to the formation Of n thrOm6us, or Clo
in the heart, or to embolism, and the pair
was really in the heart, as the patient de
clared And, finally, to sum up the mair
conclusions, 1t Is denied that the wount
was necessarily a mortal one.
DR.. Sims says probing was impossible
death was inevitable, with his spine wound
ed rs IL was; the wonder IL that he lived 80
long. lie had pyiemia at least from July
22. The surgeons did all that was possible
all that tile present state Of medical science
would permit. Without the wound Of the
vertebfa, 1t would have been impossible
with the treatment, for the President Ia
die; with II, impossible for him to live.
Dr. liodgen says 1t is ncomprehensible
how the President lived six hours with such
a wound. Everything possible was prop.
erly done, nothing even imprudent at.
tempted, and every hour the President
/ lived beyond six alter he was shot was thG
resultoi every available resource Of medica
science being skillfully and constantly ap
piled.
Arrival Of Jewish Emigrants,
, = 4 I HTN