, 1881-10-16

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physician in CHARGE" who has recent
talked with so much t1uency and
such learned terms Of the cour
. | it even now. 49,
Ihc same person asks in his recent artic
IL Tue Medical Journal. among Others, Il
following question: AT the consultation
bic 10 follow the track Of the bali any COZ
siderable distance beyond the fractured ri
/ ! would an operation have been justitiabl
neccSsltatlng all lnclsiOn through the so
SO as to develop the truck % Tie Na,io
would naturally answer this question in tn
negative. considering how small concel
! ton was formed Of where the ball va
lodged. He then asks
TWO OTHER QUESTIONS
in The same line, as follows:
! In the light ur modern military surgery, whic
| teaches tho readiness with which ieaden hull
| become cncySted. would an operation ut an
time for removal Of the missile hnvc beer
/ justified unless there Was some evidence OF tn,
! missile lein, source Of irritation?
CONSIDERING carefully tho condition Of the
and the facts rsveaicd by the autopsy, woui.
NOT any operation for the purposes before men.
toned have placed tho Presidents life in ercu
Jeopardy, and. ut best. have hastcned the tilnt
] OF his death, without affordng any signal relief
There is an attempt made to justify the
| treatment OF the case,
NOTWITHSTANDING TIE CONSTANT BLUM
/ DEElNG
that was indulged III from beginning to cnd,
| Witness the following questions:
I Was the treatment Of the case as presented
proper, mud did it or not prolong his life to the
! utmost lj,nit?
Was afe mistaken diagnosis a natural result
/ Of the conditions present and to have developed
! correct diagnosis would not operative pro-
cedurc5 have tnsued?
II We had known the exact course and locality
t OF the hall. and thE iniurGtf In
sage. should the treatment have been modified
in any particular?
The pioneer Quack who murdered the ex-
Presidents father by applying the blister to
his irritated throat, lad lie been taken 10
task by I'LL outraged public, would doubtless
have explained very learnedly tile prog
1losis and diagnosis Of the case, aud wound
all up with list of questions very similar to
these We can easily imagine him saying:.
First-"as not the treatment of the case as
nave presented II proper? Did not do the
right THU: III applying the blister to the pa
tie1lis neck, Notwithstanding the sequel showed
that knew nothing either of the disease or the
treatment that should have been applied:
:. Was not the mistaken din.1iosis natural
vcloped u correct diagnosis would 1t not have
been necessary to have cut the patients throat
not see Just how it was. ana rather than cut tho
patients throat decided to place blister Oil
the outside, the well-known effect OF which is
to bring whatever is inside OUT
8; Ii 1 hud known exactly what ,aiied my pa-
1ient, aud the organs affected. should tho treat
mcnt me- have been modified in any particular?
itics have been applied and let the patient take
his own chances for life or death?
THE FACT OF THE MATTER Is i
that the lnislnanagenleut Of the two cases to
All outsider unbiased by medical skill or sur
gical knowledge appears to be almost idcnti- |
cal, anu the truth of the old saying that there
is ''nolhlng new under the sun y is demon ]
strated over again. 1t will be be very hard !
tn make plain people believe there is not |
some ''nigEer in the woodpiIe " somewhere, |
Or course those who are the must outspoken
in their criticism of the treatment of the |
Presidents case are of the homeopathic |
school OF medicine. III conversation with |
one Of tue most prominent Of these today the
following statements were elected: |
do you. think, Doctor. that with the
proper treatment the Presidents life could
have been saved9"
II haven't the least doubt Of it.''
What course should have been pursued
in your Judgment 20
That question involves rather long
answer. 1t will be necessary for me to 70 !
into the details of tile matter quite fully. In
The first place, cannot See how SO complete
| wrong diagnosis Of the case was made. /
Tie matter was fully discussed here In our
meetings. and we decided that the ball was
Just WHERE IT MAS FINALLY DISCOVERED.
This conclusion was arrived at in the fol-
owing way: We reasoned that il the abtlonl-
nal n cavity had been penetrated by the bali
even days. When that period was passed it
Sas us clear US could be that this was not
lone. The fact that the patient experienced !
'ricklin% sensations in his feet and lower |
lnlbs was clear indication that the ball had
lot have been penetrated, because that would
lare caused almost instant death. How the |
onclusion was arrived at that the ball hal
odged III the front part Of the body is more +,
ian ia &c gan :n' be ~! understood, considering
ar4 tu the relative position Of
he President and his assassin, and the way
G turned just Us the firing took place. L
ave Tot the least doubt but that t.
F THE PRESIDENT HAD BEEN A COMMON {
soLDIE1.
aken from the field Ut battle, he would have
een saved. The surgeon would i'll such
ase, after a careful study of the case. have
'ncluded that the ball was lodged in tile ! :
ack: He would then have made !. vertical :
lcision. which could not have failed to have
rossed the path Of the bullet. Discovering {
$ location in This way the pieces of yerte- j
re would have been removed, the wound i
arcfully washed and cared for, and the pa j
ent put On Il fair way to recovery Il
." How do you account for the facttllat Drs. I
gnew and Hamilton did not discover the !
'urse OF the ball and offer mort. practical L
Gsssd,on; q td,! y the case than it now seems
- NAlA0 rne -" 0ti>o mas lIlc oulEeOH | n
charge OF the case. He had made ali the r,
:alninat1ons that were made, and when the IL
'ctors in council came in he explained | $
alters very glibly to them, and pointed | o
inEs out Ey the aid of diagrams, =
c., ~ and i'll. my estimation was ! ;.
very forward and positive in ! :.
erytln1s that the counsel took too much r.
r granted, anu actually failed to make the ] /.
oper examinations for themselves. l can | II,
y excuse them in this way, for they are re
TIL gentlemen bf very hirli re,11tati0u in | In
cir line Of practice. ain told BY those f.
10 should know that DR.. Bliss is better at
lcu1ated for a General than for surgeon. r. r.
E IS VERY STRONG In HIS WILL POWER, in
d carries everything before him. He was u
sltlve III his statements, and Drs. Hamil- ce
| and Agnew, while possessing much
:ater skill III medicine, were practically
>&luel by Bliss will''
Doctor, is pyenia common thing in such :.
'eS 2" | ,