Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1881-09-02
NO MARKED CHANGE.
THE PRESIDENT HOLDING HIS
OWN.
The Question of His RemovaI-The e
Cabinet and the SueeessIOn-m Mr..
Blaine's View Ofthe CaSe-Dr. Bliss
on the symptoms and the Treat
ment.

AbldAne'S view OF the C4Be-Dfs Bliss 3
ON the symptoms and the Treat
ment.
WASHINGTON, September L. Public
confidence in the permanent charac-
ter Of the Presidents recent improve
ment was much shaken this morning by an
unfortunate wording OF the first official
bulletin of the day. In referring to the
slight febrile rise which took place last
evening, rise which, IL it had not been
officially commented upon, would probably
have passed uunoticed, the surgeons in their
morning bulletin said: "This condition was
unaccompanied by rigors or sweat
ing" The use of the much dreaded
technical "rigors," the surgical cquivsle t
for the more familiar and less ominous
word 'chills," seemed to cause everywhere
avague feeling of apprehension, and from
the fact that rigors were mentioned at all,
the inference was generally drawn that rig.
ors must have been expected in conjunc-
tion with last nights fever, or at least that
there were foreshadowings OF rigors this
intended to prepare the public mind for
them. "Why," it is argued, "should they
have said that the fever was not accompa-
MED by rigors unless they had expected or
had some reason to expect that 1t would be
so accompanied ?' The explanation given
by the surgeons to day of the wording Of
the bulletins and the reasons assigned for
their reference to rigors are briefly as fol-
lows:
Once or twice in the history Of this case
it has happened that after a good day,
day in which no febrile rise occurred, fever,
accompanied, or speedily followed by rigors,
came on late in the evening, as the first
warning of an unfavorable change. The
President Yesterday had an unusually good
day until after the appearance Of the evening
bulletin. There was no appreciable rise in
temperature and no reason to suppose that
there would be any. Later in the evening,
however, the fever came on unexpectedly
The febrile rise was not very great, nor did
it excite any apprehension in the minds of
the surgeons, but it occurred at rather an
unusual time, and DR.. Woodward remem
bering that the fever, when it came on at
this hour in the evening, had once or twice
been accompanied by rigors, and followed
by the development of a new complication,
thought it would allay apprehension and
show that no evil consequences were to be
feared from this particular febrile rise, IL it
were stated In the bulletin that no rigors or
sweating accompanied it. Especial atten-
ton was, therefore, called officially to the
fact that these alarming symptoms were
absent. The good Intentions OF the sur
geons, however, were defeated by the form
of expression given to them, and, instead
of allaying apprehension, the we'll meant
bulletin excited it.
Notwithstanding the febrile rise, how
ever, the patient had fairly good night, and
his condition this morning was at least as
favorable as it was yesterday morning. The
range Of his pulse was rather higher throug gh
out the day than yesterday, but until four
O'Clock there was no appearance of fever and
his general condition showed a further
slight improvement. He chewed piece of
beefsteak this forenoon aud swallowed the
juice, and at intervals later in the day had
a little chicken stewed in milk and plate
full of soup, besides the usual quantities of
beef extract and milk porridge.
AN INTERESTING TALK WITH DR. BLISS.
In an Interview with reporter Of the AS
sociated Press this evening, DR.. Bliss gave
the following details with regard to the
symptoms and treatment of the patient to-
day, and they may be taken as a comprehen-
sive statement of the present aspect of the
case:
"What is your 'dgment tonight, doctor,
with regard to the progress made by the
President since morning?"
"The President has had a very excellent
day. The range of his pulse has been rather
higher than yesterday, but not high enough
to cause uneasiness, and his general condi-
tion has, think, slightly improved. He
continues to take his nourishment well, and
his whole expression and appearance are
better than yesterday"
"What about the glands"
"TheIe is more improvement, perhaps, In
the gland than in anything else, The swell
ing has decreased very much in size, and
the gland is fast assuming its natural ap-
pearance and dimensions. There is hardly
any distortion now in the confguratlOn Of
the face"
"Have you made any change in the treat
ment of the swelline?"
eyes. We have discontinued poultlcing.
When a swelling of this character reaches a
certain point, continued fermentation is an
injury to it rather than a benefit. 1t soft
ems and weakens the integument, and has a
tendency to cause slOughing. or course,
all the dead cellular tissue will eventually
come away, but it is unnecessary to destroy
the vitality of that which may still be living
by too much poulticing. We therefore dis
continued that part of the treatment and
applied for short time a stimulating oint-
ment. We are now putting nothing on the
gland but lint and simple cerate."
"How many openings has the swelling
nowr r'
"six, including those into the mouth and
ear. Four of them were made by incision,
and two were spontaneous. The last cut
was the largest and deepest, and it is
thought that most of the pus is now dis
charged"
"Is the dischrge of pus continuous 9''
at ocZes out more or less all the time,
but we have pressed the gland gently twice
to day to incsease che outflow. We shall
repeat the operation once during the night
in order to avoid the febrile rise, which the
retention of pus causes. The presence of a
single ounce of pus in the gland is suffi-
turbance."
els the opening from the gland into the
mouth an opening through the duct or
through the cellular tissue adjacent there
tor"
'We cannot tell yet with certainty. l
am inclined to think that 1t is through the
cellular tissue close beside the duct.'
"Would not an opening into the duct be
difficult to heal on account of the continu-
Gus flow OF the saliva through it?"
81 might be-"
evil there be any distortion of the Presi-
dents face after the gland heals up?'
81 think not. The right eyelid has been
slightly affected, owing to the fact that the
fifth pair of nerves run directly through the
parotid gland, and they have been badly
squeezed by the Inflammation, but this
slight affection of the eyeld shows an i'm
provement to-day, and l don't think you
would notice it at ALL"
"Upon the whole then the condition of
the gland tonight is very much improved?'
"Yes. It has never looked better"
''Is the wound doing equally well?"
"The wound has not changed much in
appearance. The quantity Of pus dis
charged from 1t this morning was not as
large as expected, although the pus itself
was healthy in character"
"ro what is the diminished outflow at
tributablee"
''It may be due to the fact that the sup
purating surface is now comparatively
small and growing smaller, while the granu-
lating surface is increasing. II such be the
case, the diminished secretion and outflow of
ms are natural -