Morning journal and courier., 1881-08-23
News by Telegraph FROM ALL QUARTERS. HOLDING HIS OWN, The Presidents Battle
 With Death. NO CHANGE FOR THE WORSE. RaIIying Slowly From His
 Last Relapse. His Condition Still Alarming. A Feeling of Anxiety and
 Depression.
A Feeling of Anxiety and
 Depression.
THE PRESIDENT.

l THE PRESIDENT.
 I Anxiety at the White House-The Pa tisnt's Condition Very CritfcaI-A Day Without Much Progress-But the Pa. tient Holds His Own-His Stomach tho AlI-Important Factor-Dr. Townshend Thinks His Case HopeIess-The Attend ing Physicians Somewhat Less Conf dent Than Before.
 WASHINGTON, Aug. 22.-The best that car definitely be said about the President is that
 he has held his own thus far to-day. There has been too little improvement to the paro- tid inflammation to afford much encourage ment. The wound, however, is said to be doing well, and indeed there is no indication
 has been the improved condition of the stom- aeh and the amount of nourishment he has
 taken. This has substantially indorsed the
 explanation given yesterday that the vomit-
 ing had been caused by phlegm in the throat.
 In this respect there has been less trouble to-
 day. The physicians have been cautious Tn
 their statements, admitting that the improve
 ment was very slight but apparently taking
 renewed courage that the patient held his
 own, which may give some of the complica
 tions time to mend.
 DIR. BLISS LESS CONFIDENT THAN BEFORE.
 No one affects to make light of the situa-
 ton. Its gravity is too manifest, and, while
 there is still feeling of general hopefulness
 in the White House, it is of a very silent
 character and not buoyant. Even Dr. Bliss,
 whose confidence thus far has been unshaken,
 has grown conservative about the general
 features of the case. He talks freely. but
 avoids entering into details. During the
 afternoon he was asked what was his opinion
 of the progress made since yesterday, and re-
 piled: 'sThere is a little improvement. :"
 What is the important feature of the case
 now? ?" "The stomach, of course, is very
 important matter just now and has been"
 ''How does the swelling of the gland pro-
 gress ?'' s'The swelling of the surroundings
 of the gland has about disappeared. The
 gland is hard yet and is sore, but it causes
 him no pain" sDo you think it will suppu-
 rate?" ''I can't say as to that" "Do you
 want it to?" ''We want it to do what is the
 best for the patient If it scatters we shall
 expect trouble from it elsewhere. I see no
 indication as yet of suppuration, but think
 it may do so. We can tell more about that
 in four or five days" ''If it should suppurate
 what would be the consequences" "It
 would cause some annoyance, but perhaps
 not serious.'' ''Do you fear any effect on
 the brain?" 70, no, not at all. Such might
 have been one of the possibilities if it had
 suppurated immediately, but now if it SUD-
 purates the pus can quickly be released" ''Is
 there any occasion to believe that the pus
 from such suppuration would be more viru-
 lent than that in the wound?' ''No, not at
 alb ''Then you don't anticipate danger
 from inhammation?'' 'sNo. The greate st
 would be from exhaustion. If the stomach Is
 going to be unable to counteract the drain on
 the system I shall be discouraged. But it
 looks now as if the stomach was going to do
 we'll I believe it will be equal to all de-
 mands and that the President will eventually
 recover" ''The drain on the system means just what?" ''The natural drain and dis charge of pus from the wound" ''You say the wound is doing well ?" 'FVery well in deed" 'sHow has the flow been to-day ?'
 Perfectly satisfactory 'Is much taken from the inner channel?" 'tNot much, but it is thoroughly drained" ''Then you think the surface is well granulated and that the wound ?'' 'None except so far as the wound has produced the low state of the patient by which the inflammation was superinduced /" 'It was then the septic condi- tion of the patient that caused the ?" .sThat of course had some thing to do with it." ''The septic condition means septicemia, does it not ?' ''Of course. No one denies that there is tinge of septicaamia in the case" 'sAnd is not septicemia a forerunner of pyemia ?'' "Pyamia does not always follow septicamia, though it almost alwaps precedes pyemia." s'What then is septicemia ?'' 'tAn almost universal accompaniment of gunshot wounds of blood poisoning that is unavoidable, though not always dangerous" ''And where is the line drawn between septicaemia and pyamia p E'They are distinct maladies. Pyemia is a result of the absorption of bro- ken down pus. Good pus cannot be ab- sorbed When it is broken down it can be and then pyaemia ensues. In the Presidents case there has been no such thing as bro- ken down pus, one evidence of pyema. The symptoms of py@mia are unmistakable. Among these are tainted skin, peculiar and peculiarly sweet breath The temperature too keeps up very high. I say again the President has no py@mia. I The indications are apparent" ''Then you think, doctor, that the stomach is the main thing ?" "I do. believe it will be able to meet the full demands of the case"
 HOPEFUL WORDS FROM DR. BoYNToN.
 Dr. Boynton states tonight that he feels by the events of the day, particu- Iarly because the stomach is doing well. He said he by no means gives the President up. He thinks the rallying time will come, and that he will recover. He says that the swell ing of the face has entirely subsided, and that the gland itself remains about station ary. He says it is plainly recognizable to the physicians that the parotid is not to be such B severe case as was feared. A sudden suppuration might have worked much harm or at least would have caused much alarm. Since it has thus far been kept under control it possibly may continue to be kept so. If it should suppurate now it would of course cause annoyance to the patient, but would be comparatively harmless. He says such cases of parotidits usually continue from a week to ten days Thus it will likely be several days yet before it's exact issue can be determined. He says that the President has less trouble with phlegm to-day than yester- day. He is sure this trouble alone has caused the vomiting. Dr. Boyn- ton was sitting by the President at the time and after watching asked him if he felt nauseated and he said not at all. He says the same cause might produce the same effect, but not if the stomach improved The vomiting showed that the stomach was weaker yesterday than the day before, for the same phlegm existed then and caused no Dr. Boynton does not think the President was put back much by vomiting, since it was not accompanied by nausea. He says the President kept in good spirits. He asked the doctors what they thought of the case. He does not brood over the subject but lets it pass out of his mind. pr. Boynton says if anyone had asked him two weeks ago whether the Presi- dent was affected by blood poison he would have said ssNo." Since then he had shown evi- dence of trouble in this direction. It was the usual result of low state of the blood caused by long prostration. It was nothing more or less than septic@mia. The maliady had not and probably would not reach py@nnia. The pathology of py@mia was very obscure, but the symptoms were marked and had never been recognized in the Presidents case. Dr. Boynton further said the evidences of septi-