Morning journal and courier., 1881-09-21
THE ASSAsSIN's BULLET.
Official Report of the Autopsy.

Official Report of the Autopsy.
 LONG BRANCH, N. J., Sept. 20.-The fol- lowing official bulletin was prepared at Il o'clock tonight by the surgeons who have been in atten dance upon the late President LONG BRANCH, Sept. 2O.-By previous arrangement post-mortem examination of the body of President Garfield mad this afternoon in the presence and with the assistance of Drs. Hamilton, Agnew, Bliss Barnes, Woodward, Reyburn, Andrew H. Smith of EIberou and Acting Assistant Surgeon D. S. Lamb of the army medical museum, Washington The opera tion performed by Dr. Lamb. It was found that the ball after fracturing the right eleventh rib had passed through the spinal column front of the spinal canal fracturng the body of the first lumbar vertebra, driving number of small fragments of bone into the adjacent soft parts and lodging just below the p4ncreas, about two inches and half to the left of the spine and behind the peritoneum, where it h sd become completely encrusted. i'm mediate cause was secondary hemorrhage from one of the mesenteric arteries adjoining the track of the ball. the blood rupturing the peritoneum and nearly at first escaping into the abdominal cavity This hemorrhage is believed to have been the the pain in the lower rt of the chest complained of just before death An abscess c,viEy six inches by four in dimensions was found in the vicinity of the gall-bladder between the liver and the trans colon, which were strongly interadherent and the substance of the liver and there was D communication between it and the wonnd, long suppurating channel extended from the exter nal wound between the loin muscles and the. right kidney almost to the right groin. The channel is known to be due to burr wing of pus from the wound. It supposed during life to have been the track of the ball At examination of the organs of the chest evidences of bronchitis were found on both si.ies with broncho- o-pneumonia of the right lung, though free from abscesses Nor were any found any other organ except the right kidney, which contained the surface small ab scess about third of an inch in diameter. In viewing the history of the in connection with the autopsy quite evident that the different sup purating and especia the fractured sponge tissue of the vertebre, furnish sufficient explana- tion of the septic condition which existed
 D W. BLISS,
 J. K. BARNES,
 J. J. WOODWARD,
 ROBERT REYBURN,
 F. B. HAMILTON,
 D. H AGNEw,
 A. H. SMITH,
 D. s. LAMB.
 The surgeons in consultation after the au- topsy spent two hours and forty minutes in the composition of the autopsical report It was awaited with much anxiety and caused much comment. The condition of the Presidents system was such that the body had to be embalmed before the autopsy could be made. Dr. Agnew id Mr. Benedict that 1t would be impos- sible to make post mortem if the body was left in the condition it was in before embalm- ing During the autopsy the offensive odor emitted by the remains was so intense that an attendant was overcome by it while on his way up stairs to the bed room and was una ble to reach the top of the stairs.