Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1881-08-21
The Exploration of the Hound.


EXECUTIVE MANSION, Aug. 20, 1880 p. m.
In an interview with the agents of the press
this afternoon, DR.. Bliss gave in substance the
following account of the recent exploration of
the Presidents wound by means of a flexible
rubber catheter, reference to which was made
for the first time in the noon bulletin to-day:
Since the Sth of August, no drainage tube
has been used in the wound. At the morn
ing and evening dressings, however, small,
flexible rubber tube, about quarter OF an
inch in diameter, was introduced
and water forced through it, cleansing
the wound and bringing out the accumulated
pus. Up to yesterday morning the surgeons
have been unable to pass the tube beyond
distance of three and a half or four inches
from the mouth of the last incision. At that
point it always met an obstruction which
could not be overcome without an eXertion of
force and force the surgeons did not think it
precedent to use. The apparent firmness of
this obstacle finally led the surgeons to be-
lieve the depth of the wound had healed, or at
least the track of the ball had healed at the
point where the rubber catheter was stopped.
A few days since, however, it was noticed that
the quantity of pus discharged by the wound
at one of the regular dressings was
greater than the quantity of water which the
wound would hold after the pus had been re-
moved. This clearly indicated one of two
things, viz, either that of the pCs which was
in excess of the apparent capacity of the
wound had come from concealed and uAsus-
pected cavity, or that the surgeons were mis-
taken in supposing the depths of the wound
to have healed. 1t also indicated that the OBJ
struction which prevented passage of the
catheter did not interfere with the flow of pus
outward from the deeper and unhealed in
teriors. The low temperature of the patient
negatived the theory of a pus cavity and
the surgeons therefore came to the conclusion
that the deeper parts of the wound must still
be open, and that the excess of pus, which
could not be otherwise accounted for, must
come from there, Notwithstanding the ap-
parent obstruction encountered by the cathe-
ter. On Thursday DIR. Bliss made an exami-
nation of the wound, but was unable to get
the tube deeper than about three and a half
inches. Friday morning. however, curing
the dressing of the wound, small piece of
cellular tissue, piece about as large as the end
of his little finger, sloughed off, or became
detached, and washed out with
the pus. This fragment of It's
sue had apparently been half detached
for some time and acted as a sort of rude valve
where the track of the ball seemed to be
obstructed, closing it against the catheter and
against water from the outside, but giving to
pressure from the inside, allowing the outflow
of pus from the deeper parts of the wound.
On removal of this fragment of tissue DR..
Bliss again introduced the flexible rubber tube,
and finding it no longer encountered resistance
passed it in, as already stated, to depth of
twelve and one-half inches. Almost the entire
track of the ball was then thoroughly
washed out and cleansed. The pus
which came from this deeper part
of the wound, although not large, in quality
r-I; ;1a ha,
ter, and was in fact better than that secreted
by more superficial parts of the wound. If
any taint has passed into the patients blood
it originated, not in the pus, which has been
entirely projected from air, but in that Sc
creted in the suppuratlng surface between the
recent obstruction and the mouth of the in
cision. Nothing new with regard to the loca.
tion of the ball has been learned, DR.. Bliss
said, from the passage OF the catheter
soft that one could judge approximately which
it had taken. 1t passed downward and for
ward toward the poiut in the interior wall of
the abdomen where it had always been sup
posed to lie, and that was the most that could
be affirmed DR.. Hamilton thought, he said,
the end of the tube lacked about three inches
of reaching the ball and the intervening space
had healed. In his (Dr. Bliss's) opinion, how
ever, the distance from the end of the tube to
the ball was not so great.
NO SORES.
In reply to question with regard to bed
sores, from which the President has been re
ported to be suffering, DR.. Bliss said emphat-
ically that the President has not On
his body a ingle sore, swelling or abrusion
of any kind, with the exception of the SWEET
ting under his ear caused by the Inflammation
of the parotid gland, and the wounds in his
back, caused by the bullet and knife. The in
fammation of the parotid gland has not, he
said, diminished much since yesterday The
swelling of'the surrounding parts had SUBJ
| sided so that the expression of the face is
again natural, but the gland itself is trouble
some. Scattering applications of collodion
and chloroform have been made to it, but it is
| impossible to say yet whether suppuration
can be prevented. In the me tntime the patient
suffers to the same extent from the stiffness of
| the joints and from accumulation of phelegin
| in his throat.
| NO MALARIAL SYMPTOMS.
| Upon being asked whether there were any
indications yet In the Presidents case of ma
laria, DR.. Bliss replied in the negative. Quin-
| inc had been given, he said, in five grain doses,
at intervals, but rather for its general tonic
effect than because any of the particular symp-
toms seemed to call for it. The Presidents
fever, in his opinion, is not of an intermittent
type, and is not influenced by malaria.
THE sToMACH's OFFICE.
In conclusion, DR.. Bliss SAID the wholeSques
tion of the future of the Presidents case turns
now upon the stomach. If that organ can re
ceive and assimulate food enough to make
good the present drain upon the system, an(
enable the patient to regain strength
he will stand fair chanc,