Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1881-08-17

which he has long been subject I'M
questionably complicated the case seri-
ously. It was necessary to treat his
stomach with the utmost caution from
the first, and he has, notwithstanding all
the precautions of his physicians, been
repeatedly troubled by that rebellious
organ. Under the circumstances we are
inclined to think that if his attendants
have made any mistake in the case, it has
been in administering too much milk to
him, and perhaps also other liquid nourish.
ment. In chronic dyspepsia, as indeed in
almost all stomach affections, milk is
found to be difficult of assimilation. Even
persons in robust health find themselves
unable to digest any considerable quantity
of that fluid, and persons with naturally
delicate digestive organs are commonly
obliged to refrain from it entirely. Yet
we have observed that milk has been given
the President at intervals throughout hi;
ILLNESS, and this notwithstanding the fact
that he has on several occasions shown hi;
dislike to it, and to the other forms Of
liquid food provided for him.
In such case the sensations of the pa
tient are generally trustworthy indications
OF what is good for him, and the instances
are rare in which the administration OF
food which is positively repugnant pro-
duces beneficial effects. 1t is, however,
apparent that the President has from the
first suffered from indisposition to take
nourishment of any kind. He has had
little or no appetite, and though he has
swallowed whatever was prescribed fol-
him it has been obvious that there was q
dangerous absence of relish for it. He has
now reached stage where less intract.
able crisis than the present might easily
prove fatal. His strength is completely
exhausted. With it his will power must
also have been hopelesslY enfeebled. 1t is
mistake to suppose that the will can
survive the collapse Of the physical en-.
ergy. The union between body and mind
is far too intimate for that. With the
collapse of the assimilative functions the
blood is impoverished, the brain is de.
prived of its necessary sustenance, and the
mental faculties rapidly decline in vigol
and clearness. A powerful will implies q
vigorous constitution. An impaired phys.
zeal system implies an impaired will power
The President is undoubtedly brave and
patient, but he has now reached stage
where neither his bravery nor his patience
can aid him materially in prolonging the
struggle.
Everything must now depend upon the
stomach. Ii that continues intractable,
though life may be maintained for short
time by enematous injections, the nation
will have to realize, however sorrowfully,
that the case is hopeless. OF course the
probability that his stomach may resume
its tone is greatly diminished by the abb
sence of reserve force in his whole system.
When man otherwise in fair health re.
ceives an injury in some organ, Nature
frequently sets up relief action in some
other organ, with the effect of giving OPP
portunity for recovery to the injured one.
Such recourse in the Presidents condition,
however, is cut of the question. For days
and weeks he has been fighting against the
suppuration of his wound, and the fever,
whether traumatic or malarious matters
little in the long run, which has been con.
Stunning him. His stomach, being his
weakest point, has been the first to give
way, and yet it is upon his stomach that
every hope of his recovery rests. The
actual indications are that the morbid con.
ditions set up by the wound have at length
succeeded in overcoming the resistance
offered by the treatment in fact, that
Nature has done her utmost, and has finally
suecumbed to disease. 1t is useless to
evade the plain teachings of the latest bull.
letins. The President is too evidently in
a nearly hopeless condition, and if his
medical attendants were at liberty to say
all that they think, it is to be feared that
few, if any Of them, would hazard a seri-
Gus expectation OF a fortunate outcome to
the case.
Of course there do occur sometimes sud.
den changes for the better which serve to
defy all calculation, and such change APP.
pears to be the only thing to be hoped for
in the Presidents case. To keep a man
alive by injections after his stomach has
ceased to perform its functions is impossi.
bic, beyond few days at most. To restore
to activity stomach so weakened as the
Presidents is, is beyond the capacity Of
human science. The doctors can do moth.
ing but try to give him little strength by
enemas. Whatever else is done, if indeed
anything can be done, must be Natures
work. Her resources are well Iigh mex
haustible, but even she loses heart in the
end. At this moment it is impossible to
indulge hope. All that can be done is to
wait the issue, with the sad realization that
no man in the United States, however ill,