Daily Los Angeles herald., 1881-10-06
yus 9asslss 4srala.
The AuToPsY.
OFFICIAL REPORT Or THE SURGEONS.
4 Full Account Of the Work, and the Con-
ditim In Which the Varieus Organs
Were Pound.

kAlLAOEA1 AAAB Octs - he
October number of the american
Journal of Medical Science con.
tains the following official report
Of the autopsy of President Gar
field, prepared by the surgeons In
charge:
OGcial record of the post-mortem
examination of the body Of Presi-
dent J. A. Garfield, made Eeptem-
Der 20, 1881, commencing at $3.50 r.
NJ, eighteen hours after the death,
ut Franklin cottage, Elberon, n.
J. Present and assisting, DR.. d.
w. Bliss. Surgeon-General J. X.
Barnes, u. b. A., Surgeon J. J.
Woodward. u. 8. A., DR.. Robert
Reyburn, Dr. Frank II. Hamilton,
DR.. d. Hays Agnew, DR.. Andrew
H. Smith Of Eiberon and New
York, and acting assistant surgeon
d. s. Lamb of the Medical Muse
um, Washington.
Before commencing the exami.
nation Q consultation was held by
the physicians in q room adjoining
that in which the body lay, and 1t
was unanimously agreed that the
Uranium should not be opened.
Surgeon Woodward then proposed
that kthe examination should be
conducted as follows: That the
body should be viewed externally
and any morbid appearance exist
ing should be recorded; that ca.
theter should then be passed into
the wound, as was done during life
to wash it out, for the purpose Of
assisting to find the possible track
Of the bullet; that long incisIon
should next be made from the su-
psrior extremity Of the eteruum to
the pubs and this crossed by u
transverse one just below the UNI
bilicus; that the abdominal flaps
thus made should then be turned
back and the abdominal viscera ex-
Amined; that after the abdominal
cavity was opened the position of
the bullet should be ascertained, II
possible, before making any fur
Their incision, and that the thora.
clio vlscera should be examined.
This order Of procedure was unani.
mously agreed to.
THE AUTOPSY BEGUN.
The examination was then pro-
ceeded with and the following ex.
ternal appearances were observed.
The body was considerably ema.
cIated, but the face was much less
wasted than the limbs. A preserv.
ing duid had been injected by an
embalmer few hours before into
the left femoral artery, and the
pipes used for that purpose were
still In position. The under sur.
face Of the body presented no abb
normal appearance, and there war
no ecchymosis or other discolora.
ton of any part of the front of the
abdomen. Just below the right
ear, and little behind 1t, there
was an oval liberated opening
about half an inch in diameter
from which some ranoos pus was
passing, but no tumefaction could
be observed In the parotid open
ing. A considerable number o.
purners-li spots were scattered
Ihickly over the left scapula and
thence forward as far as the axila,
They ranged forward one-eighth to
ope-fourth Of an inch In diameter,
were slightly elevated and fur
foraceous on the surface, and many
of them were continent in groups
Of two to four or more. A similar
but much less abundant eruption
was observed spsrsely scattered
over the corresponding region on
the right side. An oval, excavated
ulcer about an inch long, the result
of = small carbuncle, was seated
over the spinous process OF the
tsnth dorsal vsrtebra. Over the
sacrum there were our email bed
sores, the largest about an inch in
diamter. Five e0ne pustules and
. number of irregular spots or post
norton hypostatic congestion
were scattered over the shoulders,
back and buttocks. The inferior
part of the scrotum was much dis.
colored by hypotatic congestion
A group OF hemorrhoidal tumors
rather larger than q walnut, pro,
truded from the anus.
THE WOUND EXAMINED.
A depressed cicatrlx of the
wound made by the pistol bullet
was recognized over the tenth in
torcostal space, three and one-hal
Inches to the right of the vertebra
spine. A deep line or incisior
(mads In part by the operation o.
July Gath and extended by that o.
August Sth), occupied o position
closely correspondent to the upper
border of the right twelfth rib. II
commenced posteriorly about two
Inches from the vertebral spine,
and extended forward little more
than three inches. At the interior
extremity of this incision there was
> deep, nearly square, abraided sur.
face about an inch across. A we'll
oiled, flexible catheter fourteen
Inches long was then passed into
this wound, as had been done to
wash 1t out during life. More re-.
slstance was at first encountered
than had usually been the case, but
after several trials the catheter en-
t6Teu Wltuuut any ViOIeuCo 10 lJ5
full length. 1t was then left in po-
sition and the body disposed su-
pinely for the examination of the
viscera. The Uranium was not
opened.
THE KNIFE USED.
A long incision was made from
the uperior extremity of the stern
um to the pubis, followed by q
transverse incision crossing the alb.
domen just below the umbilicus.
The four flaps thus formed were
turned back and the abdominal
vlscera exposed. The eub-cutane.
GUS adipose tissue divided by the
incisions was q little more than
one-elght of an inch thick over the
thorAx, but was thicker over the
abdomen, being about quarter oil
m inch thick along the Inca alba
and - much as half an inch thick
towards the outer extremity of the
transverse incision. On inspection
OF the abdominal viscera, the trans
Vofgo colon was observed to lie q