Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1881-08-04
THE PRESIDENTS CONDITION.

SurglCai levers are cOuLluuOuS. oiuCc tHe lS-
suance of the P. M. bulletin, the Presidents
pulse the doctor said, had fallen about 10
beats, and is at this hour about "a, with tenn
perature about normal with normal pulse
The pulse of the President was the subject
of discussion by the surgeons to day, and it
was concluded that it was about 80. Dr.
Bliss said that if the patient continued to
improve for the next two weeks as he has
during the past few days, there will be no
reason why he should not sit up. during the
third week, or perhaps sooner.
During the course of further conversation
the Doctor explameda length the manner
in which the dressings of the wound are
made, and the part taken therein by each
attending surgeon. He said that one sur.
geon, Dr. Reyburn, always takes the temper.
ature, another, DR.. Woodward, prepares the
liquids for cleaning the wound, keeping them
at blood heat, and the other two, Drs. Bliss
and Barnes, dress the wound.
Everything has been done conscientiously,
said the Doctor, to give each condition of
the patient at the time of the examination,
whether it be favorable or unfavorable AS
an instance of this he referred to the fact
that oftentimes, when the evening examina'
ton is made, the fever will be found at its
height, and perhaps Immediately afterwards
it will have almost entirely disappeared.
But the condition ut the moment of exami-
nation is invariably taken for the bulletin.
The fever, although it may be variable, al
ways makes its appearance sooner or later.
In referring to the probable location Of the
bullet, Dr. Bliss explained in detail the ex-
pertinent by means of the induction balance,
which occurred at the evening dressing of the
wound yesterday. He said that although the
apparatus was afterwards claimed to be out
Of adjustment, it indicated at one time that
the ball lies in front of the wall Of the abdo.
men, about five inches below and to the right
of the navel and just over the groin, pre-
cisely where the attending surgeons always
maintained it had lodged.
In response to an inquiry as to whether the
ball, if it should be found to be in the front
wall of the abdomen, would be likely to cause
the President any serious annoyance, the doc.
tor said that unless it had carried some bone
with it, in which event an abscess might form,
there was no reason to fear any troublesome
complication from it.
'The President, during the day, has taken
about twenty-five ounces of liquid nourish-
ment and four ounces of solid food, including
mutton chops and other substantial meats.
The Executive Mansion was closed for the
night considerably earlier to night than usual,
on account of everything being favorable.
The dispatch of Monday night says the
Presidents case during the day presented no
features of special Importance which have not
already been noticed His appetite was
rather better than on the day before. He
partook more freely of solid food, and his
bill of fare was extended to embrace several
things hitherto forbidden, including coffee, of
which he drank half cup.
The surgeons continue to give him koumiss,
or strengthened milk, occasionally, in place
of an equal quantity of milk, and although
this mild Tartar stimulant has little to recon-.
mend it to the average taste, the President
expresses decided liking for it and drinks
it eagerly. The wound discharges freely at
every dressing, and its appearance was in
every way satisfactory. The usual afternoon
fever was light and passed off earlier than
usual, and the President went to sleep and
slept most of the night. His pulse is 100 and
his temperature and respiration are normal.
The experiment of ascertaining the loca-
ton of the ball by means of electricity is thus
described in Mondays kilograms:
Under the supervision of the attending
physicians, the Bell electric balance, for the
ascertainment of the whereabouts Of the ball,
was again put in operation to-day. Professor
Bell was at work yesterday perfecting the
workings of his electric balance, and last
night pronounced that he can by its means 10.
cate ball that is imbedded FIVE inches from
the surface of the body The opinion of the
physicians IS that the ball is not more than
two and a half inches from the anterior or
front surface of the stomach, hence the test
of to-day. Professors Bell and Taintor, who
are in charge Of the balance, tried this appa-
ratus upon the Presidents body for the first
time last Saturday, and although it indicated
family the location of the ball, it was after.
ward found to be slightly out of adjustment,
and the experiment was not regarded as per.
fectly conclusive.
The results of this evenings tests however,
are entirely satisfactory, both to Professors
| Bell and Taintor and the attending surgeons
and it is now unanimously agreed that the
location of the ball has been ascertained with
reasonable exactness and certainty, and that
| it lies as heretofore stated. The experiments
were repeated several times, and were made
by Professors Bell and Taintor, independent
ly, so as to guard, as. far as possible, against
errors arising from the faulty perception of
Ia sr1; oil
taken judgment as to the comparative inten-
sity of sounds. In every instance, however,
when the small coils attached to the machine
we're placed in such position on the patients
body as to indicate the location of the black
and blue spot which appeared on the lower
right side of the abdomen soon after the Pres
ident was shot, the listener at the telephone
said that he detected evidences Of disturbance
1t made no difference whether the experiment
ter could see the coils or not. Whenever
they were placed in that particular position
he became Instantly aware of the fact and
announced it.
The experiments were varied, and con-
tinued until all were convinced that the bull
let had been found, or at least located in
straight line running through the body from
the front to the back just above the groin on
the right side 1t was not possible to ascer-
tain with any degree of certainty the depth
at which the ball lies imbedded on this mag
mary line, but as the front wall of the abdo-
men at this point is about two and one half
inches in thickness, the ball must lie within
that distance of the surface. These results
fully confirm the original diagnosis of the
case made by the attending surgeons soon