The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1881-10-13
The Autopsy.

Inc Baltimore American refers to the officia
and authentic report of the autopsy of Pres
dent Garfield, made 18 hours after DEATH and
subsequently, published in the american Jour-
nal Of Medical Science.
i 1t is to be regretted that the full and appar-
emily very accurate report of the postmortem
examination of President Garfield, which has
now been made public, was not published at
an earlier day. The brief report of the au-
topsy which was sent out on the night on
which it was made, raised more doubts than
1t satisfied A few sentences stating that the
patient had died of secondary hemorrhage,
would have been sufficient until the full and
detailed report could have been made But,
unfortunately, a brief report was made full
enough to mystify the laity and not full
enough to satisfy the medical profession The
criticisms which the medical fraternity passed
upon the document extended to the autopsy
retrospect1yely and to the management of the
case before death. The imperfections of the
| report, it was assumed, reflected an imperfect
| autopsy. 1t was believed, for example, that
| the heart had not been examined; it was
doubted that the death resulted from hemor-
| rhage; it was considered unsettled whether or
| not the patient had py9mia, and whether there
was or was not a metastatic abscess in the
lung. 1t now appears that the eminent sur
geons who conducted the autopsy examined
carefully as to all these doubtful points, and
reached decisions with entire unanimity, which
will probably be accepted without further
question by the profession. It was clear that
the cause OF the death was internal hemer-
rhage, and that the rupture Of the splenic ar
terry had involved loss of about pint of
blood, which was SO clOtted that it did not
mingle with the embalming fluid forced through
the arteries. This disposes of the difficulties
raised by one of the critics. 1t shows that the
rupture of the artery had taken place during
life and the blood which had escaped had CO.
agulated before the preservative fluid had been
forced by the embalmers into the abdominal
cavity through the lesion Of the artery. The
theory that death had been caused by embol- |
ism was set at rest by an examination of the
heart. Its chambers were free from clot The |
question whether or not there had been |
metastatic abscess in the lung was not, how
ever, SO perfectly set at rest. 1t appeared that
the mucus of bronchitis was mingled with |
pus; but this was not in the substance matter /
of the lung, but in the bronchial tubes |
Whether an abscess existed there or not, it |
clearly was not the fatal symptom. The au-
topsy will, however. satisfy the public that the |
wound was mortal one from the first Such
errors as were made in the diagnosis would
have involved no great change in the treat
ment had they been discovered at once. No
treatment whatever could have arrested
at the point where it took place, nor
death from the ensuing hemorrhage The sur
geons accomplished much in keeping the pa
tient alive SO long, and thus gradually prepar
ing the public mind for the inevitable. Except
as to few critics. who may have reasons sat-
isfactory to themselves for casting reproach
upon the ablest of our American surgeons,
there will be general acceptance of the re-
port as proof that death was unavoidable
from the first.