The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1881-09-02

WASHINGTON, August -
In an interview with . representative Of
the press this afternoon DIR. Bliss gave b
substance the following account # the re.
cent exploration Of the Presidents wound
by means Of flexible rubber catheter, ref.
erence to which was made for the first time
in the noon bulletin to-day:
Since the operation Of the Sth Of August
n o drainsge tube has been used in the
m und., At the morning and evening dress
ingA however, . small flexible rubber tube
about aquarterof an inch in diameter was
introtin ced; and . weak solution Of carbolie
acid and water forced through it to cleanse
the wound and bring out the accumulated
pus. Up t., yesterday morning the sur
geons had A'een unable to pass the tube
beyond . point distant three and
half or four inches from the mouth
Of the last in cision. At that point
it always met with an obstruction
which could not be overcome without the
exertion Of force, and force the surgeons
did not think it prudent to employ. The
apparent firmness Of this obstacle finally
leo the surgeons to believe the depths Of the
wound had healed, or at least the track Of
the ball had healed at . 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 removed.
On Thursday DR.. Bliss made long ex.
animation Of the wound, but Was still un-
able to get the tube deeper than about
three and half inches. On Friday morn.
ing, however, during the dressing Of the
wound, . small piece Of cellular tissue, .
piece about as large IS the end Of ones lit
tie finger, sloughed OF or became detached,
and was washed out with the pus. This
fragment Of tissue had apparently been half
de- ached for some time, and had
acted - . sort Of rude valve at
the point where the track Of the ball
seemed to be obstructed, closing it against
the catheter and against water from the
| outside, but opening to pressure from the
| inside, and allowing the outflow Of pus from
the deeper parts Of the wound. Upon the
removal Of this fragment of tissue, DR.. Bliss
again introduced flexible rubber tube,
and. finding it no longer encountered 70.
sistance. passed 1t In. as already stated, to
distance Of twelve and a-half inches. AL.
most 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 local in quality,
was unusually white, and was perfectly
healthy in character. 1t was, in fact, better
pus than that secreted by the more superb.
cial parts Of the wound. II any septic faint
has passed into the patients blood, it orig
mated not in the pus, which has been en-
tirely protected from the air, but from that
secreted in the suppurating surface
between the recent obstruction and the
mouth of the incision. Nothing new with
regard to the location Of the ball has been
learned, DR.. Bliss said, from the passage of
the catheter to this depth. The tube was
so soft that one could Judge approximately
the direction which it had taken. 1t passed
downward and forward toward the point In
the anterior wall of the abdomen, where II
had always been supposed to lie, and that
was the most that could be affirmed.