The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1881-09-22
RESULT OF THE AUTOPSY,

upon the body, The following is the
RESULT OF THE AUTOPSY.
ELBERoN, Sept. 20.-The following Of
fetal bulletin was prepared at II o'clock
tonight by the surgeons who have been
in attendance upon the late President.
By a previous arrangement pOst-mOr-
tenn examination of the body of Presi-
dent Garfield was made this afternoon
in the presence and with the assistance
of DrS Hamilton, Agnew, Barnes, Bliss,
Woodward, Reyburn, Andrew H. Smith
of AlberOn, and Acting Assistant Surgeon
D. S Lamb, of the Army Medical Muse
um, Washington. The operation was
performed by DIR. Lamb.
1t was found that the ball, after frac-
turing the right eleventh rib, had passed
through the spinal column in front of
the spinal canal, fracturing the body of
the first lumber vertebra, driving a
number of small fragments of bone into
the adjacent soft parts, and lodging just
below the pancreas, about two and
a half inches to the left of
the spine and behind the peritOneum,
where it had become completely encys-
ted. The immediate cause of death was
a secondary hemOrrhage from one of the
mesenteric arteries adjoining the track
of the ball, the blood rupturing the
peritOneum, and nearly pint escaping
into the abdominal cavity This hemor-
rhage is believed to have been the cause
OF the severe pain in the lower part of
the chest, complained of just before
death. An abscess cavity, six inches by
four In dimensions, was found in the
vicinity of the gall bladder, between the
liver and the transverse colon, which
were strongly inter-adherent. Ibid not
involve the substance of the liver, and
no communication was found between
1t and the wound; along the suppurat-
ing channel it extended from the exter-
nal wound between the lOin muscles
and the right kidney, almost to the right
groin The channel now known to be
due to the borrowing of the pus
from the wound, was supposed
during life to have been the
track of the ball. On examination of
the organs of the chest evidences of Sc
we're bronchitis were found on both
sides. with brOnchO pneumonia of the
lower portions of the right lung, and,
through to much less extent, of the
left. The lungs contained no assesses,
and the heart no clOts. The liver was
enlarged and fatty, but free from alb
scesses: nor were any found in any
other organ except the left kidney,
which contained near its surface
small ahseess about one-third of an
inch in diameter. In reviewing the
history of the case in connection with
the autopsy it is quite evident that the
different snppurating surfaces, and es-
pecially the fractured, spOngy tissue of
the Vertebra, furnish sufficient explana-
tiOn of the septic condition which ex-
listed.
[Signedl ID. W. BLISS,
}, K. BARNES
j. j. WOODWARD,
ROBERT REYBURN,
FRANK H. HAMILTON,
D. HAYES AGNEW,
ANDREW H. SMITH,
D. S. LAMB.
After the autopsy the body was placed |
in the casket and this morning a spec
ial train bore the remains to Washing
ton City where it will lie in state in the |
rotunda of the Capitol on Thursday and |
Friday. Detatchments from the United |
States army and from the marines of |
tee navy were in attendance on the ar
rival at Washington and performed es-
cOrt duty. On Friday evening the re-
mains will be started by special train
for Cleveland, via. the Pennsylvania
Railroad, where they will lie in state
over Sunday. The funeral will take
place Monday, and the burial will take