Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1882-07-12
GUITEAUS BULLET.

An interesting AMI learned article on
the surgery il Garfield's case, by Dr.
White, Of the University of Pensylva
MIA, is furnished to recent number of
The Philadelphia Medical News. 1t is
accompanied with engravings from the
ribs and backbone which were injured
by Guiteau's bullet, and which were put
in a. evidence at the assassins trial.
AT the time OF tn shooting the Pres
ident and 6ultPau stood six feet apart,
the assassin little to the right OF his
victim, who was just in the act of turn
ing TO the left. The ball penetrated the
body three inches to the right Of the
spine. 1t puverized the eleventh rib.
ira tured the twelfth rib, and then pass
Ing through the heavy muscles situated
near he spine, penetrated and passed
tbreugb one Of the spina! vertebr9. The
bai could not nave taken a straight
course In order to do that the pistol
would needed to have been five feet high
8r chan the bullets place of entrance.
after breaking through the eleventh rib,
it struck the twelfth rib, glancing side
ways into the muscles and the spine. The
tract Of the. ball was so tortuous that
even if It's course had been guessed no
probe could have followed it, without
seriously endangering the nerves and
DiOUd-vessels OF the spine and the largest
arteries and veins OF the body, on which
depends the whole circulation of the low
er limbs. A puncture or injury to the
vital vessels would have been fatal. The
nervous systems Of the patient, immedi-
ately after the the shooting, offered no
clue to the trouble. The tingling pains
in the feet and ankles were temporary,
and in no way pointed to the locality
Q! the injury, but only to some form OF
nerve injury of Il feeting character.
Hence the writer concludes that the di-
agnosis OF the case was not so much a
mistaken one as owing to the lack of evi-
dence; an absence of diagnosis. Or. Ag-
new, during the whole case assured him
that lie did not know the position OF the
ball AID knew of no safe means Of de
terninDg IL. The septec@nic poison was
not due to the lack Of drainage of the
wound but to the constant secretion OF
pus by the laceration of the vertebra,
ana the accompanying abcesses and reten-
ton ofthe puss in the neighhOrhood OF
the injured spine. All of the surgical
staff did not hold the belief that the pus
cavity which was drained and partly
healed was the track of the ball.
As to whether the wound was neces-
sarily fatal or not, the writer declares sin
the whole range of surgical literature,
civil and military, no similar case fol
low ed by recovery has ever been record
ed'' He claims to nave consulted and
investigated all the medical authorities,
and declares that no undoubted instance
of recovery from compound grinding
or perforating gunshot fracture of the body
of a vertebra, as in Garfield's case, was
ever known.
And his verdict on the case is: That
it was never possib ble, at any time, to as
certain definitely and safely the precise
character and extent of the Presidents S
wound; that any such attempt would in
all probability have resulted fatally;
that the treatment was the same as it
would have been if the exact nature OF
his injuries had been known; that life
was unusually prolonged by the treat
ment, and that death resulted from causes
beyond surgical interference.