The Osceola times., 1884-01-26
FED THROUGH 4 N0STRIL.
Patrick Whslen's Method of Taking Ii
quid Diet.
PhiladelphiIRecord.

PhilsdelphiIRecord.
Patrick Whalen still lies in the GEL
man Hospital with his throat cut from
ear to ear, unable to cat food, and in a
fair way of recovery. He is the man
who was found aimlessly about the park
the y Of November, nearly exhausted
from loss o. blood. Since then he has
been under the care of DR.. James Collins
and DR.. Weed, the latter the resident
hospital physician. The treatment ad-
ministed and the wonderful sustaining
powers of the patien. render the case
one of the most peculiar in the annals
of surgery.
When Whalen was received at the
hospital his exhausted state rendered
immediate nourshment necessary. An
examination disclosed the fact that the
wound was in the thyro-hyoid space the
part Of the throat just under the chin
that yields to pressure. The knife had
laid bare the pharynx and passed
through the epglottis. The quickest
way of administering nourishment was
adopted.
A catheter was inserted into the gullet
ani through it liquid food was passed
through the natural channels TO the
stomach. Whalen had lost his speech,
and during a three days exposure with
the gaping wound taking all the impuri-
ties of the air, he had contracted bron-
chitis and pneumonia, from which COM
plants he is still suffering. The compli-
cation of ailments made his recovery all
the more doubtful, but by patient and
skillful treatment he has so greatly i'm
proved as to satisfy the doctors that in
six weeks time he will be GONZALES
cent
The wound is beginning to close, and
in order to keep the edges together
Whalen is required to hold his chin
down constantly on his chest. With the
exception of the first few hours of his
presence in the hospital he has been and
is now being fed through his nose. A
tube is inserted into one of his nostrils
and down into the gullet, and ! V this
device, with the aid of an ordinary Da'
wilson syringe, Whalen is now able to
take six pints of nutritious food every
day.
The menu consists of course, of fluid
diet solely-onc pint of eggnog one pint
of soup, one pint of milk punch, and
greater quantities Of bcef-tea and boiled
milk. To this enjoyment of bodily feastS
there is one drawback. The partaker
is deprived of the sensation of taste, and
imhibes his food like a sponge absorbs
water, altogether callous to the delicious
beverages that are served in such copiOus
draughts.
He is confred in a room keep dense
with steam and antisceptic vapors, the
purpose of which is to break up the
bronchial pneumonia and prevent fur
ther disorganization of the organs thus
affected.
should his powerful constitution,
which has served him thus far so well,
outliy the draft made upon it by heavy
expectoration incident to his throat and
lung troubles, Whalen in six weeks
time DR.. Weed states, will be ready to
undergo the final operation, after which
his recovery will be rapi1. As the in
Jury heals up toward the middle it will
leave fistula, which can only be des-
troyed by an incision to change the
wound from a horizontal to a vertical
one. When this is done it will heal
completely and very fast.
Whalen adheres to his strange story
that his throat was cut by man six
feet high, who, after inhicting the wound
robbed him of s., and then left him on
the railroad track close by the park.
He strenuously denies the assertion OF
many that his injury was selfinflicted.