The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-12-14

porter. When told of the womanS hospital he
seemed to grasp the whole subject He said:
Now. I'll tell you what is to be done. We will
rent Stuyvesant Hall, will advertise in the
newspapers for the doctors to attend the meet
ing which is to be addressed by DR.. J. Marion
Sims, late of Montgomery, Alabama, the
necessity of hospital in the city of New York
for the treatment of the diseases of women Tell
your story to the crowd of doctors that l will
get there as you have told it to me, and we will
carry the day
''He went and rented Stuyvesant Hall I told
him frankly that had no money and that he
mustn't ruin me with expenses. He said:
Damn the expense never mind the money
| We are obliged to have a certain amount, let
what will happen, and somebody has got to fur
nish it..
The Doctor couldn't understand it, and ac-
knowledged that he felt like child in the hands
OF this wonderful being The lecture came off
| Two hundred and fifty doctors were there, with
other citizens and few ladies, and DR. Sims
told his story of the need of a womans hospital,
plainly and forcefully. Following the address
the doctors held a meeting and the project was
| begun. The great ladies of the city were pat
upon its board of managers, and it grew The
womans hospital, from the day it opened,
had no friends among the leaders-among hos
pital men. was called qUack and humbug,
and the hospital pronounced fraud. Still it
went on with its work. Its wards were open to
any doctor that cared to come, and the opera
| tons performed there were seen by most of the
leading medical men in the city and many 9th
| ers from different parts of the country"
| The hospital was inaugurated in May, 1850
In December, 1874, DR.. Sims resigned his posi-
| board was insisting upon a rule 1t
had adopted, which limited the num-
| Der of spectators of any operation to tf-
| teen. DR.. Sims earnestly protested against the
| enforcement of such rule as derogatng from
the value of the hospital as an agency for diff
| fusing instruction in clinical surgery, but the
| board adhered to its resolution fixing fifteen as
the limit of endurance or high water mark Of
woman's modesty.
DAY OF GREAT ANXIETY
! In August, 1861, ne went to Europe. His fame
had preceded him and he writes charmingly of
| the great surgeons he met in Ireland, Scotland
and England. He went to Paris. where he was
greatly lionized, where he performed many
! operations, with the greatest of the French sur
| geons as spectators. "On the 18th of October
! operated on the Countess de F.. Nelaton, the
great Paris surgeon Campbell the great obstet-
rician, Beclard, the accomplished Franco-Amer-
lean physician, Johnston and Herbert were
present and assisting. Upon Dr. Campbell was
imposed the responsibility of the ehloroforming.
| The operation was begun ct 10 o'clock In fifty
minutes it nearly finished There was
nothing to do but to secure the silver sutures,
just then I noticed very livid appearance Of
| the tissues. Almost Immediately DIR. Campbell
said Stop moment. Let her head hang
/
| the head, and Johnston to raise her feet perpen-
dicularly in the air, while he supported the body
| and shoulders and Beelard attended to forcing
| the respiration by pressing the thorax and alb
| dominal walls. Young Herbert was sent for
| spoon, with the handle of which her jaws were
| forced asunder, and Nelaton called for forceps
| to pull the tongue from the top of the windpipe.
Imagine poor me, standing like a very statue of
| sadness and sorrow, calling out mechanically
| every now and them My dear Dr. Campbell
| is there any hope of saving herr She vas to all
| intents and purposes, dead. They held hex i'll
this inverted position for twenty minutes, trying
to force the respiratory function. 1t appeared
! to me to be useless. At last she breathed again
| 1t was very poor breathing, but better than
| none. After while they laid her table in
| q recumbeIt position. Almost Immediately the
breathing ceased again and the pulse stopped
Again they quickly inverted the body.
| After seeming long time the brave
! men were repaid by feeble signs
| of returning life. My heart poured forth in
voluntary thanks to God for her recovery. They
laid her upon the table again, but in a few sec
onds respiration ceased, for third time her
| pulse was gone and she looked the picture of
! death. gave up all as lost. Again the body
| was inverted thus throwing all the blood it
tanned 70 the brain, and again began their heroic
efforts at artificial respiration 1t seemed to be
she could never breathe again" But after an
| exceedingly long time she did breathe, and
| presently kicked, and soon she was safe"
| The operation successfully performed and
| the Countess was cured. A few days after the
| operation he wrote in letter to his wife, "Io-
| day | told her that whenever [ am asked how
many children l have will not say nine but
| ten, for she seems almost like one of ours She
| is now bright and cheerful, hopeful, and happy,
thankful and joyous. Her happiness is manifest
| to all. She MARBLES as innocenty as bird
! Chloroform is pleasant but dangerous; ether
| is disagreeable but safe
| He became physician to the Duchess of Ham
| ilton in 1868, physician to the Empress
| Eugene and the Empress Of Austria, besides
| many of the nobility.
HOW TO CURE MYSTERIES IN A WIDOW.
| In England he tells of widow, patient with
$500 a year GAS we went home in a cab
at midnight she took regular Mysteries on ac-
count of the cabman driving so fast She was
sitting on back seat and the young lady and
myself were in front I tried to quiet her She
didn't swoon for 1 was not sitting by her and of
| course there was no chance for her to fall into
my arms She said these drunken cabmen often
| turn over their cabs and break the peoples
| necks. She said Mr.. So-andso had his leg
| broken and suffered terribly. oh said l. what
| lucky fellow Just to think what happy
man to get his leg broken so that he could
| lie UP at home away from the troubles
of business and have his wife to pet him. But
| said she, L have got nobody to pet me if my leg
| is broken But said l. i will pet you if you
! get your leg broken. l will rub it, and stroke
| it, and splinv it, and bandage it, and cure it up
so nicely that you will almost be willing to have
| the other leg broken. This killed all her hys-
terics. She laughed outright and said was the
oldest fellow she met / made this dis
covery: that the way to cure Mysteries in
widow worth eight hundred year is to talk
| about rubbing her leg"
Dr. Sims established the famous Anglo
| American Ambulance Corps that rendered such
| great and essential service during the Franco
| Prussan war, as in addition to its vast number
! of French patients 1t treated over thousand
wounded Prussans.
| Up to the hour of DR.. Sims's death, Nov 49,
1883, his hand had not lost its skill nor his eye
its brightness, and all his mental faculties We're
in full vigor. He had, indeed all the qualities
of truly great surgeon. 1.-The brain of an
Apollo, the heart of lion, the eye Of an eagle
and the hand of woman"