The clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1883-1888, 1885-06-17
SURGICAL EXPLOITS.
SUCCESSES GIVEN TO THE WORLD;
FAILURES SUPPRESSED.
Done In the Amphitheatres of the
Medical schooIs-Theories
Tested.
New York Cor Chicago JournaLl


You have already read about the Gu
riously successful surgery which a girl of
this city underwent Having lost a sec
ton OF the principal muscle from one
arm and being thus incapacitated for
work, the surgeons OF Bellevue hospital
inserted the lacking material from New
foundland dog, patched up the wound,
made it heal, and finally restored the arm
10 usefulness. The girl was under ether
while the operation was going on, and a
knowledge of its nature was kept from
her until cure was complete. Then the
particulars were given 10 the reporters.
and she got the news simultaneously with
the rest Of the public
y on ask me what is, or what may be.
the effect on the Imagination of the girlZ"
said the surgeon with whom l talked.
We'll. she happens TO possess strong
nerves and general good hea tn She
seemed a little shocked on learning that
there was canine annex TO her arm, and
she was anxious right of, to know what
sort Of a dog had contributed The ma
teraL lie bad been killed Immediately
after the operation, because it would have
left him badly manned. She said She
was sorry for that. as she would like to
have had him TO keep. She was de-
lighted TO be told that he was hne
specimen Of his gOod-uatuEed, intelligent
breed. and she said she'd never, never
have forgiven us If We had used a Spitz
or a bulldog or any ugly brute. 4
fashionable pug might have pleased her,
yet on the whole she thought she would
have chosen New FOundland if the Sc.
lection had been left to her.
@shc is a laundry girl. and probably
not given ~ the consideration Of fine
mental OF physiological the Jric5. and SO
10 lgff 10 pFAf4-4TyBal tor. n
speculate on the effects of the amalgama-
ton. There are persons so finicNy that,
every time they coughcd after a piece Of
dog had been cngraltcd into them, they
would imagine lhat they were barking
and death by imaginary hydrophobia
would be a possibility but in this case
don't anticipate any trouble Of that sort
If Annie Pencil had died from the
failure Of the dog S flesh to heal with her
own. no mention would ever have been
made in print Of the dangerous expert
menL Only the surgical successes are
given 10 the world. the failures are sup
pressed Nothing was known by the
newspapers Of this case until two weeks
after the operation when the arm was re-
stored 10 It's original value. That very
many exploits in surgery come to deadly
ends cannot be doubted. They are per
formed in the center of a small ampbi-
theatre where the students OF one or an
other of tic medical schools meet on
appointed days to be practically in.
structcd and the surgeons lecture eX.
panatorily as they work, telling what
they are doing and the expected results
If there is a success, says a student
to me. the patient is usually exhibited tC
us again, to the glory of the operator; but
many and many a case is never seen OF
mentioned in clinic again afterward, and
the supposition is that deformity or death
has been caused The sub ects are usually
poor persous-gratis patients in the hos
pitals-and the surgery on them is largely
in the nature Of vivisectioD. That is they
are made to stand the risk of expert
ments which may and may not turn GU
well
a If Gen. Grant had been an unknown
patient in public hospital, there would
have been a knife in his throat ere this
and he might have gained by it
too; but surgical experiments. mind you
are not tried on illustrious persons. Nat
urally. the surgeon makes his novel anC
perilous feats under circumstances which
will hide his failure | am not blaming
him. either; and it is fact that about al
of the progress in both medicine anC
surgery is achieved through tests of theo
ries in the hospitals The subjects arr
usually in a hopeless condition; they dc
not dread the ordeal. for its nature is moi
fully explained to them; and often they
are restored to health besides contributing
to the stock Of science