Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1888-12-07
A DOG SACRIFICED
10 SAVE THE LIFE or 4 VERY
SICK MAN

THE EXPERIMENT OF INTRODU-
CING NOURIsHMENT DIRECTLY
INTO THE BLOOD Is TRIED, AND
WITH SUCCESS, AND THE PA
TENT, WHO WAS GIVEN UP FOR
DEAD, RALLIES, AND FINALLY
RECEIVERS.
A special from New York to the
Cincinnati Enquirer says: Well,
the stomach naturally comes to n
squaring OF accounts At some
period OF a man i life. But 1t il not
every one who receives sue cas-
tigatlOn from that so0rce as was
received by Thomas Whitney, who
is a patient in Charity Hospital.
Whitney is well-to-do mechanic.
lie has always taken the best of
care of his family, but never paid a
moment of thought to his stomach,
beyond filling it up with food at ir-
regular intervals. When bis rec
ord came to be looked up because
of his condition, 1t was fonnd that
he had abused his stomach fright
fully. He smoked and chewed to-
baccO. He drank immoderately at
times. He ate enormously when at
table, and without any regularity
about the hours of his meals. In.
deed, he fred hot and cold drinks
and food into his stomach in so
much lndiscriminate profusion that
a case of gastritis and liberation
on a grand scale was set up, aud
be became suddenly so weak that
he was obliged to discontinue his
work. The mucous membranes
were intensely inhamed and dis
charged an irritating ffuid. This
was removed with emetics until the
retching was followed by violent
commissions Of dangerous type, aud
the mode of treatment had to be
given up. A novel application
was then made of the ordinary
siphon. w hen tn accumulated
fluid IN the stomach caused dis
tress, the short leg of the siphon
was introduced into the organ and
its contents speedily drained. This
use of the siphon for relief from the
fluid suggested definite plan of
treatment for the malady itself,
which was adopted. BY changing
the legs of the siphOn the stomach
was filed with warm water and
thoroughly washed out. The mud
being thus removed, medicated So
lutions with healing properties were
easily placed in the stomach in
the same way. The ulcers were
thus speedily reduced. The pa
tient was also fed with the siphoD.
His diet meanwhile consisted of
meat, eggs, milk, and broth, bnt
all reduced alike to fluid state
There was a fine prospect for his
recovery, although
THE CASE HAD BEEN SEVERE.
Whitney was a stubborn fellow.
Rules and regulations be regarded
az irksome and useless. He had
acted on that theory all his life,
and refused to recognize that his
illness came from disregard OF nat
ural laws. In a moment of conf
dence in his own superiority over
all mankind he violated the in
structlons and directions of DR..
Willard, tho attending physician,
by drinking a quantity OF whiskey
and eating a large piece OF solid
meat. The result of this diet was
Immediately disastrous. On the
following day the organs OF dises-
ton and part of his throat were in
a paralytic condition. Food taken
into the stomach underwent no
change, and was taken out hours
after its reception in the same con-
dition as when swallowed. The pa
tient suffered terribly from pain In
the spine. He was frequently de-
IIrious and unable to sleep. lie
was given opium and chloral to pro-
duce sleep, but with little effect,
evidently on account of the starved
condition OF the brain. An exam
ination of the blood showed the
corpuscles to be deficient in quan.
tlty and shriyeled. Whitney's con-
ditlon was clearly critical. The
muscular tissue was beng slowly
absorbed and the skin was tight
ening around the bones and be-
coming dark like the parchment
hide of mummies. The only ap'
parent end to this condition was
death in a short time
FROM STARVATION.
Nature put in her remedy at
this stage, and it is curious that
nat ure very rarely makes an error
in her prescriptions. The patient
suddenly went into a cataleptic
state, where there was an almost
total suspension of the operations
of every organ and a consequent
saving of strength and vitality.
The patient was apparently dead,
and if he had not been all the time
directly under the eye of a physi'
clan Who knew the difference he
would in all probability have been
sent to the dead house, and from
there to his grave. The only sign
oc lifa uaa a faint fiuttering of the