Waterbury evening Democrat., 1888-10-15
BERGMANN'S DEFENSE.
Counter Accusations and Sharp Reply to Mackenzie's Charges = Bsrsmann Charges Incompetency and Ignorance.

counter Accusatlons ana Sharp 1SeplS to Mackenzie's Charges = Bsrsmann Charges Incompetency and Ignorance. BERLIN, Oct 15-A correspondent called upon Professor and Geheimer Medical Rath von Bergmann at his residence, Alexander Ufer overlooking the great Krieg Denkmal, in the Thiergarten.
 When asked what he thought of Sir Morell MackenIe's defense, he exclaimed with brus- que gesture:
 'It is arrant nonsense. As long as the Elm peror Frederick was ill we would not give details of his case to the public" said the pro lessor. By we 1 mean the German physi- cians This course was made difficult to us, as the English political and medical news papers covered us with abuse When the Emperor Frederick died the the minister of the royal household asked us to publish the reports made by us during the emperor's illness.
 The charges against Gerhardt are so ab surd that they can only find their explana- tion in Mackenzie's despair. It was my mis- fortune that the august patient and his royal consort had more confidence in Mackenzie than in the three German physicians. This misplaced confidence brought the late em- peror to an early grave. Mackenzie failed to detect cancer.
 
 My answer is this: The accusation is lie The cut was made exactly ill the middle Mackenzie told Prince Henry Of Prussia at San Reno himself that the operation had been admirably performed In regard to the choice of tubes. if the operation of tracheo- tony had to be made so far &S to cause a wound directly over the breast bone, short tube could not be used. Here 1 need not de- fend myself to members of the medical pro- fession who know the operation Mackenzie is aware of this himself.
 ''Now, in regard to the very serious charge made against me with regard to what took place on April F, when I am said to have ploughed deep wound in the emperor's throat and caused an inflammation in the cellular tissues between the trachea and the sternum or breast bone.
 Again, 1 am compelled to the belief that Mackenzie failed to grasp the meaning of Virchows post mortem report, wherein nc mention occurs of any such inflammation. On the contrary, the cellular tissues lying back of the breast bone, the anterior medias terium, showed no evidence of any cicatTiza tion, but only of purely normal conditions The post morteln showed the immediate cause of death. The inflammation of the lungs was shown to be of recent date.
 In regard to the charges amounting to mal practice, L1dU AhdChellAlS "cIS DlOuS against him by the German doctors pam plet, we, the German physicians, do not hesi tate in saying that Mackenzie's treatment o1 the emperor did amount to malpractice, in esmuch as both diagnosis and treatment dis played gross ignorance of medicine in gen eral.
 ''His whole knowledge of anatomy anc pathology begins and ends in the larynx In his defense he oYerlooks the fact that hi accusations against me fall to the ground il .he presence of the testimony of Professor Virchow and Waldmeyer's post mortem ez
 animation.
 "Mackenzie's defense casts doubt on tn capabilities of his German colleagues, bu Virchow's post mortem clearly establishe, the fact that Tobold, Gerhardt and I had al been quite correct in diagnosis of tn emperor's malady. The one who allowed tn Attest time and opportunity of arresting tn emperor's disease to slip away was the farnou laryngologist, Mackenzie. ''He may pen whole libraries to escape thi reproach. But in vain. Had the operatio been made on the crown prince in May, as wished, His Majesty Frederick III migh just as well as not be alive now, are th four patients referred to in our report upo whom the operation was so successfully pel formed