The morning news., 1889-04-12

extremities back to the heart The wound
ing of these bio d vessels the most COM
mon injuries TO which mankind is liable,
and when the rupture partains to the ar1e-
ries the result IS speedily fatal if not sub
Jected to imm adla!e aud proper treatment.
Suppose that one should ba cat in the arm,
which is so often the case whel, in a diff
Guilty, one is wariing off the blow of an
asSailant. If blood vessel is severed the
victim turns pale, cke1s at the stomach, a
cold, calnmy sweat objects on the brow,
and the pulse weakens ard ru 5 up from 70
to 50 to 120. WHAT should be do3e. Avoid
exclteme It, crowding the patient or giving
stimuiant. in nine cases out of ten N s.
| taken kindness admins ers liqour, which of
all things is the worst, as it excires the heart
| t. vigorous action and increases the flow of
| blood. Bear this in mimi always, he said.
| If the blood is bright red and comes from
the wound in interrupted spurts it is from
| the artery, and com0reSS. or tourniquet,
| shouli be placed above or between the
wound ard heart. A CO aipress can be easily
made by twisting handkerchief and tying
heavy knot in the center and then tying
the ha alGkerchief loosely around the arm,
| placing the knot first lied directly over the
artery, which, it will be found, runs down
| the inside of the arm. A cane or short
| stick, or in the army, a bayonet, will an
swer, should be run through the blight or
| loop on the outer side of t arm, and the
| handkerchief drawn so tightly by twisting
the stick that the pressure of the knot will
stop the flow of blood until the arrival of a
physician. Should the blood be dark scar
let, or pour from the wound in a steady
| stream, Is il from vein. and the compress
should be placed below the wound and on
| the outside of the arm. 1t is often necessa-
| ry to place compress on both the inner
side and cutter side of the arm.
| A stab in the back is nearly always fatal
/ i ia 0nt IN "a
| Guilty of getting at the vessel TO stop the
| flow of blood. In such cases the work of a
surgeon is all that can avail anything, and
| too often even that is unsuccessful.
THIGH, LEG, OR FEET WOUNDS,
| when blood vessels are severed. are treated
| much in the same way as the arm Cuts on
the inside of the thigh or leg are most dan
gerous, as there the femoral, or main artery
| lies exposed, and unless compressed at once
a man would be dead in ten minutes. The
position of the femoral artery can be ascer-
tanned by feeling with the hand, as it's pula-
tions are in unison with the throbbings of
the heart. Gen. Packenham, who COM
manded the English forces at the battle of
New Orleans Jan. s, 1915, was wounded
through this artery and bled to death be-
fore surgeon could arrive. Dr. Gurthrie,
in his Commentaries on Surgery" says
| that Gen. Packenham, was wounded in
Spain by a musket ball passing through
the right side of his neck. There was much
loss of substance, and when the wound had
healed he returned to duty with a stiff neck
and his head drawn to the right side
In subsequent battle he received similar
wound on the lett side Of his neck, which
healed in precisely the same manner and
drew hisneck and head all right and straight
again.
THE ARTERY OF THE LEG
divides lust before the knee Joint into three
smaller vessels, and in case of hemoIrhage
from cuts or otherwise 1t is best, he said, to
apply the compress directly and firmly over
the wound. The same rule obtains in
wounds of the hands and feet Hemor-
rhages Of the head, ctSeSt and abdomen are
almost universally fatal, for the reason that
it is difficult to get a. TIE severed vessels
to stop the flow or to lgature them, or from
the laceration Of some viscous whose integ-
rity is necessary to life, or from infiam-
nation from tie passage of a projectIie or
weapon At the same time, however, min
istrations to the afflicted should not cease
until the victim is inevitably dead for in
many instances injuries which at first sight
seem to be necessarily fatal have been re-
covered from.
REMARKABLE HECovERIEs.
Dr. Gardner cited ASIAN example his per-
| sonal observation of the body of the late
Gen. Farnsworth, on which he counted
| thirty-two scars received in battle from
shell, shot, swords. and bayonets, many of
them seemingly fatal though he recovered
and lived to die quietly in his bed as a chris
| ian. He also personally knew Gen.
| Schuyler Hamilton, who, when aide to Gen.
| Scott during the Mexican war, was, while
| carrying an order. pierced through the
body by Mexican lance, the weapon en-
tering the back just below the right kidney
and emerging from the front Of the abdo-
men. He recovered and served in the late
war.
Perhaps the most wonderful instance Of re-
| covery was that of a man working on a
| railroad in Massachusetts,. While ramming
blast in rock the powder was ignited and
| premature explosion ensued blowing the
steel rammer about two feet long and one
inch thick. through his head, entering be-
low the left eye and coming out at the top of
his head. He recovered, went to California
and was in business there many years.
| When he died he willed his skull to DIR.
| Henry Bigelow, the attending physician,
and it is now in the medical museum at
| Harvard.
Il Tur Pr;fich afaauar Earl of ITIsfar ou hAr