The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1889-07-03
AT THE CLINIC.
AN HOUR WITH THE MEDICAL STU.
DENTS AT ANN ARBOR.
Operating Upon Laughing Little Cripple
"A Lady misunderstanding on Both
Sides-The Terrible "NIoxa"-
Dramatic Situations.
luke Sharp in Detroit Free Press.1

luke Sharp in Detroit Free Press.I
The students aTe ranged in semi-circula1
tiers, each position commanding full view
of the patient and the operating surgeon ]
looked up with considerable int. est at the
amphitheatre of faces that were ranged
from the floor on which I stood, almost to
the ceiling.
The first operation was one that certain
young lady will be very thankful for eight
cen or twenty years from now. This young
lady of the future is at present a very sweet
and pretty baby 6 months old. One of the
senior medical students-a lady-sat before
the class with the baby laughing
on her lap. 1t made a very
touching domestic figure. The lady
student might have been Howells' "Dr
Breen," or the CDR. Fay" of Eliza beth Stu.
art Phelps. She was tall and well proper.
toned; wore dark olive-green dress that
fitted as it should and became her exceed
1ngly. Her fine face was more than hand
some. There was an expression in it of skill,
knowledge, frmness and courage. I take
her as typical of the very best example of
our American lady medical students. II
seems to me that no other country can pro-
duce a combination at once so womanly and
30 professional She assisted at nearly all of
the operations, and confess to unbouded ad-
gency and her skillful dexterity. The baby
looked up at her end smiled. The girl patel
the little thing on the cheek and the baby
erowed and laughed DR.. Maclean held the
rosy foot of the child in his hand and briefly
explained to the students the cause and rem
edy Of the trouble that was apparent to all
The two little feet were turned in toward
each other till the toes touched. They were
at right angles to the natural position, and
the trouble-if unremedisd-would cause the
child to become hopeless cripple.
At signal from the doctor young man
poured from a bottle the anasthetic ON a
towel. This was spread over the laughing
face of the baby. There was a frightened
cry, stified sob or two, then stiffness. With
careful quickness the lancet entered the
baby's ankle-once-twice-t Not a
drop of blood was spilled. The little feet
were bandaged into their correct position,
with a speed and dizziness that were truly
wonderful. During this there was not a
sound In the room. The first to break the
silence was the baby, whose tremulous cry
or returning consciousness just as the last
bandage Yves stitched showed that she
thought she had been taken a mean ad-
vantage of, just as she wanted to crow
and laugh at the lady who held her. There
was nothing revolving about the operation
DR.. Maclean had done what Shakespeare
thought impossible, and had spilled no drop
of blood. When that baby takes its first
steps those chubby feet will be ready to do
their part.
girl of ~ was next trundled in uncon-
sc1ous. She lay on the wheeled table to have
tumor taken from the side of her face-a
terrible legacy of that dread disease-scarlet
fever. The great difficulty in this case was
oil
facial nerve, in which case one side of the
girls face would remain as paralyzed, The
operation was performed. The awaking was
to be the 6est The students looked on in
breathless suspense. The doctor touched the
lips of the reviving girl with the point of a
needle. Finally the girl gave pitiful wall
that carried with it the suspended dread
with which she had doubtless regarded the
trial she was to pass through when the
mercifnl anaesthetic overcame her.
Instantly murmur of appreciation was
heard The students were quick to catch
The results Of the doctors skill
"She cries on both sides of her face now"
said the doctor. "But she will laugh on
both sides of Ter face afterwards"
Il cut my ankle with an ak eight years
ago." said the next, as he laid down his
clutches, Gard there she is" With that he
stuck out his bare foot and leg, pallid.
withered and apparently useless. When the
man limped back TO the room from which
he came DR.. Macl9an announced that he
was going TO treat the ankle with the cauter
This Instrument is Che white-hot iron that
became somewhat celebrated from the fact
that Clara Morris, the actress, was benefited
by its use in Paris some years ago. The
item went the rounds under the heading,
"The Terrible Moxa," and benefited Clara
also as first-rate free advertisement.
When the man next came in he lay I'm.
conscious on the table. The cauter is a
strange instrument, whose working I must
admit do not understand. One man held a
bottle, another a seemingly compressable
green bulb. These, and the cauter which
the doctor held in his hand, were connected
by rubber tubes. The bottle contained naph-
tina, and by some means an intense flame
seemed to be directed along the pencil-l like
cauter, that speedily produced white heat
at the point of the instrument As the doc
tor held it there was Kissing sound, and
then with z-z-z-z-z-Z the point became dull
red, next bright red, and finally a glowing
white. With this, as with pen of fire, the
doctor wrote on the white ankle Of the I'm
man. Doubtless he wrote "heal-
ing" Every touch of the moxa was fol-
lowed by black mark and smell Of burn
ing flesh. Now and then the surgeon would
hold the dulling iron in the air for moment
till the flame dashed it into white heat
again.
Although the students applauded the
pluck of those who stood the operations with
out the aid of the anasthetic, yet on az
other occasions the utmost silence was main.
tanned. There was nothing theatrical abouA
the clinic, yet some of the situations were
certainly as dramatic as could be imagined |