The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1892-12-04

dog clamps may be seen hanging out of
the wound. looking like bundle Of
ieeches. Before the discovery of an9s-
thetics, one great object of the surgeon
was to shorten the pain of his patien. by
finishing the operation as soon IS possi-
bic, and hence he did not stop to check
bleeding, but used his instruments rap
idly and continuously, removing an arm
from the shoulder Joint in forty seconds
for example. Now the patient lies before
him like waxen image, unconscious. mo-
tionless, passive; he can take time TO per-
form each step of the operation deiiber-
ateiy, carefully and completely, and the
only immediate anxiety he feels is with re-
gard to the effects Of the ana -thetic itself.
which effects he cannot accurately fore
tell
Strengthened and encouraged by the
possibility of securing all these favorable
conditions, and awaiting himself of new
methods OF diagnosis. to be presently re-
ferred to. the modern surgeon has become
in some directions holder, and in others
more conservative in his work. Ii has
been discovered that the average
man has in most of his organs
more or less extra mechanism which
comes into play in emergencies, but
which is not essential to life. He has two
kidneys, as rule. but only one is aDso-
be removed if it is desirable to do so. But
some few individuals have only one kidney,
either because they were born so or be-
cause they have lost one by disease, and
the surgeon must be on his guard against
this possibility. A man has several feet
more intestines than Is required TO digest
his food, and. therefore, two or three feet
may be cut out if that is the only way to
get rid OF an obstruction, or of badly
wounded part Or. if it is not deemed
prudent to remove it. passage may be
made around the obstruction by joining an
upper and lower loop and opening pas
sage between them upon somewhat the
same principle as that upon which
the ''cut offs" or ''chutes" of the
Mississippi river are formed. A
woman can live without uterus or ovaries,
and the removal of these organs when
affected with cancer or tumors is now one
of the commonest of surgical operations.
In fact. many physicians think IL IS en-
tireiy too common as regards the ovaries
and the uterine appendages, owing to the
ease, simplicity and comparative safety
with which IL can be performed. Most peo-
pie seem TO have more brain substance than
they make use of. and the loss of some
portions does not appear TO cause much
inconvenience.
There are, however, some organs the
use of which twenty years ago were
unknown, and which were supposed to
be OF small Importance. but which low
the surgery is becoming more cautious
in interfering with. One of these is the
thyroid gland. a vascular body situated
in The neck in front of the top OF the wind
pipe and on the lower part of the sides of
the larynx. 1t forms tumors of various
kinds. as goitre. struma, etc, and it has
often been removed. 1t has been found,
however, that when this body is totally
removed. there Is great liability of the oc-
currence OF a rare and curious disease
known as myx9dema, in which the skin
becomes swollen, the senses dull, the
speech slow and monotonous, and the per-
son looks like Cretin of the Alps. Hence,
not oniy-dO surgeons now refrain from
totally removing the thyroid glands in
cases of tumor, but in cases of what may
be called spontaneous mvx9dema, they
are beginning to treat them by grating IN
a piece of fresh THYROID gland taken from
an animal. or by injecting into the skin
some of the juice OF the thyroid gland of
sheep.
Some of the wonders of modern surgery
are affected by this process of grating just
referred to. which is very much like that
employed in grating a fruit tree. If
freshly severed part of the bodv, sucn as
the end of the finger or the end Of the
nose, be at once renlaced in such way
that the fresh cut surfaces are pressed to-
gether, AMI no troublesome bacteria get in,
it will usually unite; the blood vessels Will
establish connection and after few
months the nerves, so that the several
parts will live and grow. This might be
done with ilnger or nose cut from an
other man. if the other man could be
found willing TO spare such organs but,
as rule. the surgeon has to obtain his
material for replacing lost parts from the
body of the patient-roobing Peter to pay
Paul, as il were. In this way a new nose
may be made from the skin of the fore
head, NV lower lip out OF the chin, etc,
or one nerve NAV be grated into connec-
ton with another.
In the treatment of loss OF a large
piece of skin, or in the case of a large
ulcer, or the result of an extensive
burn, or the tearing off of the scalp by
machinery. the graft is not a piece Of
skin, but merely the thinnest Dos
the difference being analogous to that If
sowing seed instead or sodding to produce
q piece of lawn or grassed border.
When 1t IS impossible to repiace a lost
organ or tissue with living substance.
good substitute can sometimes be made
out of other material. Perhaps the most
striking example of this is the use OF an
artificial larynx to replace the natural
larvnx when J, has ieen found necessary
larynx forms the projection of the front #
the neck commonly known as adams
apple" and II contains the bands called
the vocal cords, by the vibration of which
sound is produced. These vocal cords can
be made more or less tense, ami set q. var
ious distances from each other by the
action OF the iaryngea muscles, and thus
various tones of voice or musical notes can
he produced. The modification of voice by
the lips and tongue produces speech: If
the vocal cords are paraiyZed, a person
may be able 10 whisper, but not to produce
a musical note or audible voice, while if q
man cannot control the muscles of his
tongue and lips. he cannot speak, all
though he may be able to sound
musical note. The operation of removing
the entire larynx from a living man has
been successfully performed IN number
OF cases. and N several of these an arti-
nciai iarynx. with reeds vibrating some
what Ike the reeds of a clarinet, has been
constructed. In one case IL was made. of
hard rubber. and the man could speak in a
loud, Clear anu distinct manner. He could
not relax or Increase the tension of the
vibrating reed, nd hence his voice was
NOUS mechanic, he made several Il fferent
sets of vibrating reeds of different pitch,
and as he could 81 de these IN and on, OF
the Tx at leisure. he could thus suddenly
change his voice from the deepest bass to
the highest 'prano, TO the great astonish-
ment OF his hearers.
TO secure the best possible results in the
operations which are now undertaken for
the remova! OF tuTpors or diseased organs
Tor the treatmeGt of diseased bones and
JOINTS. OF nstu sc and OF detormities of