Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1892-07-08
IN FOREIGN CLINICS.
A VIENNA WOMAN RENTS HER
THROAT TO YOUNG DOCTORS.

Something About the Treatment of Pa
tients in the Clinics of Berlin and
vienna-A New York Patient of Wealth
Who Sought Free Treatment.
sHere is the picture of a woman who in
her way is undoubtedly the most rcmarka-
BILE woman in the world" a physician re-
marked, handing over a photograph of
woman of perhaps fifty, with strong fea-
lures and a large black patch over her
right eye, neatly dressed and holding in
one hand little bag.
''What is her name?"
Frau Gelley."
81 suppose you will insist on the ques-
ton, Why is Frau Gelley remarkable?"
Because she has the most tolerant
throat of any woman known in the world"
he explained. You can pass probes to all
parts of both her throat and larynx with
out causing any spasms of the muscles,
what in ordinary language is called gag
ging. You can place buttons in various
parts of her larynx and remove them
again and she will suffer no discomfort.
Why this should be so nobody knows. The
most eminent throat specialists in the
world have examined her and found no
reason for it. Her vocal cords are as nearly
white as those found in a typically normal
throat.
'S;Sbe is curiosity or freak, but that is
only the least curious thing about her
perhaps, from the lay standpoint, for she
uses her throat as means of livelihood.
She visits the various clinics of Vienna
and rents her throat out for a gulden an
hour to young doctors who wish to gain
skill in manipulation. In that little bag
she carries her own instruments, and will
permit a doctor to use no others. You
take a probe in hand, and she says to you,
Touch the right vocal cord' You try and
fail. She knows it in a minute, and says,
sAh, but Herr Doctor, that Is the epiglot-
tbs that you touched' Then she takes the
probe herself, and, telling you to look, she
touches the vocal cord.
''She, mind you, has to do it by instinct,
for she Of course cannot see down her own
throat, while you have the aid of a mirror
Thus she carries a young doctor through
lessons in touching all the various parts Of
the throat and larynx that, as a special
ist, he must learn to touch. She is
as thoroughly up in the anatomy Of
the parts as any professor, in fact she has
come to look upon herself as one of
the professors. She expects the same
respectful treatment and will put up
with no less. She has been offered high
price to go to Berlin, but her patriotism
will not allow her to leave Vienna. No
body, by the way, has ever found out why
she wears that patch over her right eye"
The conversation drifted on to the differ
ence between the clinics of Berlin and vi
emma and the clinics of New York. "The
great advantage Of the clinics over there
for the student" the physician said, sis
the abundance of what we doctors call
material. OF course specialists there are
ahead of us in some things, just as ours are
ahead in others. But that Of itself is not
of SO much account. It is the great num-
Der Of patients who apply for treatment at
these clinics, and their willingness to sub
nit to anything at the hands of anybody
they are told to, which gives the foreign
student the opportunity he seeks. 1t has
its very pathetic side. Often students who
have had but very little experience, who
are bungling and clumsy, are directed by
the professor in charge of the clinic to per
form operations that must be simple tor
ture to the patients.
''The patients take it, whatever it is, in a
submissive, fatalistic way, and nobody
makes any account of it. 1t is what the
students are there for, gathered in from all
the ends Of the earth, to learn by actually
doing the various operations. The patients
are there to be operated on by the particu
lar student the professor thinks needs the
practice most. Of course | am referring to
minor operations, but some of these are
very painful. The lives Of the common
people, of the unfortunate, are much more
valuable here than there. Their feelings
have to be consulted more or less here,
even in free clinic. For example, have
seen operations performed there just to
show the class how they should be done,
the operator explaining that he expected
no particular benefit in the particular
cases. Such thing, openly at least, would
be almost impossible in New York.
sSpeaking of clinics,'' he continued in
lighter vein, ''you would think that they
would be avoided by all who are not com
PEELED to go to them. But that is not the
case. Here in New York, for example, as
I looked out into the waiting room one
day, I saw on the benches. among the
ragged and filthy, woman wearing a
sealskin and bearing other evidence of
wealth in her appearance. She patiently
waited her turn, When saw her come
into my consulting room / decided what !
would do. 1 said to her, Madam, did you
see that sign in the entrance which says
that these clinics are for the treatment of
the poor only?' She said that she had seen
it. do you consider that you fall within
that clasp She assented. I informed her
that unless her appearance belied her very
much she did not; that the doctors gave
IL e.. I, 6
ford to pay for treatment, and that l would
not treat her. She was very clustering,
and said I had insulted her. But l was
firm, and I showed her the door then
called the office boy, bright little fellow,
and told him to follow her up and find out
where she lived without letting her know
it, He was off like fash
''She turned a corner, and there car
rage with coachman in livery was wait
ing for her He jumped up behind, and as
luck would have it, she drove directly
home-not a great distance. The house
she entered was just off Fifth avenue.
/ When she dismissed the carriage and
entered the house the boy, on pretense OF
in errand, ran up, rang the bell and asked
if Mr. So-and-so lived there. mo- was the
| reply, this is Mr.. Blanks house. Coming
DaCk 10 ll0 Will udIuG tuu HuiuUGT, j
traced her in the directory. found that
her husband was a man of large means,
well known in his business circle in New
York. Yet that woman, to save a fee of
five Or ten dollars, had been willing to take
her place among the poor and filthy to Sc
cure free treatment. And that is only one
of similar number of cases have known
of, only perhaps it is the checklist. New