The morning call., 1892-09-18

| breaths and then begins to struggle against
| it, but only for a minute. as he soon passes
| into uncOnsciousness, a series of conyul-
| siye starts as the sympathetic gangla sue
| cumb, one after another, marking the deep
| ening effect of the anesthetc. When
| these cease the patient Is wholly obliyious
| to pain.
Meantime the orderly has been uncover
| ing the wounded leg and bandaging it
| lightly. for this is to be boodless opera
| tion. The surgeon takes up one of the sharp
| knives and begins to cut as near to the torn
| and wounded flesh as he dareS, for to sacri-
| fee one unnecessary haif-inch of tissue is
an objectionable crime in the eyes of good
operator. He has not cut directly across,
but slants his knife upward to the point
where the bone Is to be sawn. thus prOVid-
ing for flap of tissue to be brought over
the bone to make neat. well-pr0tected
stump. An instant suffices for the cutting;
few seconds and the bone is severed.
! takes, in fact, less than minute to per-
form the actual amputation, and almost be-
fore one realizes what has been done the
severed arteries have been tied the shat
tered fragment OF what was once leg IS
carried out, and the surgeon Is calmly lee
turing upon blood poisoning as he brings
the flaps together, sewS the wound, dasts it
with lodoform, wraps 1t in cotton. and does
all up in antiseptic gauze. A few minutes
more and the patient is carried out TO re-
cover from the effects of ether aud to ex-
his leg is healed. The instruments and
sponges are all thoroughly cleansed and the
table spread anew, with clean blanket,
sheet and pillow
The next patient comes in limping. The
students have seen him before, a fortnight
or so since, when he was brought in with
broken kneecap, which was repaired" by
being wired together. Healing has been
good, but the knee Is stiff. He is to be
rendered unconscious and then the knee Is
ta he Dan nDd nhar rad M 10
too brief for ether to be needed, and carbon
monoxide laughing gas) Is to be used.
The lame man climbs upon the table and
lies down. The rubber tube is given him,
the gas turned on, and
Stand from under quick or you will get
hurt. Laughing gas sometimes develops pa
tlents into puglists, and it has done so this
time. The surgeon is knocked out in sin
gle round. The nurse with the basin throws
up tie sponges and flies. tie gas-giving as
sistant is lying ON the floor in a corner con-
templating the ceiling and the pugnacious
patient, wholly unconscious, is monarch of
all he surveys. Only for moment, how
ever. The scattered forces rally and he is
speedily subdued, his knee bent, and he
retires hopping on one foot and leaning on
the shoulder of the assistant he just knocked
down.
The next patient embodies a triumph of
surgery, OF which the operator is Justly
proud. A few weeks before the students
table, while the surgeon opened his throat,
and. with conSummate skill, removed there
from the larynx, that organ being affected
by humorous growth. rendering the man
dumb and threatening death by suffocation.
Following the suggestions embodied in this
wonderful natural organ, the doctor
has had constructed a little nstru-
meut Of sllyer-an artificial larynx-
which is inserted through an opening
left for the purpose and hidden by his
beard. into the mans windpipe. With the
little instrument removed the patient is
absolutely dumb; but the doctor reinseris
1t, hands him newspaper. and he proceeds
TO read therefrom In slightly metallic and
very monotonous but perfectly audible
voice, for the benefit of the students, who
clap and cheer and shout down TO him their
hearty congratulations. He is as pleased
as they, aud the occasion is one of wholly
justified rejoicing.
When quiet Is restored young girl of
about 10 years is brought in. She is dis
figured by a hideous scar, the result of a
terrible burn on face and throat. The cica-
trix has so contracted the muscles that the
face IS drawn forward and the chin rests
upon the breastbone. The operator hopes
by Judcious dissecting of the tissues 20
release and stretch the drawn cords and
render 1t possible to lift the head. A little
skln-grafting will be necessary and the
bide0us face will be rendered some
what more presentable. She is pitt
iui subject under the ether. Reflex
excitability is great, and even when
thoroughly anesihetized she jumps and
starts at every touch OF the knife until
it seems impossible that she is not suffering.
Long experien has taught us that this
sort of patient never remembers anything
of the operations, and on returning to con.
sei0usness denies having felt any pain, but
the ordeal is still trying one and severe
strain to the nerves OF both operator and
students. 1t occupies nearly an hour, and
a great sigh of relief goes round when the
patient is at last carried out, her head re-
leased from its unnatural position and sup
ported by stiff bandages. The cicatrix may
form again. but the best is hoped for.
Something more cheerful then occurs. A
young man enters with a nose that would
make his fortune ia a circus. What a
Punch he would make, with no need to wear
mask. Strange to say. he is not satisfied.
and has entered the operating-room in the
hope of having some of this superfluous
proboseis removed He is placed upon the
table and anesthetiZed. A few quick cuts of
that unerring knife and the surgeon has re-
moved Of the superfiuous fieshy growth a
A-shaped piece, widening from the bridge
TO the tip of the organ. The cut edges are
then brought together and sewed, and at
once a startling change is wrought in the
youths appearance He Is really quite pre-
sentable. and there will probably not be
much OF scar.
The doctor explains that In week or two
no will make some repairs on the interior