Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-08-05
NOVELTIES IN SURGERY.
Curious Ways in Which Electricity is
Being Utilised.
The Interior Of Patient Illuminated 20
That Il Can BE Intelligently Ex-
plored BY the Operator.

Electricity II finding a wide field Of use
fulness in surgery. By its aid the interior
OF the human body IL actually Illuminated,
70 that the physician can gaze upon the in
ternal mechanism Of the patient and find
out what il the matter. For example. sup
pose that the digestive organs Of child go
wrong. Perhaps the difficulty may be due
to some object swallowed. like a penny. 1t
10 an easy thing to settle the question by
lighting up the stomach from within.
The instrument devised for this purpose
10 a. simple a. It IL ingenious. 1t looks
like an ordinary rubber tube, to the end of
which q bulb OF glass is attached. This,
with the bulb end first. Is passed down the
throat Of the patient, just like an ordinary
stomach tube. There IL no difficulty about
swallowing 1t, as one who has never made
such an experiment might imagine. A loop
OF copper wire extends through the entire
ieneSh OF the tube. Its two ends. project
ING from the other extremity Of the rubber
worm: are attached to the battery.
. IL but the work Of q minute to pass
ne rubber worm down the patients throat.
me electric current Ii turned on and a
wshn II to two Sandss aR
sumiHnstes the inside Of the stomach SO
nsrigntly that 1t can actually be seen
saniSisa the front wall Of the body which
mas found Judgment in the organ it viii
appear by an opaque spot. In this way 1t
person whose illness might otherwise re-
nam nam mystery. False teeth are not in
frTffSs s asss. ,,wail lowed
stances are quickly dissolved BY them.
InHs most foreign bodies that find their
through the intestinal canal are soon eaten
Up. Accordingly. the notion commonly held
re- ieno5ans people that frog or lizard can
i've ana erow In persons stomach is a
txery tonny one; Nor need anybody enter
IAN "a, oreeo lest cherry tree or other
obee MS inside s.,I In
do lodge In the stomach. they must be got
nd Of In one OF several interesting Ways
Another interesting operation ia c.uad
Wanslumination Of the larynx" It is an
Rne1 IN cases where something is supposed
sIsctrc t Ias, matter with that organ. An
lantern. with powerful lens, is pressed
drectiy the nee outside q the throat in front
body has Ts "n x sHs Adam ms apple Every
voice box containing the vocal cords.
though IN women 1t Is usually smaller and
S9sins NOT ,h MAKE an ugly projection Close
lens OF the lantern is pressed. so that ali
Of the concentrated light is shed through
So thin is this wall that the rays pierce
It and illuminate the voice box within
ths sne physician. by looking down
p~nes throat, TO examine it's in
with the vocal cords. Just as this imp ons
tant organ OF speech is examined by cleo
thS 20 likewise the surgeon lights up
tne inside OF the ear and investigates the
condition OF the apparatus of hearing. For
tne same purpose with the eye the opera
tor I y satisfied to use ga: light. throwing
tne organ of vision by means of a disk
SNAPPED mirror. through a small hole in
S sns center OF which he sees the retina
| inside OF the cheek bone on each side is
. a sm ma cavity known to medical science
az the antrum Of Hymore." Sometimes,
owing to Inflammation caused by an alb,
scess OF tooth or by a blow, this cavity
becomes filled with pus. To find out il
such thing has happened the physician
electric lamp, which has an attachment
OF 9utta percha. % constructed as to push
down the tongue. The light. which has a
duced by a current Of three volts, illumi-
mates the whole face. just as a hollow
pumpkin pump is lighted up by a candle If
side 1t will show black
In the bone Of the skull on either side.
} }Ss nen,nd the eyebrow is cavity called
| are examined in like manner by means of
! an electric light inserted between the bali
| OF the eye and the upper rim of the bony
| through and transluminate the bones aionS
the brow. Another sort of electric lamp
IL employed Tor looking through a finger
found out exactly where the needle is To-.
| Gated II IL easy for the surgeon to cut IL
out. otherwise II might be quite the re-
back or palm of a persons hand the whole
structure Of that wonderful piece OF
MECHANISM can be clearly seen.
| Within a very short time the opera tion
Tor cutting out and removing the so-called
vermiform appendix has become yery
| common one In surgery. This little at
IN fhA
9uently makes trouble. Something gets
| Into 1t and lodges, the result being an in
nammation which is apt to be fatal The
open the wall Of the aSdomen as snd Is to cut
the appendix. which is Of no use whatever
20 sne human economy. incidentally. the
see that they do not require mendinr. He
| must have plenty of light, and 30 he has
fastened fast to his forehead an electric lamp
| through lens into the abdominal cavity
| Of the subject.
| Electric motors are utilized in surgery for
away a diseased growth Of the dividing wall ali
| OF the nose. saw driven by electricity is
SSmiisriy employed for operations on the
markable novelty in this line is the tele-
phonic bullet probe. To one end of a wire
Is attached a nickel-plated bulb OF metal,
| ~ tne other end Is q steel probe The bulb
| 70 put into the patients mouth Accord
| ingly, when the probe enters the wound,
| SHe circuit - completed through the body of
| the patient. To the wire il attached a hear
| ing cup with q diaphragm and a horseshoe
| magnet inside Of 1t. This the surgeon puts
| 20 his ear while he probes for the bullet
When the latter Is touched, the contact is
| announced by distinct sound
Within the last ten years there has been
| q complete revolution in the manufacture
| OF surgical instruments. Antiseptic meth
| ods now govern all operations. Not only
| are wounds kept free from bacterial germs
by spraying them with preparations Of car
oolic acid and other substances destructive
| to such life. but all the tools employed by
the surgeon are sterilized by heat Even
the dressings are cook ed in an oven before
| they are applied. BY such means many
operations are now performed with almost
| invartabie success which, until recently
| were nearly always fatal. For instance,
| operations such as laparotomy-lately per
| formed on James Gordon Bennett-reouirfnR
| the cutting open Of the abdomen now sue
| coed in ninety-fve cases out Of every 100,
| while formerly only five persons in 100 re-
covered. This result Is wholly due to the
| discoveries Of psychologists.
few years ago surgical instruments
| were commonly made with handles OF
| ivory. ebony and rubber. These materials
will not stand the heat of sterilixing ovens
| and 20 such tools are now made Of metal
| wholly. and always in one piece II practical
| BILE. 1t IL not desirable that they should
| have Joints, because corruptible and germ
breeding matter might get into the cracks.
| Knives for amputating have aluminium han
| dies but the handles are cast on. Obstetri-
/ cal fOrCeD0 made in the me- Uav with