The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1893-08-30
III Is A USELESS GIFT.
xk4E VERMlFORM APPENDIX CAUSES
SERIOUS TROUBLE.

Sszs5 Only way to Safety-A Possibility
TanaS she Coming Man Will Be Without
T&suf dangerous Organ.
TT1Ri the coming man have vermi-
ESSsxzm appendix Who has not heard of
essssE troublesome little pouch in the abb
,GESazznal regions which serves no good
}EmCYsase, but is responsible for thousands
6 pE deaths each Year,
EnaxnOns Blaine, Senator Hagan and
Gzun6areds of other persons of prominence
SaG trouble with the vermiform appen-
daEE-and they died.
MkSw science is asking in all serious
1nGRs whether the vermiform appendix
zhaI A1e allowed to exist; whether it shall
zax be removed entirely before it has the
GggFsEbunity to poison and destroy.
pssfessor B. G. Wilder has said fatty
Shat children should be relieved of the
wSxMz5Eorm appendix, just as they are
Vacx5nated But other students in this
mzw sield are not yet ready to pronounce
sn Favor of so radical a scheme.
Physicians have known for centuries
2 &szax the vermiform appendix existed, but
liz vwas not until 1888-not until five years
ag1-1hat any one of the profession had
e1aas 62aring to make an incision into the
mEaE0nninal cavity and remove this rank
gzFfFnder against the laws of health.
Tins attack on the vermiform appendix
fx IzzG FIVE years old, but it is being pros
assused with remarkable vigor in New
TGEr& city, where it originated, and the
rzgaazn is not far to seek. 1t is simply be-
gzz.Rs physicians feel sure that they have
ava1ence that appendicitis, as disease of
zEas waarmiform appendix isnamed, causes
gra1ess deaths every year than consump-
GSsHEs the long acknowledged chief among
Entail diseases.
eEms appendix vermiformis in normal
z4mz3141on is about the size of lead pen
G1 suad about 6 inches long. 1t is very
Eszzl shown in specimen which was re-
usuEa9d at clinical lecture at the Post
grzN51ate Medical school on Jan. 13.
TkEAs appendix had liberated and in
EEgs2sed in size somewhat, but gavea very
Ezzzx Idea of the part. When perfectly
1Gwzxsal, it so compares with an ordinary
besSaA pencil that it is most frequently de-
NlserEhssd as like it. 1t is pencil that
'szsExI4e4B only death warrants.
Even today very few physicians out
: side of New York city have any accurate
krsEEaedge of appendicitis or would I'M
gzsx2ane an operation for the removal of
e9aes; s1gendix. So entirely is the discov-
Ery ak the disease and the proper method
ST Grating it an American development
a. knowledge and practice that among
xaziE1Easts Of other countries today APP
xmz5tfacitis is known as 1.-THE American
7xzs@se'
S1aue the recent discoveries removals
sf e5me cause of all the trouble have been
FREELY frequent. One general practitioner
za6 had As such cases within year.
Speaking in the light of recent re-
.5ssaHz.n, it seems safe to say that appen-
saS1EiiEass4ss far more prevalent than con-
EsHz1pEion, and in just that proportion
GzzE4gg more deaths, the chief difference
s&zsEg that the cause or seat of appended
,gss Raay be removed bodily with success
Ca U244s5 cases, and success means restor-
af7kKz 30 perfect health.
The removal of the vermiform appen-
dIE G2 the early stages of an attack of
zEg9ez8dicitis is now held to be one of the
ssaSsasf of surgical operations, while such
8 HE operation, when the case has come to
Egzsa1x its last and fatal stage. is one of the
xEIEnst desperate. The sad case of Senator
ELzSgzS is one in point. He had long de-
sirsa1 an operation, but it had been de-
ZsEsxs3 until too late for an assured sue
: eesE1
And now, after all these facts are re-
eSzsl, recurs the question of whether the
ss1a8lng man will have vermiform APP
Tszn1aix 1t is not meant by this to in
gyz1Te whether the coming man will have
6lIa HEg1endix slain lest it slay him. A
n9lch wider question is indicated The
sEGwzber of appendices removed in this
asIty since the discovery that such an OPP
ETatzG9N could be safely performed is very
great, all things considered. One gen
axs41 practitioner, not asurgical special
EST, bold the representative of The World
that he had removed 100 appendices III
1wa9 years. Possibly 1000 appendices
Izzge been removed since the first opera
Gzxn Of this sort in 1888, and most Of
these IN the past three years.
What follOws3 If such a rate is to be
maintained. there will soon be very
Large proportion of the people of New
York city who have eliminated their
EseEGrform appendices, and we are glad
If II.
WiH the children Of these people be
Likewise possessed of vermiform appen-
tiiSea2 Undoubtedly. But should the
eliminating process be continued for a
Eew generations, how long would it be
lss6Hre this useless and dangerous, de-
. generate and documentary portion of the
- y. l...ra Of