The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-07-23
HE HAS A PIGS LUNG.
Substituted by Doctors for His Worn
Out One.

Drink Whisky and Garry the Contri-
button Plate, but Alas, He Cannot
Sing the Old Songs.
From the New York Advertiser.
whats the matter with him7" asked
| Russell with a half stiled laugh as Mr.
| Frederick F. Hodges walked out Of the
Hoffman Cafe the other evening Mr.
Hodges is a cement dealer who lives in
Harlem and comes to town rarely of
evenings He used to go around with the
boys until a year ago, and then he was
reported sick and was not seen again in
his old haunts until recently. Whatever
had been the matter with him it had
! materially changed his voice, ruined it in
fact Russell hadn't met him before since
his recovery, and hence his question.
Mr. Sinclair and Mr. Hobson, who were
slipping their gin fixes, smiled at each
other, and the latter, who is a chronic
gossiper, said; Let's have another and
I'll tell you. It is a pretty long story,
though; let's sit down.
"The clinic of one of the hospitals" he
began, "have been making d deep study
| of long disease That's what's the mat
ter with Hodges He has had a new lung
grated in him, in place of an old and
worn-out article"
"Ob, come Off" said Sinclair.
Fact. These doctors procured three
healthy young pigs and kept them care
| fully on clean food, with a clean bed and
all surroundings good enough for human
| being This was done in order that the
lungs or whatever part was to be used for
graftiing should be perfectly sound and
| healthy. You never saw such pigs in
| your life They were as nice and dainty
as any dude and knew about as much as
some of them.
when the pigs were about year old
| Fred was sent to the hospital for treat
ment. Careful examination showed that
one lung was entirely gone, but the other
was not so badly affected. If they could
graft a lung of a pig into him he could
breathe with his other one while the op-
Grafton was being performed and the con
nections were healing together. He
knew it was a case of life or death with
him, and the disease would take him
away very soon, so he decided to let them
try it.
"They had two operating tables and
placed him on one and pig on the other
Then they chlOrOformed them both, and
one worked on the patient while the
other cut into the pig. They handled one
about as carefully as the other, as they
wanted to save the pig alive and see how
he would get along in the world with
only one lung.
1T was good deal more difficult oper-
alton to get at his lungs than it was to
get at the other ones stomach They had
to cut through the ribs and make large
double opening Then they had to cut
the ribs in two places so as to turn the
flap back out of the way while thew
bod, l,N1
the lid of a trunk.
When they got Fred opened up and
made an examination, they found that the
bronchial tube was so badly diseased
that il was no use trying to save him by
putting in a lung. 1t was a pretty serious
case, with a man cut wide open and no
way to fix him up. If they failed and the
man died under the operation the whole
medical fraternity would turn against
them, and they might be indicted for
manslaughter. 1t looked so much like q
crazy scheme that no sensible doctor would
try, and they felt pretty dubious about it,
But it wouldn't do to let the man die
on the table with his chest all open So
they resolved to make a desperate effort
to save him. They split his throat open
and cut off the bronchial tube In less
than twenty seconds the lung of the pig
was taken out, with the bronchial tube
attached and the whole concern was put
into the man and the connections were
soon made. The openings in his chest
and throat We're then closed up and the
edges sewed together and the patient was
placed in bed. As he came out from
under the influence of chlOrOfOrm they
administered opiates to keep him quiet,
and he seemed to breathe without much
effort He had a hard struggle for lite,
but the incisions gradually healed and
the new lung got down to business, so
that in few weeks it worked all right.
In two months Fred was able to sit up
in bed, ana in another month he could
walk across the room. But he never in
that time spoke word. His breathing
apparatus was very tender and sore, and
he didn't feel much like using it any more
than he had to- But in about six months
the whole business was healed sound and
well, and he began to make an effort to
speak. 1t wasn't a success.
He could only squcal Every effort to
utter word resulted only in the Ian
guagc hog uses when it tries to express
It's desire tor grub. The windpipe wasn't
built for talking human language, and it
wouldn't do it, But the fellow was full
of pluck, although part of it was d hogs
pluck, and he determined to talk or die
lie knew he had a human CLOTHS and
larynX and all the other apparatus, and
he kept trying until ne got so he could
speak few syllableS, but il was hard
work and slow business.
Fred lives out at Harlem, and after he
had become able to walk about and take
care of himself the doctors let him go
home. The whole operation was kept a
secret from his friends, and although
they knew that he had been treated and
was good deal better, no one outside of
two or three of the most intimate friends
of the doctors knew that he was wearing
"a pigs lung. He had been considerable
of a singer before he was taken sick, as
you know. and in fact had led the singing
in church. He was also as great on some
of the stirring revival songs as he was on
the jolly songs he used to sing for us
That's what got him into trouble and
gave the whole thing away.
He went out for a walk one Sunday
and entered church where service was
just beginning. The usher seated him
about the middle of the church, and he
hadn't more than sat down when the
choir began singing, Come Thou Fouut of
Every Blessing 1t was the first time he
had been in church for more than a year,
and the song reused him so much that he
couldn't resist the desire TO Join In the
chorus.
"And he did join in with a vengeance.
If you ever heard healthy porker fast
in a rail fence you can form some idea of
the kind of a noise he made. The minis
ter turned pale, the soprano tainted, and
the rest of the choir stopped still and he
performed a solo. the like of which was