The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1894-04-19
sU6TERFuoEs OF SICK WOMEN.
ldiotic Efforts Often Made to Deceive the
Doctor or Disobey His Orders

ldiotic Efforts Often Made to Deceive the
Doctor or Disobey His Orders.
"Sly? There is nothing slyer on
earth than sick woman"
1t was Washington physician who
So id this, and he added:
Il have to be continually on the
lookout for tricks that my women
patients play me. For example, yes
terday l was taking the temperature
of young lady with a continuous
fever She held the thermometer in
her mouth five minutes, at the con-
cluslon OF which she withdrew the
thermometer and handed it to me.
was positively startled when / found
that the instrument only registered
81 degrees Fahrenheit
IF that had been her actual tenn
perature she would have been dead,
but, on the contrary, she exhibited
every other symptom of rapid con-
yalescence, The fact was that just
before l gave her the thermometer
she had taken sip of water from a
glass and had incidentally secreted
chunk of ice in her mouth. Naturally,
that affected the record of the tube.
! The patient explained that she had
I become so Disguised with waiting
for her temperature to come down to
normal that she had thought little
artitice WOULD be both appropriate and
excusable,
but that is nothing compared to
another mt experience of mine. A
girl of about seventeen was recovering
nicely from an attack of jaundice. In
| fact, she was getting so much better
that her sister insisted on resuming
her ordinary habit of sleeping with
her. l would have preferred not, but
/ there was really no serious objection.
One night, having been detained, got
| around rather late. 1t was after 10 p.
m. l walked upstairs to the sick room
and found the sisters both in bed, the
well one apparently asleep.
''The light burned rather dimly. /
felt the pulse, which had been quite
high in the morning of the same day.
To my surprise, it was full, regular
| and quite normal as to beats. l tried
| it second time with the same results.
| Now, what do you suppose the trick
was in that case. The two girls had
so arranged themselves in bed that the
arm of the well sister was under the
sick one, and projected in such man
ner as to make it appear as if it be-
| longed to the latter. / had been feel
ing the pulse of the wrong young lady.
There was a little girl in George
town about u years of age who was
| on the point of convalescence after
| typhoid fever. She had been on
liquid diet for weeks and her appeals
| for more satisfactory food was pitiful.
She said that the Stops l prescribed
| for her made her sick. Well, one morn
| ing when ! came to the house and was
walking upstairs to the sick room
| happened to meet the patients grand
mother, who stood aside to let me pass,
| and l noticed that she appeared to
conceal something behind her back.
stopped short.
"'Madam, | said, let me see what
you are hiding
| after brief demur she produced it.
| 1t was piece of bread.
| l1-4-AGiC SoAhS W give Illd( VI eau
to Nellie, | said sternly
Eyes she confessed. The poor
child has been crying for it.
81 took the bread from her without
further remark and sought an imme-
| diate interview with her son, Nellie S
father.
"'Mr, y l said, you must send
your mother home to Baltimore at
once. The next express starts at p.
N. She must take it"
| "'But, DOCTOR objected the father,
much astonished this is a severe de-
mand on your part l cannot under
stand the reason for it and am very
reluctant to comply"
"You must take your choice re-
piled, between your mothers presence
and your daughters life. A moment
ago / caught her in the act of trying
to convey slice of bread to the pa
tient. If she had succeeded in doing
so unobserved Nellie would probably
have been dead in forty-eight hours
THE old lady went back to Balti-
more that afternoon. AS for Nellie, |
met her in the street the other day
| and noticed that roses bloomed in her
cheeks. "-Washington Star.