Walker Lake bulletin. (Hawthorne, Nev.) 1883-1926, 1896-09-02
THE WONDERS OF SURGERY
Marvellous Accom- p1ishments of o..
Modern Scientists,

ism the term stomach" comprehend
nearly all the human frame except tbo
feet and the head. Why that nsafr,
but rather vulgar organ should have
been selected by Anglo-Saxon modest
for this service is not quite plain Rn.
it has been selected, and conseuuentIr
when we read that Professor Sem has
fastened a patients manned hand Gin
side the cuticle of his (the patienfs
stomach" we may guess that he has
simply performed a curious and indeed
wonderful operation in skin GRATING
using abdominal skin for the purpose
Cases of this sort, picturesque and
easy to understand, get into the news.
papers from the clinic now and then
and indicate to the public the extraor.
binary advances which surgery is max.
ing under the guidance of scores of
daring and skillful operators. PerhanS
the advances are too rapid. DR.. Sem
himself in an address before the Amer
lean Medical Association, of which he
is the new president, warned his hear
ers against the tendency of general
practitioners to resort to the knife on
the slightest invitation.
Practically no part of the human
body Is exempt from the incursions of
the modern surgeon. The use of anti
septic substances and of anaesthetIcs
have made it possible for the operator
to venture into fields which abashed
the most skillful of his predecessors.
The removal Of one kidney is a com.
mon practice. Nerves are frequently
sewed together. A broken spine Is
patched up by means Of silver wire,
whereas formerly such cases were
hopeless. Tumors of the brain are re-
moved with good results. Moreover
by the accurate location In the brain Of
centers which preside over various
functions the operator is able to re.
move tumors which manifest their
presence by serious disturbance to
sight, speech, hearing and locomotiOn.
DR.. Fenger, the eminent surgeon Of
Chicago, was first to remove part Of
diseased lung. Recently Tufier of
Paris cut away the top part of con-
sumptive lung and the patient recoy-
cred and is now free from disease as
far as auscultation shows. SarcomaS,
which are allied to cancer, and are al
most, If not quite, as malignant, have
lately been cured by injection Of pa
tents with the toxin of erysipelas. The
entire treatment Of cancer has under
gone radical change. The disease Is
operated on at an earlier stage, and in
stead of combining his cutting to the
cancerous tissue the modern surgeon
remorselessly attacks the apparently
healthy tissue in the vicinity. OF late
years cancer of the larynx has been
successfully assailed. Doubtless the
late Emperor of Germany might have
been cured If the diagnosis of Virchow
had been accepted. After the removal
of the cancerous larynx a silver tube Is
placed in the throat, and not long ago
NJ. Guggenhein, an ingenious surgeon
of Paris, was reported to have devised
tube which permitted the patient to
talk.
In 1 per cent Of cases of typ@
fever the intestines are perforatedg
ulcers, and 6 per cent. of the death
from typhoid are occasioned by thea
ulcers. Not long ago the perilous Oper'
alton of cutting down and sewing the
ulcers was attempted. DR.. Van
Hook, of Chicago, has reported three
cases of this nature. 1t cannot be said
that the operation Is a great success,
but it gives promise Of Advantages
development.
Not satisfied with invading the less
awful regions In the neighborhood, the
surgeon Is to-day standing with knife
and needle and thread at the threshold
so to speak, of the sacrosanct retreat
life, the human heart. The perlcardlun
has been tapped for dropsical eifusloh
Recently stab wound of the perlcar'
dunn was sewed up. The picture ofne
surgeon plying his deft needle with the
heart of the patient beating against his
hand, when the least unsteadiness
would mean death, is sufficiently thrit
ling to place surgery beyond the pre-
cincts of the stupid sciences. PROBES
sor Roswell Park, of Buffalo, recently
suggested that In cases OF DulleI
wounds which with our modern cohlcal
bullets are inevitably fatal, the sur
geon, If called soon enough, could cut
down on the heart and sew up tne
wound, meanwhile maintaing artiticla
respiration. The operation still re-
mains conjectural, but no doubt 1t VIII
soon or late be attempted by some
courageous spirit.
One might write for days and OmM
many strange and difficult feats OF wv
surgeon. Operations on the intestlne'
are familiar The Murphy button makes
them comparatively safe. The WelS
telephone probe permits the surgeon
poke into the brain and locate fOrelsH
substance there imbedded. In diseases
of the stomach the patient swallows
small electric light, and by means =.
the illumination the surgeon discoVes
what the trouble Is.
In short, this part of the ceh'n'
", n ar fha raiUn of thn man with wv