The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-11-15
HIRED FOR SURGERY.
ouEER OCCUPATION OF A WOMAN
IN VIENNA.

often Shocked by the Meth ODDS OF
reaching Medicine in Vienna.
Vienna Gable in New York Press.
doctors who have studied lately in
vienna Will be interested to hear Of the
death of Frau L., woman curiously
..5ciated with medical study in Vienna,
.s,scially among the Americans. The
e..- thing an American medical student
,,,oe advised to do in Vienna after engag-
,,.., his rooms was to engage instruction
sron, Frau L. on how to examine threats
and Row to use the iaryngoscope. Her
IMITATION had spread among different
.onerations of medical students, and it
mas understood that she could teach far
mare than even the professors.
She was an old woman, who had been
IN the "Allgemeire Krankenhaus," or
-aneral hospital in Vienna as nurse, pa
cont or independent instructor for many
Years. Her body was SCARED and band
.oed from the recent operations she had
ouoyed students to perform upon her.
when seen first by your correspondent
che had only one eye for use, the other
bo,,inr been recently operated on by
ri,b American student, who had paid her
for the privilege of being allowed to re-
move a cataract.
Her first lesson in throat work" was
generally easy for it was meant to en-
courage the student and make him think
that "larynogology" was simple and he a
sFilful Young man. She would coach the
an nf the OSfrF1-
mants and submit without hinching to the
unsteady touch of instruments on the back
of her throat and larynX. A genuine pa
tient would have suffered exceedingly.
She submitted for two reasons; First, be-
cause she was paid two gulden $50 cents)
an hour. Second, because she had no feel
ing in her throat and larynx. Besides this,
the very traditions and reports which
made it necessary for the student to en-
U]oy Frau L. suggested that to get the
best results from her and to win her good
will a plentiful supply of cognac was
essential.
The most violent effort would only bring
out a gentle reproof, "aber, herr doctor,
RE kitseln SOL" Ooh, doctor, you tickle me
SOD She would start the young doctor
with soft brushes and teach him to make
applications to the vocal cords and throat.
BY the second lesson she would swal-
low a bead, always guarded by a thread
which she held, and would allow the pupil
10 fish for it with instruments, just as if
real patient had swallowed a bead or
foreign body. To an ordinary throat such
an object down the ''windpipe" would ex-
cite paroxysnls of coughing; but the wo-
man would keep quiet until her pupil
learned to extract the bead. She would
make 1t more difficult for him by cough
ing or holding the bead between the vocal
cords so that he could not get at it.
-
able TO mold on TO her best pupils many
weeks always keeping them Just short of
success by making it more and more diff
cult TO do what they had done in the
earlier lessons with comparative ease.
one gained her experience with the treat
meht OF throat troubles as a nurse or as
slstant TO one Of the professors and learn
ca me ART OF sitting still and having her
uTodl manipulated and painted and toucb
ed up by medical students without finch
ing. among her other achievements it
was SAID that she had allowed a rich
american TO remove a tumor from her. for
Whch he paid her about IS. and had al
ioWed several toes to be amputated. She
ndd had herself inoculated with a skin
u.se S.9e III oruer TO allow her patrons to
Wdcuce on her at good round price nv
me approved methods of the day.
vienna Is famous among Americans for
lae opportunities it offers for independent
SoiA' As Americans are supposed to go
mere plentlfully supplied with money and
70 s-eAa IL ADerally, all the resources of
tle hospitals and clinics are open to them
a. an average rate of 40 or 80 cents an
nouI Iof special instruction from men of
national reputation.
For example, when a student wishes TO
W. up SKIN diseases as a speciality. he is
aAoWed to do anything he likes in the
I "ai 10 IN TINS country physicians know
-i'He ABOUT the pathology or microscopi-
o' OonultIohs or skin eruptions, because
%s rule the patients suffering from slxin
diseases 40 not die, and there is no chance
~ gAanlne sections under the microscoDe
- 80 emma one calls a Skin" patient from
40 Wdrd' then takes a knife and cuts ont
piece OF skin where an interesting er1,r-
ooI IS found. The patients submit being
, u.Iuer the control of the hospital. and be-
mat everything that is done is
part OF the treatment
Much Of the medical research and discov.
80 mat nave come from Vienna and
1 rUielsh medical centers is due to this fact
l'e great hospitals are more like prisons
'r ma II IS easier to get i'm than get out,
~ lhe patients are absolutely at the
mercy OF the doctors. Whenever particu-
TO- 10y interesting cases are found, especial
e.sn a. ne nhe of nervous and skin dis
asses, they are made boarders at this
"Jspilal Tor the rest of their lives.
IL Is startling TO see the men patients
ued.eo IN the presence of, and often at
'!e hands of old women nurses. but SEN
SitVe feelings" do not last long in Vienna.
ei'uer among students, professors or pa
ueuts' In some of the clinics things are
zen which arouse the Indignation of
,al ui though regarded as amusing
Dluehts by the Austrian students.
As each new patient is shown in Prof.
aeuilahn's clinic, some joke Is gotten off
AZ the expense of the unfortunate woman.
rOlne question about her love affairs, her
'g 1,le or her personal appearance.
- ne grounds of the hospital are beauti-
.uI ana inhabited equally by patients and
.neqlcal students. The well known pa
s tents are often interviewed by groups of
Students outside. and frequently pick up
al Dad gulden or a few kreutzers by lee
IuIlhg on their own cases in technical
,.@1nsuage they have learned from hearing
we professor talk about them
q famous patient in the nervous de-
partment has been known to American
avuuenls in Vienna for years as Hand
synne Harry" His disease was Syringe
tnyelia!' rare nervous disease, caused
~ a mole or flssure running down the
INFERIOR of the SDinal cord