The morning times., 1896-10-08
X-RAYs BETTER THAN PROBE
They Locate a Bullet in Miss
Summers Hip.
BEEN THERE FOR MONTHS
All Efforts to Find the Ball Had
Been Vain Until Shadowgraph
Disclosed Tits Removal Followed
Yesterday and the Patient Us Re-
covering.

Another successful surgical operation
was performed in this city yesterday .iitGr1
noon through the instrumcntality of the
Rucntgcn rays. The patient was Miss
Maud Summers, Il nincteen-year- girl
with n bullet in her hip, and the operation
was made at Garfield Hospital, after the
shadowgraphs had been taken by Prof
Gray at the Army Medical Museum.
Tie operation stands out distinctly Us one
of the most importan of which report has
been made since the discovery of the
y rays and again emphasizes the prGcti-
cabiiity of their use in surgical science.
The bullet had been imbcddcd in the
thigh of the young woman for almost nine
months. While on a visit among friends
in Falls Church, Va, last April she was
woanded by the accidental discharge of IA
revolver. The ball entered the flcShy part
of the leg and plowed deep into the skin
All efforts TO find 1T at the time resulted
in future.
Miss Summers is quite stout and the out
ward traces OF the bullets path rapidly
healed over. She became able to move
about, but had to make use of crutches
The injured limb grew trifle shorter than
the other, aud the pain was more or less
constant.
This fact led the physicians, who were
familiar with the case, to believe that
the bullet had not lodged in the flesh, but
ttbttihbtt tie Dbht. II WIS TthDlNcu
to try the X-rays, aud a shadowgraph was
made in the latter part OF August.
SHADOWGRAPH SHOWED IT.
A dark spot representing the location of
the bullet was seen in the picture and on
August "a, an operation was performed
it was unsuccessful.
The young woman had borne up pluck
lily ever since the accident, and wien she
was finally Informed that the operation
had failed to result in the removal of the
hutfet she Insisted that 1t be again at
tempted.
For this reason Dr. Gray took another
shadowgraph II week ago. The patient
WIS removed to Garfield Hospital, and
there the operation was successfully per
formed yesterday afternoon. 1t was CON
ducted by DR.. John Van Rensselaer,, with
| the assistance OF Drs. NJ. darcy Magce, j.
hilton Heller and X. L. Lynch, of the hos
| pital staff.
The last picture of the injured mcmbe
| showed the dark spot that was later
asccrtaincd to be the bullet and CORE
| sIponded with the picture originally made.
| In the vicinity of the dark spot was II
| lighter portion than that in the near
| neie ehburhood, and this represented the
| thinner part of the bone, made so by the
scraping at the previous operation.
Upon probing the surgeons found that
| Tue htu euttlti tHt
| above the great trochanter and was one
and a half inches below the anterior OF
| the bone. In other words il was deeply
| imbedded beyond the center of one of the
thickest bones OF the left thigh
| LOCATED THE BULLET
| A new opening was made through thu
| flesh after the patient had been anaes
| thetiZed. When lne bone was reached il
| was found that the track which had beef
| originally taken by the bullet had com
pictely healed over. Following the shad
| owgraph as Il guide, the surgeons made l
| new entrance in the bone directly owe
the position of the black spot. For q
while it appeared to be hopeless. Tin,
| after time the curette was thrust in witt
the utmost n!csty aud each time the searcl
| was fruitless.
AT last IL hard substance resisted TIL
| attacks or the instrument When the
| curette was withdrawn the scrapiug o
| bone on the end was examined under
rnagnirying glass. Small portions OF Leaf
| we're sren and 1T was known that TIL
| bullet had been found.
1t was the work or but few minute,
more To draw the missile from its hare
bed, wher2it mad lain for SO many months
1t was llattened and battered, and the bont
had grown firmly about it, The cartridge
was 32-caliber.
the use OF tine Rocntgen Rays, whether th
bullet had entered the bone or whcthc
it was merely in line with it, from tb'
exterior. Repeated eXami nation OF th,
injured member together with The fac
| that the patient was in constant pain. Lex
the hospital surgeons to believe that tin
| bore had been penetrated
| Still it was in the thiCkeSt portion OF tn
body and it would have been almost i'm
possible for location to have been mad
where the object could have been furthe
FROM the surface. In some previous opera
tons performed after the rays in othe
cities bullets have been removed whe
they were slightly imbctlded in the sha
low bones of the hand. Never before
though, has record been made of the oil
ject being removed from one of the thickes
| and heaviest bones in the body.
Miss Summers Is u very pretty blont
Her home is in Buffalo, n. Y, and an il
teresting feature OF the case is that he
parents are not even aware OF the fac
that she met with an accident.