Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1897-03-11
DEVOTED HER BODY TO SCIENCE.
Remarkable Sacrifice of a Vienna Wo-
man Interestea in Surgery.

Medical men in Vienna and generally
throughout southern Europe are griev-
ing ever the death Of a remarkable
woman to whom the science Of surgery
owes a debt Of gratitude it can never
repay. She was known, too, by all for,
eign students of medicine and surgery
who sought this capital for study and
investigation. The first thing an Amer
lean medical student was advised to do
in Vienna after engaging his rooms was
to engage instruction from Frau L
on how to examine Threats and how to
use the laryngOs3ope. Her reputation
had spread among different generations
CT medical students, and it was under
stood that she could teach far mere than
even the professors
She was an old woman, who had been
in the "Allgemeine krankenhaus," or
general hospital in Vienna as nurse,
patient or independent instructor for
many years. Her body was scared and
bandaged from the recent operations
she had allowed students to perform
upon her. When seen by the CORES
pendent she had only one eye for use,
the other having been recently operated
on by a rich American student, who
had paid her for the privilege of being
allowed to remove q cataract.
Her first lesson in throat work was
generally easy, for it was meant to en-
courage the student and make him
think that "larygology'' was simple and
he skilIful young man. She could
coach the young doctor on the use Of
instruments and submit without finch
ing to the unsteady touch of instru-
ments on the back of her throat and
larynX. A genuine patient would have
suffered exceedingly.
She submitted for two reasons: First,
because she was paid gulden (80cents)
an hour, second, because she had no
feeling in her throat and larynX. Be
sides this, the very traditions 6nG re-
ports which made it necessary for the
student to employ Frau L suggested
that to get the best results from her
and to win her gcod will plentiful
supply Of cOgnac YVES essential.
The most violent effort would only
bring out q gentle reproof, ''aber, herr
doctor, sic kitseln sol" (Oh DOCTOR you
tickle me SOD Size would start the
young doctor with soft brushes and
teach him to make applications to the
vocal cords and threat.
By the second lesson she would swal-
low a bead always guarded by thread
which she held, and would allow the
the pupil to fish for il with instruments
just as if a real patient had swallowed
a bead OF foreign body To an ordinary
throat such an object down the ''wind-
pipe" would excite parOXysms Of cough
Jig; but the woman would keep quiet
until her pupil learned to extract the
bead. She would make it more diff
cult by coughing or holding the bead
between the vocal cords SO that he
could not get at it.
By these means it was said that she
was able to hold On to her best pupils
many weeks, always keeping them just
short of success by making it more
and more difficult to DO what they had
done in the earlier lessons with con-
parative ease.
She gained her experience with the
treatments of threat troubles as q
nurse or assistant tC one Of the pro-
fessors, and learned the art of sitting
still and having her throat manipu-
lated and painted and touched up by
medical students without finching.
Among her other achievements it was
said that she allowed a rich American
to remove q tumor from her, for which
for which he paid her about So, and
had allowed several toes to be ampu-
tated. She had had herself inoculated
with a skin disease in order to allow
her patrons to practice on her at a good
round price by the approved methods Of
the day.