The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-08-21
THE SURGERY OF THE WAR.
CONCLUSIONS DRAWN IRON a STUDY
OF VARIOUS WOUNDS.

that surgery has played in the present war an
tho influence OF new B~clentinc appliances n
tested by experience in making the lot 0
wounded men easier. DR.. Gray Ia the micro
| scopist at the Medical Museum In Washington
and was detailed by that institution for surGi
cal work with special reference to the diagnosi
! OF gunshot wounds by the Roentgen rays.
lone thing this war has taught" he said
=" is that the probe in all it's forms has gone on
OF use. No more searching blindly In a mani
body for the bullet; no more danger OF bloot
poisoning from the introduction into the wounC
OF instruments OF search. The microscope tell;
us instantly where the projectile has imbeddet
itself, and we have only TO cut II out as III
we're there before our eyes. Tho ingenious
electric probe and all similar devices have seer
their day. In all future battles experts In
skiagraphy will be attached OF necessity TO the
Medical Corps. and the work OF the surgeons
will be materially assisted by their precise In
dications. We took out bullets by tho pint on
board the Relief. and almost without exception
they were located by the x rays"
The surgeon exhibited the apparatus for
producing the X rays and the operating table
where the skiagraphs are made. These stand
amidships in an open space ranged about with
hospital cots. Or. Gray. explained that. excel
lent as the results have been so far. they will
be better in the future. since the Relief starts on
her new cruise with much improved K ray APP
p~liances. In the developing room he showed a
number OF X ray plates. such asi were prepared
for the surgeons guidance.
1t seemed that valuable time might be lost
in making these pictures, and the doctor was
asked about II.
1T is all done In q few moments" he said;
five seconds for q wound In the hand. thirty
seconds for one in the foot. and not over ten or
n fkzo -. -,,A to- q o,,- AhrN,,rI khA NhtaH
pelvis. TIL patient is stretched out here. the
X-ray bulb adjusted over the wound like this.
the plate put under the limb or part where the
wound is, and the thing is done. The plates
are developed almost instantly. In many cases
we save hours of vain searching; not infre-
quently we save the soldiers life"
Then he went on to tell Of q case where .
man was wounded in the right shoulder by a
Mauser bullet. which plouRhed its way on
around the chest walls under the deep muscles
and lodged in the left arm. shattering thehu-
merus: Here was an odd condition. a woundin
the right shoulder but no bullet the bone Of
the left arm broken, but no wound. How long
do you suppose 1t would have taken to find that
bullet by probinRp It did not a us ono
minute to find it with the X rays. Here itis In
this picture, you see It there quite plainly,
He handed over a skiagraph that showed the
humerus and the imbedded bullet as
IL the arm were Transparent. It was simply a
Of a few cuts and the bullet. was out.
th Did 61a the y, bullet do no harm in going through
Apparently not; the man made little COM
plant and is doing nicely; We. have had moro
eases than thai Of Mauser bullets
with both lungs trayersed. but he had no symD-
small REQ red e spot a Where the bullet vent in and a
small II red hddn,sgp spot WHERE VSnd e. IT cane out bct IL II his I LA
hoya hapD In the hOgnitnl We had two
cases on the ship shot through the intestines.
but showing, no symptoms: one case OF q man
symptoms. and one very remarkable case where
a bullet entered the left. chest. passed through
the the air eEa for ra a loot or y! so soe an adI iSnded i IN the right
thigh. about half way to the knee"
Another case, which caused some discussion
the breast on tho left side. the bullet
entering about a Quarter Of an inch below the
the shoulder blade. The point OF exit showed
the bullet took an upward course. which
made It certain that # passed very close to the
tIon whether i did not actually pass through
the heart. The doctors are agreed that II
the heart, and Major George H. Torney, the
surgeon In command Of the Relief. is inclined
to R Il Is eo fhef shS se9 he it said. | %tsa ps a %nn may
through his heart; We must suppose that the
hard together In its, closest contraction. tits
very likely that II the same bullet had come
distended and softer. It would have
been so torn that death would have ensued."
DR.. Gray explained that most OF the opera
were crowded full receiving, the wounded.
y, Even so. we were not rushed, he said. On
each night. sometimes, as many as six. You
see. the emergency work was done, on tho fold
plenty of time to work carefully"
Did you use ctheri"
No; chloroform. 1t Is better on shipboard.
space: We had no deaths from the anRsthetlc."
Did you have to operate In bad weather p
sea e e we Wo Tere be toTif mnposst Il hta o oSerat s@Gf 10
the patients would have to watt,
How many nurses had You on board ?"
We shall have a larger. proportion Of women
nurses on the next cruise, 1t seemed to be
T '%S can set no care like that which women ZEN
give. But the doctors are, equally positive in
Major T r. they are too SENSITIVE
One Of the surprises OF this war TO the sur
let to, do such work Of bone shattering and gen
eral destruction as had been prophesied for 1t.
Inn w Tes ,bsd n b many 70 e5 sPpfisi1 sIso maze tRa Rot t6is
damage to the human body than had ever been
been fired into bags Of sand and cans OF water
and cadavers with such a splashing and plough
ny ullu SpllnJeFluB lb- 10 cause Lnem 10 Dc
ooked upon as most formidable engines OF
.arnaGe. And yet IL real warfare. when Prac-
bullets have by no means shown the vicious
ness expected OF them.
You know they told us" said DR.. Gray,
that the Mauser bullets would make q small
hole whore they entered the, body. but would
out through u hole big enough to put
Iour fist in. Well. nothing Of tho sort has hap
,ened In cases under our observation: On the
IS small as the ,hole of entry. Take that case. /
mentioned OF the man shot through from side
o side; there was no difference In the size OF
he two holes. and both were very small,
Then they told us. and seemed 10 provo It
~ experiment, that the impact. Of 9, Mauser
)ullet against large bones or against the skull
would cause q frightful splinterinR OF the bone
,r Uranium. I remember case where a doctor.
or sake OF experiment., fired .Mauser bullets |
INTO a human leg only q few minutes after its
err the bones In a most alarming way. But in |
practice. under Spanish fire. tho Mauser bullets
lave shown less shattering power than our
Krag-J1rgensep bullets; Mauser bullets
hem into fragments. but Mauser bullets fired
nto the skulls of live Americans in many cases
made only two clean holes"
And, did the men live. shot through the