The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1901-09-13

was any foreign substance found
within?'
Not a particle" he answered en-
phatically. THE wound was not again
sewed up" he added, lit viii close and
heal by emulation"
us the opening Of wounds after such
an operation u~nusual?" he was asked.
Not in & gunshot wound where for
eign substances can be carried into the
body" he replied. Wherever contain
ination is possible that is liable to oc-
cur. OF course in cases of simple
operations, where clean instruments are
used, nothing OF the sort should hap
pen. When his irritation occurs pus
or serum is sometimes found when the
wound is opened.
WAS any pus found in this case?"
mo not a suggestion of BUS. There
was a thin fluid exuded as a result Of
the inflammation. as was to be eX-
pected."
DR.. McBurney said that the interior
wounds Z healed. That, he said,
was proved by the manner in which
h president had digested the beef Juice
giver to him last night. He said the
president had relished the nourishment
given him and that tomorrow he would
be given the white of an egg and per-
haps something else.
DR.. Mann who performed the original
operation last Friday, and who did the
dressing OF the wound last night, con-
CURED in the expression of
dence which the other doctors had
given. "Wha. was one last night"
said DIR. Mann, was merely the usual
dressing Of the incision Of the abdo-
men requisite to keep it in proper con-
dition. The incision is about five
inches in length just above the navel,
horizontal and in line with the body.
There is no cross incision. The cut was
Jai1 1raa 1a,< II --l -o-.- o~+;
sceptic gauze inserted. The results
were entirely satisfactory"
DR.. Mann was asked as to the rela-
ton Of the outer inciSiOn to the inner
DUN of the stomach.
h are quite separate" said he.
THE wound of the stomach are made
by the bullet, while the outer incision
was that required by the surgical OPP
Grafton Immediately after the shoot
ing. AS to the wounds of the stomach,
they were closed during the operation
and now sufficient time has elapsed to
permit the sutures to heal by natural
process. That this is progressing nicely
is evident from the restoration Of the
normal digestive processes. Until last
night we had not permitted food to en-
ter the stomach by a of the mouth;
but the administration Of beef juice
has proved so satisfactory that we
have doublC The amount and will add
the white of eggs. He is receiving as
much as three and fou teaspoonfuls
of beef juice an hour and this will be
gradually increased"
SATISFACTORY BLOOD TEST.
At the conclusion of the night con
ference the doctors ave another eX-
tremely gratifying report of their pa
TENTS progress.
The physicians did not begin to
leave the Milburn residence until
shortly before IL o'clock. The reports
which they had to communicate could
hardly have been more gratifying than
they were.
DR.. Wasden and DR.. Mynter came out
together. The latter was hemmed in on
Good news! o news!!" he cried,
nothing but good news. We have
washed and fed the president and
moved him to another bed"
els he still improving?"
He is and 20 prove it l desire to say
that a count Of his blood shows that it
is in normal condition and we feel that
we can announce definitely that there
is not the least indication of blood
~poisoning."
He referred the reporters to DR.. Was
din, of the marine hospital service,
who was standing at his side, for a
scientific Interpretation. The latter
oXDldlnSu lnaI d COuIll VI lit plOOIA
was a microscopic examination of the
relative number of white and red cor
puscles in the blood to determine
whether Inflammation of any sort ex-
listed. An increase of white corpuscles
relatively speaking, Would show inf1am-
nation and deterioration Of the blood
that might indicate p~eriton1tls. He
said that this morning a few drops of
blood were taken from the lobe OF the
ear and microscopiCally counted under
his direction.
wv found" said he the number Of
white corpuscles was just above the
normal. while the red cells were slight
ly below normal. due to insufficient nu-
triton since he operation. The count
was not made" continued DR.. Wasdln,
ito verify the fact that blood poisoning
did not exist, of which we felt certain,
but to remove every shadow OF doubt.
The result is that we feel safe in an
nouncing hal not a trace OF polson1n
p~eritonitis or Inflammation exists. The
test could not have been more satls-
factory"
"Is the president out Of danger?'
mo. 7 would not say that; he is a
very sick man, III his condition I'M
der the circumstances could not be bet
ter. That much 1 will say emphatl-
cally."
DIR. McBurncy remained in the house
a while longer than the Olner pHSst-
clans. leaving shortly after II o'clock.
He confirmed the statement made IN
the bulletin to the effect that the exam
ination of the presidents blood show
ed no evidence of blood poisoning; nor,
he added, did it show any signs OF
peritonitis. While the examination or
the blood was not made TO determine
the latter fact, yet it would unmlstak-
ably have shown 1t had there been per-
itonitis. The examination was simply
a way of testing the condition OF the
presidents Hood.
DR.. McBu.rey laid particular stress
on the fact that the president Is able
| TO take a sieat deal OF nourlshment
| which was an important factor in the
| treatment of his case. 1t was TINS one
thing needed 10 strengthen M build
him up after the ordeal which mas so
| weakened him. He is now taking
about an ounce of beef juice every hour
and co far he stomach has not re-
iected any Of it. The wound which 1t
was found necessary to redress last
night is progressing satisfactorily and
Dr aid 1t had improved very