The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1901-10-24
ALL in HARMONY
DOCTORS IN THE M'KINiEy CASE
DIDN'T DISAGREE.
Official Report On DsstA Of Psss,deat b Aads
-Those whs AtAeadsd ~. Mckinley h
His Final illness Describe the Operation
and Give the Result Of tie Autopsy sa
the Body.

L Ss~AAA SAAS ANAA OAAASASA ASROAS Va shAC oOA
geons who attended the. late President
Mckinley in Buffalo. The report con-
tains more than II, 900 words, and consti-
tutes the official record of the case. The
report is signed by all the attending ply
sicians. The report of the autopsy is
signed by DR.. Harvey R. Gaylord, path
ologist of the New York state pathology
ical laboratory.
The important features of the report
in the New York Medical Journal are the
emphasis with which DR.. Matthew d.
Mann, speaking for his colleagues, de-
clares that never under like circum-
stances was a more harmonious and bet
ter agreed band of consultants, thus set
ting aside the rumors of disagreement
among the attending physicians and sur
geOns.
Thereport describes in detail the events
Immediately following the shooting, and
which are familiar to the public Then
follows description of the operation in
all its technical minutiae. The utmost
care was used to prevent infection of the
abdominal cavity and of the wound, by
the most approved modern methods Of
surgical cleanliness.
The report then continues in the his
tory of the case after the operation. The
progress of the Illness is given day by
day, and the bulletins as given out by
the attending physicians are incorporated
in the report.
Report Of Autopsy.
DR.. Gaylord's report of the autopsy is
lengthy and deeailed Nothing of import
ance was noticed about the wound on the
chest caused by the first shot except that
the area of the skin was found to be dis
colored, greenish-yellow and mottled and
that there was hemorrhage into the fat
under the skin beneath this area. The
abdominal wound showed no evidence of
necrosis or sloughing. No Inflammation
of the peritOneum was found. The wound
in the front wall of the stomach was
found to be held intact by silk sutures.
The area of the stomach around the
posterior wall of the stomach was also
of dull gray color, but the sutures held
the wound intact. Behind the latter
wound there was spot of discOloration
which showed that the sloughing process
had gone backward in the track of the
bullet. The gangrenous cavity found be
hind the stomach involved the pancreas
and the surrounding loose tissues, the
bottom of the blind pocket being formed
by the upper end of the left kidney,
which was found to be lacerated at the
point to the extent of about two cent?
metres.
The track of the bullet was then traced
through gangrenous tissue in the fat be-
hind the kidney to the muscles of the
back wall of the abdomen. The direction
of the bullet, however, could not be traced
any further. The search for the bullet
was most thorough and painstaking, but
in spite of all efforts it could not be found,
and the autopsy had to be discontinued
because the time allotted to it by the
family of the late president had already
been exceeded.
Gas we were satisfied that nothing
could be gained by locating the bullet,
which had set up no reaction, q search
for it was discontinued. q
DENOMINATION Of the heart muscles
showed that it was affected with well
marked fatty degeneration, and in some
places the muscle 6bres showed groups
of dark brown granulcs, demonstrating
diseased condition of the cardiac mus
cle.'' sg5sa
DIR. Gaylord believes that the repair to
the stomach wounds had been effective,
and that the gangrene around these
wounds does not seem to have been the
result of any well-defined cause. He at
tributes the gangrenous condition of the
tissues solely to low vitality in the parts.
The appearance of the gangrenous tis-
sues shows that the gangrene took place
before death.