The Wilmington daily Republican., 1901-09-26
Why THE WOUND !
WAS FATAL.

q
death Of our good and well beloved
President warrants a popular descrip.
tion OF the wound which caused hia
death, and the reason as to why 1T
was necessarily fatal. uh
There we're two shots--the one
striking the breast bone, probably
obliquely and without force, did not
penetrate the skin and was without
serious effect: the other ball entered
the abdomen to the left of the mid-l
die line and just below the lover
border OF the ribs. In passing, VI
penetrated through the skin and
muscles Of the abdomen, both walls
and the cavity Of the stomach escap-
| ed without wounding the various
blood and Emphatic vessels which liz
like Il nest OF plumbers pipes just
behind the stomach, aud buried it.
self IN the muscles surrounding the
backbone and In that location was,
at least, temporarily, harmless.
At the time the wound was rcceiv-
ed, being like three hours after the
President had eaten, the stomach
was nearly or quite empty and there's
fore the danger of Inflammation Of
the abdomen by the escape of foreign
matter from the stomach was avoid
ed. T4
ln all this there was q very fortu. !
nate escape from immediate fatal IN. Z
jury in an exceedingly dangerous l0.
caIity.
The puplic should clearly under. I
stand that IN no case does the physi- (
clan or surgeon cure. In every case a
Of disease or wound (Which are al-g
ways the result Of violation 0t nat
ural law nature makes tine attempt
to repair. The physician only aids 81
this effort by the application ofott ter
laws of nature which will permit this :
repair to progress under the most
favorable surroundings.
AS soon as practicable after the 4
Pres idenJ was wounded the track Of 4
the bullet which had penetrated tho q
body was exposed and made antisep-
tic that is putting the injured parts /
in a condition in which any foreignN Y
bacteria could not not live and thus n
favoring the repair process Of nature. s
The pierced walls OF the stomach 4
were closed and every thing possible
done with success, in the present (.
stage of medca! knowledge.
The only apparent failure was in
not removing the bullet, but the con. I
ditlOn of the Pres dent was such that 4
it would not warrant this procedure
and the result proves the wisdom OF
the physician as the location of the
ball had no part in the ultimate a
death.
The medical history of the case \
duriJg the week the President lived =.
proved that the attempt at .antise p.
tics had been successful IS was also
the recovery from STOCK and that \
there was every warrant for the fav-
orable opinions that were expressed #
from day to day.
What then was the cause of deathp y.
Here we pass from the region Of the
known to the problematic or theoret. y
ical.
In an absolutely healthy body thers ii
,an be no doubt of recovery from
such a wound as the President re-
,eyed, under its treatment and In
he condition it was found to be ON
.he autopsy.
Just beneath and behind the ston,
lch lies gland called the pancrH
which secrets fluid necessary tQl
proper digestion Of food. This
vas not wounded by the bullet
passed through the body but Is
,osed to have been 80 injured b
hook or concussion OF the passing a
,ullet as to change the character Of
he secretion from healthy to pol.
onous fluid.
Then ag ain the body to be in health
eGlires the equal action of all the
III ctions.
This condition was denied to our
President by che onerous duties which
evolved upon him during the past
our years. The demand upon hfa
nental. nervous functions was not
ounterbalanced by the exercise OF
is physical functions in proportion
onducve to health.
Hence, very properly, his physicians
ay his vitality was not equal to the
rocess Of repair.
Death was. therefore, due to orc
two causes or perhaps In part to
9TH Poisoning from the changed
Of the pancreatic fluid from
hook and gangrene In track Of bull
It from lack of vital forces necessary
} repair.
This summary is an array Of words
ithout much clearness but 1t Is tho
est that the present stage OF medi.
Il knowledge warrants. B.