Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1905-11-02
JAPANESE SURGERY
DR.. suzuki Tells How the Men If tho
Navy Were 1Dcnlcd-SteriIixed
Water Treatment for Gunshot
Wounds Most EfncnciOus.

Chief Surgeon Suzuki Of the Imperial
Japanese navy spoke to the American
Association of Obstetricians and Gyne-
cologists at their banquet last night at
the Hotel Aston. He explained why only
20 deaths occurred out of GS2 men sent
to the hospital with wounds received In
action says the New York Sun.
General Suzuki was introduced by DR.,
Robert Morris, the POSTMASTER. as the
representative of the nation which had
made its greatest conquests in the
humanities OF war. He spoke at first
with some hesitation, saying that he
had spent much of his life going UP
and down the sea- and vas therefore
not fluent with words even in his
tongue. But he had 70 difficulty in max
ing hts hearers understand every thought
he set before him. Now and then the
applause n cheers which greeted his
story caused him to pause for a per-
ceptihlc time in sheer embarrassment.
General Suzuki said in part:
AT the beginning Of The war I was
with the Mikasa, tho flagship Of the
admiral. 7 know that there was to be
II war. probably. 1t was also apparent
that it would be very serious. 1t was the
question for me-. How should the best
preparation be made for the best result
in treating the wounded?
'That WAS for me to decide. 1t was a
great responsibility. But this IS the or
der that ! gay to the surgeons Of the
navy: That they should prepare to
treat wounds by the aseptic method only.
That they should treat wounds with
sterilizcd water. leaving the wound alone
as much as was possible. washing tho
skin and then binding the wound with
sterilized cloth-ootton cloth. There
were no preparations Of carbolic acid
or the like. 1t was a great step to take
but now we are not sorry.
Every vessel, from battlcship to tor.
redo boat. had apparatus for stcrilizins
water with steam. We followed that
method al; through the war. wiping of
the skin with sterilized water. wrapping
with the sterilized cotton. and leaving
the rest to the natural healing influences
CT course if there was a bit of shell OF
metal in sight we would take it out-bi'
we did not NEEDLE much. There was no,
time.
Each ship had one chief surgeon anc
two assistants. and several Of the petty
officers were trained in the work of ap.
plying the asertic bandascs. There wa
every difficulty of apply ing the work
The operations were carried on below
with only electric light. There were u
course proper hospital acco nnodations
but they were ny abovtt where 1t wa.
very dangerous to he under any cOndl
tions during a battle. The wounded came
in very fast: the method had the advant
ages Of swiftness. toe. 6ut it was lik,
operating a swiftly moving cab upon tn,
street: always the noise and the shock
cindcrs drifting across the floor an,
fragments of shell sometimes coming IN
Bit all through the wal we stuck by thi
method and NC are glad.
"Tcn years sco. in our war with China
we used the a%rtisertic method. Now
with the asertic method. among Gs. me,
sent to the hospital We had bat - deaths
Among other observations. we foun,
that tho missile OF war is itself aseptic
! have an instance. The captain Of til
Mikasa was wounded in the calf Of til
leg With n piece of shell. He said: 4 d
not desire to be sent home. ! stay wit
this ship until the end OF the war
Il ordered the surgeon OF the Mikas
h"cause to remove tho fragment Of She
would have required a deep ard a len
cut and would have delayed healing
long tirne) to neglect the fragment an
10 apply tho usual dressing. Now.
fcw days ago a year later. he went t
The hospital. an inc'sion was made an
the fragment was removed.
"Thcre had been no supruration. Now
This could not have hcen ir tine fraym.,.
Of shell were not aaeptic. But a frau
ment Of shell is Of nan irregular shapes
ana so it otter carries with it a bit O
cloth or thread into the wound--the
there is invariably suppuration. Not al
ways was 1t possible to tell whethe
there was in the wound a piece Of clotr
II surpuration started. then the surgeo
said: All, there is n bit Of cloth an
he wo.ld cut aid remove it. and tho
the wound would get we'll"
Major L. l.. Seaman. who has Just re
turned from n study Of japanese arm
surgery in M1nchuria, said that the Sc
crct of Japanese success in war wa
first. preparedness for emergencies an,
second, the reliance on means of proven
ton rather than on means of cur,
Japans creates. victory he said. wa
that which had boon wen against dis
casc, the enemy which kills 50 per GEM
OF those who have been lost in ever
war heretofore. Japan's proportion q
deaths by disease 10 deaths by bullet
had been one to six. Or. Seaman tel
OF visiting the main home hospital q
Japan. whore there were $1,000 beds, a
CT which were filled after the battle {
Mukdcn.
DR.. Suzuki also described some cases c
appendicitis at the Japanese naval hos
rital. and called the attention OF til
doctors tn a fact which the medics
world had not yet ~solved-namely, tina
cnsts az this disease seem to occur i
groups. as. ne described it. As the dis
90" could mot be epidemic In form. n
srid. it was very much of n puzzle. d,
Suzuki asked the doctors at the confer
ence II any reason for this had been dis
covered here. but lone could say tha
! one had.
LARGE HOUSE BURNED.