The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-09-28
Also Had to Wear Perfectly Clean UndtTc|Othing
PREVENTS BLOOD POISONING
pr. suzui Tells of the Elaborate Pre- cautions Taken In Japanese Fleet to Insure the Highest
 Efficiency.

Detroit, Mich, September 2L-Yen 5. Suzuki of the imperial Japanese navy to- day, in his address before the fourteenth convention of military surgeons of the United States, made what was declared by Medical Director J. s. Wise of the United States navy to be the most valuable con- tribution of modern times to naval sur gery.
 He described in detail and at length the surgical methods used in the Japanese feet told how surgeons before every en- gagement carefully inspected the eyes 'e all gunners on the warshpis. how the ears of every man in the fleet were plugged with cotton before the firing be- gan and how Admiral Togo fought his fleet from the compass bridge of the Mi kasa, instead of the coming tower.
 Crews Bathe Before Fight.
 Much of our success in the treatment of wounds" said Dr. Suzuki, '1 ascribe to the fact that before every engagement I ordered each member of the crew to bathe and put on perfectly clean under clothing In a great many shot wounds fragments of clothing are carried into the body, and our insistence upon clean
 
 blood poisoning among our wounded. Our experience during the war proved that the coming tower of warship is most dangerous situation. Fragments of steel penetrate through the slate in the tower made to furnish the commanding officer range of vision and do great damage. Realizing this fact, Admiral Togo in al the naval engagements directed his fleet from the compass bridge of the MilSasa without receiving at any time the slight est wound
 Gunners' Eyes Are Examined.
 'sThe vision of the men who fire the guns on a warship must necessarily be of the very best if their shots are to count. Be- fore every engagement the surgeons in the Japanese fleet examined carefully the eyes of all the gunners Any of them found with slight imperfection of view were put under treatment, and if the im- pairment was too grave to yield to imme- date treatment they were transferred to another station and their places filled by men with eyes perfect. And during the engagements every battery crew was sup piled with water in which a 1 per cent solution of boracic acid had been mixed to wash out their eyes when they became affected by powder smoke or dust. We also issued to every man in the fleets be- fore going into action, cotton with which to plug his ears and thereby prevent rup ture of the ear drums by the concussion of the gun f1re.
 Not :. Case of FrostbIte.
 Dr. suzukie said that by the issuance of quantities of extra heavy clothing, gloves and boots the crews of the Japanese ships were so well fortified against cold that despite the winter operations against Port Arthur, not one case of frost bite was brought into the surgeries of the ships The issuance of large brimmed straw hats during the summer also he said prevented any sun strokes among the crews of the fleet.
 Dr. Suzuki described at length the asep- tic methods used in the Japanese navy. which he said are practically the same as those used by the rest of the world. He said that the Japanees surgeons had discovered that it is impracticable during action to attempt anything but the most necessary first dressing of severe wound. After the action Is over he said the sur gery should be made ready for the abso- lutely necessary major operations. but in all cases where possible, the wounded men should be hurried to a base hospital be- fore being operated upon
 Papers were also read at the first session today by Surfeon Charles F. Stoles. U. s. N, Contract Surgeon H. D. Borbusier, U. s. A., and Surgeon General Nicholas Senn of Chicago.
 Experience With Russian Army
 An address by Col. valery Harvard, U. S A. upon his experiences with the Rus sian army in Manchuria was the feature of the afternoon session. Colonel liar yard said that losses from artillery fire in the Russian-Japanese war were greater than from this source in any previous war. He ascribed this somewhat to the fact that much of the time the artillery fire between the two armies was so heavy that 1t prevented the men from getting into close enough contact to make their rifle fire entirely effective. Colonel Hav- ard said that the Russian regimental cam pus were kept clean and that if a camp was at all permanent. crude hut or house was always erected. Accommodate tions in the Russian hospitals were ade- uuate but facilities for transporting wounded from the field to the hospitals were not so adequate.
 Col. w. J. Rainsford of the medical de- partment of the British army stationed in the Bermudas gave sketch of the evolu- ton of the medical service in the British army