The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1911-11-14

80 - - ~ s-&~ 1t A4Af
present time.
The heroic bravery n the man
who ~Noluntarily placed hiInseif upon
the table. a subject for the surgeons
knife. should to recorded and his
name enrolled upon parchment.
winch should hc hung upon the walls
OF the surgical amphitheatrc in
which the operation was perform
ed. lis name was Gilbert Abbott.
the operation was Tor Il con
genital tumor On the left side Of the
neck, extending along the Jaw To the
naNillarN gland and into the mouth.
embracing the margin II the tongue.
me Operation Was successful: and
when the patient recovered IL de-
ciared he had suffered no pain. pr
Warren turned to those present and
said. Gentlemen, this is no hum
bug"
The Influence OF Oliver Wendell
Holmes on Medicine.
There are very Few in this coun-
try VINO have not enjoyed the writ
lnes Of Oliver Wendell Holmes. Yet
how many who admire him as an
author. realize that there are living
today thousands Of women who in
directly owe their lives 10 him"
Should every writing of Holmes
be destroyed he would still be i'm
mortal in the world Of medicine.
Until the latter part OF the nineteenth
| tsittll ~ "ottitu just 3Dput To De
come a mother was in great peril
Of blood poisoning. In some hos
pitfalls the death rate was as high rs
ten per cent. just hin of ii, one
woman in every ten giving her life.
It was because OF this horrible state
OF affairs that Holmes loudly pro
claimed others before him had
teebly announced. that the doctor
and nurse Were to a large degree re
sponsib1e. He maintained that in
most cases the poison was introduced
by the dirty hands and Instruments
of the attendants. Time has proven
that he was correct, but it Wax
scarcely more than ffty years ago
that because IF this statement he was
bitterly fought by some of the lead
ers OF the mcdical profession.
The general idea. as 10 the cause
of death from child-bed fever was
we'll expressed by Or. Charles NeiEs.
a professor AT Jefferson Medical COL
lcge n one of the ~best-known med
zeal men Of his time. IN 1854 he
said: Il prefer to attribute them
~tnanloiy, the deaths) to accident or
Providence OF which l can form a
conception, than to a contagion of
which | cannot form any clear
idea"
The facts which Holmes presented
seem to uS now SO clear and CON
vincinS that it is hard TO understand
why it took years before they were
generally accepted. His classical pa
per appearing in 1843. entitled The
ContagiouSness Of Puerperal Fever
is probably the strongest plea for
the protection Of the young mother
ever written.
After presenting a long list Of
cases which showed conclusively that
the deadly poison tthe nature OF
which he did not know but which is
now known to be bactcria) WAS in
PRODUCED by the hands and instru-
ments OF the ttendant. He says:
Now add to all this the undisputed
fact that within the walls OF lying-in
hospitals there is often generated
a miasm. palpablc as the chlorine
USED to destroy it, tenacious SO az
in most cases almost to defy TX
tirDation. deadly in some institutions
as the plague; which has killed wo-
men in q private hospital in London
SO fast that they were buried two In
one coffin to conceal its horrors;
which enabled Tonnelle To record two
hundred and twenty-five a~utopsies
at the Maternite Of Paris; which has
led DR.. Lee TO express his deliberate
conviction that the loss Of life caused
by these institutions completely de
feats the objects of their founders.
and out OF this train OF cumulative
evidence, the multiplied groups Of
J cases clustering about individuals, the
deadly results of autopsies. the in
Oculation of uid from the living
patient, the murderouS poison of hos
pitaIs-does there not result a con-
clusion that laughs all sophistry TO
scorn. and renders all argument al
insult
When Holmes was violently op-
posed because OF this belief he said
in his defense: I am too much IN
earnest for either humility or van
ity, but DO entreat those VINO hold
the keys Of life and death TO listen
to me also for this once. / ask no
personal favor, but / beg to be heard
in behalf of the women whose lives
/ are at sta Ike, until some stronger
voice shall plead for them
And again he says: And let il be
remembered that this is no subject TO
be smoothed over by nicely adjust
ed phrases of half assent and half
cenSure divided between the parties.
! The balance rInSt ne struck hOlHiy