New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1912-11-16
TEST Of ANESTHET|C
FOLLOWED BY DEATH
Autopsy Will Be Held to Show
if Stovaine Was Di-
rect Cause.
RESULT OF EXPERIMENT
Surgeons Attending Clinical
Congress Not Informed of
Ending of Demonstration
at Polytechnic Hospital.

stovaine was the cause Of death. it
Is believed. yesterday afternoon OF
patrick Hart. a patient i'm the Poly
clinic Hospital. who died on the oper
.atjng table after the injection of this
>locaI suesthetic had been demonstrated
70 a group of several well known sur
esons, members of the Clinical Con-
Qress of Surgeons of North America, by
Dr. William Seaman Bainbridge. of No.
"a Gramercy Park.
An autopsy will be held at the morgue
to-day by Coroner Feinberg and his
nhvsician. Dr. Edgar T. Ray. II it is
shown that the cause of death was
.Stovaine poisoning, the autopsy will he
of immense interest TO the whole Of the
civilized world
Hart, a man about fifty years old,
whose address was given as No. 90
West Goth street, according to Or.
Bainbrldge, was picked up from the
street about three weeks ago. He was
suffering from hernia. DR.. Bainbridge
said last night that ne believed the
man also suffered from Bright's dis
case and heart disease.
Tells StoVaine's Advantages.
Demonstrating Stovaine before the
group, the physician told of the advan-
tages of the new an8sthetic over CO.
raine and others. and. according to
Coroner Feinberg. injected Stovaine
into the mans spinal cord. Spinal
anssthesia is not generally used for
the particular rupture that Hart was
suffering from, according to the Cor
oner. That method, Coroner FeinbeTg
said last night has more or less been
discarded, but the discovery Of StJ-
,aine opened up new possibilities.
The stovaine. Coroner Feinberg
learned, was prepared by Dr. II. d.
ieeker Of No. 30 West 18th street,
.Sho. with DR.. Il. Nj. Foote, was assist
ing DT. Bainbridge. The demonstration
vas on the third floor of the building.
after the injection. the patient was re-
moved to the operating room on the
linth floor. Before the operation could
fsgin the patient died.
The Coroner's Office was informed,
)ad Coroner Feinberg and DR.. Ray
went 10 the hospital. BY that time DR..
Bainbridge had departed. but they
.ound DR.. Meeker. According to what
Ur. Feinberg learned in the course of
MS investigation the visiting surgeons
we're not informed of the fatal ending
'f the demonstration.
Victim His Own Patient.
DR.. Bainbridge, at his home last
alght, said at the time of the death he
vas lecturing to the visiting physicians.
Hart had been his patient for three
weeks, during which time, Dr. Balm
bridge said, he had personally paid the
expenses Of the man in the hospital
he said Drs Meeker and Foote were
present at the time Of death.
Stovaine had been used as an anas-
thetic on the other side Of the water
for several years, but its introduction
INTO this country came when DR..
Thomas Jonnesco, a Rumanian surgeon,
arrived late in 1909. Up TO July Of that
year he had reported 625 successful
operations, using the cocaine substitute
as an anesthetic. His method was an
Injection into the spinal cord Of sto-
vaine and strychnine, four parts to one,
and he maintained this produced an
absolute lack of physical sensibility.
but at the same time the patient re-
tsined his consciousness and could
watch the surgeon operate If he wished.
Or. Jonnesco's chief argument for his
aesthetic was the fact that the
patient did not suffer from the effects
Of heavy lung pressure, such as that
produced by chloroform or ether,
neither Of which is supposed to be
perfect anesthetic. He said, also, that
nausea was wellnigh nil