The Washington times., 1922-07-16

appendicitis is even suspected, call
in the best surgeon in your town.
and abide by his decision. and our
motto now II, when in doubt.
operate"
Modern surgical skin has made
this one Of the safest of the
"major" operations. Even II the
appendix, on removal proves to be
only slightly inflamed. you are
insured against all possibility Of its
killing you later. -.
While II the attack 10 In grim
earnest, and no operation is per.
formed--well. as our old Egyptian
priest.physician. describing exactly
this condition. grimly remarked:
"such an one win surely die; let
him aloneI" w |.
But "bettsr late than never an
operation at an advanced stage in
appendicitis gives tho patient at
least q fighting chance for his life
though that's about an By that
time the general demoralization
has spread 90 far that It is almost
impossible to check t.
Even . supposedly nnild. chronic
case Of appendicitis cannot enact
ly be regarded a. . paying guest
IL may flars out . regular attack
at any time II serves a. . CEN
ter Of infection for the whole body.
causing rheumatism. n nsuritia
heart-mischief; It causes much un-
necessary .suffering. and, IL acts ~
q constant drag on bodily comfort
and efficiency. -
It might be said Of . seditious
appendix as Of q dubious character
In Macbeth: Nothing In HE b.
came him like the leaving Of It"
TYPHOID A CAUSE.
The next commonest cause Of
peritonitis is typhoid. from the
Same sort Of sudden escape Of sep
tic matter into the peritoneum by
q typhoid ulcer eating its way
through the wall Of the intestine.
The difference ID that. in appen.
dicitis. the location Of the pune.
ture is fixed, and hence compare
lively easy to find and mend"
while typhoid may bore a hole
through the intestines at any point
Of their length Of twenty-one feet.
Despite the difficulty Of locating
the source Of the trouble and the
additional strain thrown on the al
ready exhausted patient. an imrne-
diate operation 10 almost always
advised. for It 10 the only chance
OF saving the patients life.
Quite recently, Sir Walter Ral-
eigh. the famous Oxford professor
Of English literature. and Crown
Princess Helena. OF Greece, both
underwent operations Of this sort.
due to typhoid. the former unfor.
tunately dying in a few days. the
latter recovering at last reports.
Peritonttis may also be caused
by severe blows or kicks in the
abdomen. which may rupture
blood vessels, or even the stomach
or intestines themselves. It may
follow any wound through the wall
of the stomach or intestine. and
this Is what makes gunshot
wounds OF the abdomen so dan.
gerous.
AN OUTSIDE INFECTION.
Another drama in which peri
tonitis plays a second villains role
is childbirth fever, or, in pompous
technical terms, puerperal septi-
cemia. This is caused chiefly by
infection from outside sources.
wives. doctors. or nurses, and can
be prevented by rigorous and sbso-
lutte cleanliness on the part Of
everyone who has anything to do
with the patient. -.
Thanks to our greatly fmprove6
standards Of cleanliness, child
birth fever has been very greatly
diminished-but not exterminated:
the slightest relaxation In the pre-
cautions would spread It broadcast
: again.
In the days whsn pu9persl
sepsis was first being investigated
a certain doctor was found to have
a terrible percentage of fever
among his cases. The cause was
found to be q discharge from one
Of his ears, which infected his
fingers, and from them was trans
ferred to his luclsiess patients.
DR.. oliver Wendell Holmes,
better known as an author and
satirist, also made a name for him
self in medicine by being the first
to declare that childbirth fever
was due wholly to carelessness on
the part OF the doctor. midwife or
nurse--and was received with a
perfect hurricane Of indignation.
OF course, this was about the
middle of the last century, before
the germ theory, with It's pro-