Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1932-03-04
Draining of GoriIIa's Lungs
by Surgeons Makes
Medical History.
TO BREATHE
FORCES ACTION AT zoo
Quart of Fluid Taken From Cavity
in First Operation of It's Kind.
Victim Too Weak to Eat.

at ClIo HOo, apparently was greatly I'M
proved today following a major opera
ton performed in his cage last night to
drain fluid from his lungs by DR..
Charles Stanley White, one of Washing
toms foremost surgeons.
The operation was undertaken as an
emergency measure after the little go
rilla, who had been sick for month
with bronchial pneumonia, took a sud-
den turn for the worse late yesterday,
began gasping for breath as he lay on
his bed of straw in the emergency oxy-
gen chamber and appeared to be dying
DR.. David E. Buckingham, the veter-
marian who has attended N'gi since the
start OF his illness, remained with the
patient all night following the opera
ton and was able to get into his stom-
ach pint of milk, four eggs, some
orange juice and some grapefruit Juice.
This was administered with a syringe
N'gi Is too weak to feed himself.
First in Medical History.
A scene which is likely to go down
in medical history was enacted in the
Zoo lion house last night-the first
major operation on an anthropoid ever
recorded. The little gorilla lay sur
rounded by seven white-coated doctors
as the operation was performed under
local anesthesia by DR.. White. A tube
was inserted and nearly quart of fluid,
which evidently had been gathering for
several days, drained from the lungs.
The expenses of the operation were de-
frayed by Mrs. Eleanor Patterson, editor
It, IL Iarf
week obtained the emergency oxygen
chamber from New York for N'gi.
William H. Blackburn, head keeper,
who has raised N'gi since the little ape
first came to Washington, was greatly
encouraged this morning. Late yester-
day hope practically had been aban-
doned, although DR.. Buckingham re-
tanned some confidence that his patient
might pull through.
A surgical operation was a matter OF
extreme emergency. 1t was considered
much more serious in the case Of go
rilla than in the case Of human be-
ing, on whom the same operation is
frequently performed with excellent
results. From the first the doctors at
tending N'gi have carefully avoided
anything. such as physical pain, that
might excite the patient and cause him
to struggle A struggle almost GER
tainly would kill him. General anes-
thesia was out of the question and no
body knew what would be the effects OF
a local anesthesia on the anthropoid
nervous system.
Too Weak to Struggle.
But last night Ngi was too weak to
struggle or to take any interest in
anything. He was on the brink of OBJ
It, L~aIs4 ATBrrs
placed in the oxygen chamber week
ago today. The oxygen content Of air
he breathed was raised to so from about
20 per cent and for three days the
stimulating effect Of the gas seemed to
do him good. He ate better and
showed more interest in his surround
ings. There were predictions that he
was definitely on the road to recovery.
But shortly after he was placed in the
oxygen apparatus disturbing heart
symptoms appeared which worried Dr.
Buckingham and Dr. John G. Eek
hardt, the child specialist who has been
attending the little gorilla.
Tuesday he took a definite turn for
the worse, the catch" in the lungs
developed, and the revived appetite
began to fail. DR.. Buckingham believed
that it was just one of N'gi's "off days"
From the first the disease has had an
lrregularly rhythmic progress. Ngi has
shown sinking spells, only to revive the
next day. But this time he failed to
come back, although his attendants
watched anxiously for anything that
might be interpreted as a hopeful sign
Yesterday morning his condition was
reported as about the same" AS the
afternoon wore on Ngi sank lower and
lower and 1t became obvious that some
thlng must be 'done Immediately If he
was to be saved The alarming catch
In the breath" became much worse and
1t was apparent that the little gorilla
was being smGthered to death by the
accumulation of fluid about the lung.
This morning DR.. Buckingham OBJ
tanned some more fluid from N'gis
lungs and at noon Mr. Blackburn said
that the patient was breathing much
more naturally and seemed again on
the road to recovery. He did not seem
to have suffered from the shock of the
operation, but he is too weak to do
anything for himself
Dressed for Operating Room.
Besides DR. White the physicians in
Ng1s cage during the historical oper-
alton were Drs. Buckingham and Eek
hardt, DR. William Chase, DR.. Howard
L. Smith, DR.. w. E. Seymour and DR..
n. A. Dennonwitz. All were dressed as
1or hospital operating room and the
same extreme surgical care was used as
II Ngi had been a human baby. DR..
Wnlte used Identical precautions against
NOBODY will hazard a guess as to
glS chances. The physicians and Zoo
attendants must start all over again the
olincu!t process of getting nourishment !
strength.