In connection with the latter, after his removal to a quiet,
comfortable room in the upper part of the city, an order of the court,
obtained in some manner by the health officials, sent the humane
officers to the rescue, and the house was watched and guarded while the
faithful nurses prevented forcible entry attempted by these servants
of the people. The latter even went so far as to raise ladders to
the window of Mr. Rader's room, and with display of weapons tried to
force the catches in the vain effort to serve the writ which was their
excuse. To prevent their seeing the patient and to save him as much
as possible from the noisy disturbance, I carried him to the bath and
locked the door. I then climbed from one window to another across a
court into the next flat in order to call the attorney for the humane
society, who took the needful steps that eventually recalled the writ.
In the meanwhile Mr. Rader had suffered mentally to such an extent that
his life was despaired of for many hours, and he never fully recovered
from the nervous shock, which undoubtedly hastened his end. Until the
coming of these officers he was able to walk from his room to the bath,
but afterwards he continually begged to be protected from outsiders and
to be permitted to die, if need be, in peace.
When the death of a patient under my care occurs I am most anxious that
no stone should be left unturned to exhibit the cause. In this, my
seventh death in four years' practice in Seattle, I find my diagnosis
and prognosis completely corroborated. I was assisted in the autopsy by
two old-line physicians and by the deputy coroner. The results of the
post-mortem examination were as follows:
Mr. Rader's viscera showed the most abnormal characteristics it has
been my fortune to observe in years of post-mortem work. The lungs
were adherent at every point to the pleural cavity as well as to the
diaphragm in places. The heart in fair condition. Stomach dilated and
prolapsed. Gall bladder in three distinct pouches, any one of which was
the size of the normal sac, and two of these sections were filled with
126 gall stones of one grain to half an ounce in weight; the largest
was 3 inches in circumference one way and 4 inches the other way. The
small intestines collapsed to the pelvis and midway intussuscepted
so that a section of two measured yards occupied but five inches in
length; portions of these were of infantile development. The transverse
colon lay anterior to the descending colon throughout its extent,
while the ascending and descending colon showed infantile size and
cartilaginous structure. The sigmoid bend and rectum were of diameter
not larger than the adult thumb and in advanced cartilaginous state.
The kidneys fair; the liver enlarged and badly congested.
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