The Life and Public Services of James A. Garfield: Twentieth President of the United States, Including Full and Accurate Details of His Eventful Administration, Assassination, Last Hours, Death, Etc., Together with Notable Extracts from His Speeches and LettersBrown, E. E. (Emma Elizabeth)
History
The Life and Public Services of James A. Garfield: Twentieth President of the United States, Including Full and Accurate Details of His Eventful Administration, Assassination, Last Hours, Death, Etc., Together with Notable Extracts from His Speeches and Letters
Brown, E. E. (Emma Elizabeth)
Garfield, James A. (James Abram), 1831-1881; Presidents -- United States -- Biography
The depressed cicatrix of the wound made by the
pistol bullet was recognized over the tenth intercostal space at three
and a half inches to the right of the vertebral spines. A deep linear
incision made in part by the operation of July 24, and extended by that
of August 8, occupied a position closely corresponding to the upper
border of the right twelfth rib. It commenced posteriorly about two
inches from the vertebral spines and extended forward a little more
than three inches. At the anterior extremity of this incision there was
a deep, nearly square, abraded surface, about an inch across. A flexible
catheter, fourteen inches long, was then passed into this wound, as had
been done to wash it out during life. More resistance was at first
encountered than had usually been the case, but after several trials the
catheter entered, without any violence, its full length. It was then
left in position, and the body disposed supinely for the examination of
the viscera. The cranium was not opened. A long incision was made from
the superior extremity of the sternum to the pubis, followed by a
transverse incision crossing the abdomen, just below the umbilicus. The
four flaps thus formed were turned back, and the abdominal viscera
exposed. The subcutaneous adipose tissue, divided by the incision, was
little more than one-eighth of an inch thick over the thorax, but was
thicker over the abdomen, being about a quarter of an inch thick along
the linear alba and as much as half an inch thick towards the outer
extremity of the transverse incision. On inspection of the abdominal
viscera in situ, the transverse colon was observed to lie a little above
the line of the umbilicus. It was firmly adherent to the anterior edge
of the liver. The greater omentum covered the intestines pretty
thoroughly from the transverse colon almost to the pubis. It was still
quite fat and was very much blackened by venous congestion. On both
sides its lateral margins were adherent to the abdominal parietes
opposite the eleventh and twelfth ribs. On the left side the adhesions
were numerous, firm, well organized, and probably old. [A foot-note here
says: These adhesions and the firm ones on the right side, as well as
those of the spleen, possibly date back to an attack of chronic
dysentery, from which the patient is said to have suffered during the
civil war.] On the right side there were a few similar adhesions and a
number of more delicate and probably recent ones. A mass of black,
coagulated blood covered and concealed the spleen and the left margin of
the greater omentum. On raising the omentum it was found that a blood
mass extended through the left lumbar and iliac regions, and dipped down
into the pelvis, in which there was some clotted blood and rather more
than a pint of bloody fluid. [A foot-note here says: A large part of
this fluid had probably transuded from the injection material of the
embalmer.] The blood coagula, having been turned out and collected,
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