SURGICAL SKILL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 2, 27 January 1909, Page 4

SURGICAL SKILL.

AX EXTUAOIIDIXARY .STORY. Mr. Rockefeller, describing in Hi* World's Work Ihi! art of giving, gives some results of tlii! art of medical :e search which hears his name. As a result of the vivisection of some fifteen animals, hundreds of human lives had been saved. Ono story belongs to the romance of science. A young surgeon had spent several days with Dr Alexis Carnel in the institute, and admired his methods. This young surgeon liad a child born early last March which " developed a disease in which the blood exudes from the blood-vessels into th" tissues of the body, and ordinarily the child dies from this internal hemorrhage.- * When the child was live days old it was evidently (lying. Tim case was pronounced hopeless. lint the father insisted on Dr. Carrel being palled in to trv the new method of transfusion of blood :—The father oll'ercd himself as the person whose blood should be furnished to file child. Tt was impossible to give anaesthetics ro either of them. In a child of that age there is only one vein large enough to be used, and that is in the back of the leg, and deep-seated. A prousinent surgeon who was present exposed this vein, .lie said afterwards that there was no sign of life in the child, and expressed the belief that the child had been, to all exlent and purposes, dead for leu minutes, fn view of its condition lie raised the micstiun whether it was worth while to proceed further with the attempt. The father, however, insisted upon going on. and the surgeon then exposed the radial arterv in the father's wrist, and was obliged to dissect it back about six indies, in order to pull if out far enough to make the connection with the child's vein. This part of the work the surgeon who did it afterwards described as the "blacksmith pail of Die job." lie said that the child's vein was about the size of a match, and the consistency of wet cigarette paper and it seemed utterly impossible for anvone to successfully unite these, two Vessels. Dr. Carrel, however, accomplished Ibis rent. And then occurred what the doctors who were present, described as one of Hie most dramatic incidents in the history .of surgery. The blood from the father's arterv was released, and began to flow into the child's body, amounting to about a ]iint. The first sign of life was a little pink tinge at the top of one of (liecars, then the lips, which had become perfect - Iv blue, began to change to red. and then suddenly, as though the child bad been taken from a 'not mustard bath, a. pink glow broke out all over its body, and it began to cry lustily. After about eight, minutes ibe two were separated. Tlie child at that time was crying for rood. It was fed, and fr that moment began to cat and sleep rcgular--1 ly, and made a complete recovery.