A TRAGIC OPERATION.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1298, 29 November 1911, Page 3

A TRAGIC OPERATION.

FAMOUS SURGt-.ON'S LETTERS TO HIS WIFE. Till; DOCTORS AMI TIIK liMI'IiKOK fi;i;ui.;i;ick. "A valuable c>!ilfibiition In history will s!t>:nllv Iji> published in Berlin in tho -liape nl Hi" lilt' ill Professor F.rn4 von Bergniann, one of Ilir iloi'lors railed in In treat the Kinprrnr Frederick during his I fit ill illjie.-s" t!i° "J'aily Telegraph" Berlin currc-pond'-ni." "Tin- chapter dealing with fhis opcode is ;ilii-aily printed from the advame pinol'.-, in llii' "Bcrlini-i' Tageblatt." ami will rc\ ivo .m embittered controversy thai has never been allowed quite to die on!. II not nece-s-iry to po into the details of the uncdifying squabbles between Professor vun JJor<riti:itin anil Sir Morcll .Mackenzie. Fur the wiiler public the teller* wliieli Prot'c.—'or von Ber?inanii wrote lo his wife from Sjiii Renin will have a rather dramatic interest, describing, as they da, witli the simple and spenlaiK-jits vis iflm.-s uV domestic correspondence, Ike scenes round the tick bed uf the illustrious patient." Here are ,-ome dramatic descriptions of wli.it happened "You Must Operate at Once." Tho eminent surgeon, on February ISHS. write-.;— "For ten days the difficulty of breathing had increased daily, lie it von l.yncker and Major von Kcssel had urgently begged that ) should be railed in, or at least that Jiramaiin should bo consulted. All in vain, Sir Moroll Mackenzie said that: there wa,s si.ill plenty of time. For two nights the Crown Princo had_ been unable hi sleep; ho had sat up in bed s-truggling for iiir. During the day he was better. Nevertheless, nil Wednesday at dinucr lie bent down (o pick up a serviette, and at tho same moment had an attack of suffocation, jo that: he himself expressed (lie opinion. 'I | thought i was suft'ocating.' Still the thrco doctors said that meant nothing, and that ho wpulc! get bettor again. . "At Jasl. on February 11, at | nino o'clock, Sir Mjrell Mackenzie camo to Bramann and said to him, 'You must operate at once.' Bramaun answered that heliiinself was convinced of Ills necessity. [ 'Well, then, come at onco to tlio patient.' Bramann wa.s amazed. Ho found tremendous difficulty in breathing. Thereupon lie begged that a. telegram should bo sent to me. It was' written out by Schrader at. twenty minutes past- nino, but was only sent off at nine minutes past one. The dyspnoea grow steadily worse. •At; uno o'clock. Mackenzie, said, '1 refuse all rtsjionsibilily if von do not operate.' Bramaim declared that ho wished to wait till ho had an answer l'roni me. A Dramatic Scene. "Meanwhile, at three. o'clock, ho was obliged to operate. Mackenzie, JCrause, and the rest of them prolostod against chloroform, and tho Crown Princess said, 'Under no circumstance.-! will 1, allow chloroform.' Then Bramann declared, 'In that easo. .1. won't operate. I bog one of tho other gentlemen to operate.' Terrible scone. No one will operate; each one declares lio cannot do it. Meanwhile Bramann had gone to the Crown Prince and talked him over. The Crown Prince now said tho word, 'Operate upon mo at once. 1 give myself into your hands. Operate on mo lis you think'lit,' At. the very beginning of narcosis a fainting fit, which, however, soon passes off. Schrader alone wilt take over "the work of assistant; both Mackenzie and Hovell dcclaro that they are not in position to do so. Nono will chloroform because thev consider /tho narcosis impermissible. Finally, ivitli a protest a gains'. cMoroform, lu'ause agrees lo hold the cap. Surgeon's Icy Self-Possession. "in twenty minutes all is over. Mackenzie grows pale aiui trembles. Ho must hastily gulp down a glass of wine. Then he says lo Bramann that he had never scon a surgeon operate so skilfully, and goes down to tho Princes and Princesses who are sitting weeping in tho salon downstairs. After tho operation naturally great relief, calm sleep, and very little coughing. All without exception praU-o Bramann, -who* had acted with icy self-possession. The Crown Princess com-, plained lo mo that Braiuaun had used chloroform, saying that it was a great mistake. 1. said, "Imperial Highness, it would have been a crime if he had not been chloroformed." On the following day Professor von Borgm'ann supplemented tho prcccdins letter as /allows;— "I have already stated that I consider the three doctors culpable for omitting to provide in good time adequate surgical help. I told tho doctors tiiat in the big consultation. Mackenzie, replied that lie had been surprised by the sudden appearance of Hie dyspnoea. Schrader was kept at a distance by Mackenzie as much as possible. It was oulyWhen Major von K. said to him early on Thursday, "If Bramann is not called in at once I'il take caro 'you're placed before a court-martial,' that ha became desperate. i "I Operate Only With Chloroform." "In reply lo my earnest question why I liadnot. bepn telegraphed for oil Tuesday, Krauso said: 'A fortnight ago I urged lhatit should bo done, but I could not mako my opinion prevail against the other doctors.' 1 consider Ihe crime of tho three doctors all the greater because thev havo iow confessed that ail of theirt are incapable of performing tracheotomy. For v.-lien they all declared that under no conditions should chloroform be used, Bramann said. "Then 1 beg one of the gentlemen to operate, as 1 operate only with chloroform.' "'They were all silent, and then brgged Bramaim not lo delay; only they wished to persuade tho Crown Prince not. to let himself be cliloroi'onned. Then Hie German hero was true to his greatness of soul, gave. Bramaim his hand with a smile, and ordered that everything should be done as Bramann wished it. If God's will had dispensed it otherwise, and during the incision air hod got into one ,-f the veins, and the illustrious patient had died, it would hardly have been possible to blame Bramann, for ho was operator, and ehloroformer all in one, since Ivrause could not even hold up the head, but let it drop at the first incision in the skin and Maekenzio admits that, during tho operation ho was more dead than alive. "The ntlcncc lies in this, that deliberately nothing was done lo facilitate a difficult and dangerous operation by calling in more than one practised surgeon. Proud 1 am of Bramann, but since there liavo been kings anil operators, it lias surely never happened before that a man who alter the Emperor is the mightiest, on earth has had to be operated on by a second-class doctor. Braniann's feat is a great honour for German surgery and inv Berlin hospital.'' A Devoted Wife. Professor von Bergniann's picture of the then Crown Princess should go far to dissipate the calumnious illusions which many Germans cherish as to the part played by that lady in l.lioso days of trial. "Von should only sno with what an expression she kisses- her husband's forehead, eyes, and hands. Next lo Hie sick | room is her salon, and I havo heard in the night how she has got. up and listened at (he door. Several times she entered in her night-dress. 'Bid he cough? Is lw ;vt coughing 100 much?' And than, so that the patieut; may not see, sho stands behind me or behind a chair and watches his sleep. '1 will go again, but: you give me your word that everything is iill right now.' "And this anxiety day and night, for mouths past. The temporaluro of the room is regulated with a thermometer, all kinds of compounds of eau do cologne and eucalyptus are sprinkled about. Every detail is dono wilh hoc own hands. "Bear mummy,'' concludes (his great surgeon, in closing this letter to his wife "I too know tho tenderness of a nursing wife, and 1 am always reminded of it when I see (his careworn woman exhausting herself in incessant attentions to (lie patient. That is.au expression of the inmost heart."