The Critics

     How easy it is to sit miles away, read reports in the lay-press and the criticise the men in attendance upon an important case—theorize and philosophize—how different the responsibility and anxiety of actual attendance.
     The assassination of our beloved President brought us face to face with such a situation. Who but those in actual attendance can realize the difficulties and complications. From the full report of the case and the report of the autopsy it is clearly shown that all was done, and that promptly, that our knowledge and the art and science of surgery could suggest. The promptness and skill with which Dr. Mann performed the operation must be regarded with pride by the profession, and the unhappy termination was due to no lack of skill or good judgment on the part of those who had charge of his case. The President’s age, his sedentary life, the heavy burdens and responsibilities of his position had devitalized his system so that the injured tissues did not have vitality enough to heal. From the report of the autopsy we gather that there was no Peritonitis, no pus, no sign of inflammation; simply Necrosis and non-union in all the tissues in the neighborhood of the bullet track.