Chapter Six

• Author: Richard D. Schneider
• Pages: 59-68

 

Cae Sx

   the “diabolical” attempt on his life, Drummond’s

medical condition remained headline news for e Times, which con-

tinued to provide detailed coverage of the story, reporting in its late

Saturday edition “with extreme regret,” that a very distressing change

had taken place in Drummond’s symptoms earlier that day. e fa-

vourable state in which they had described the unfortunate gentle-

man’s health in previous accounts published on Saturday morning had

apparently continued through Friday night, and “the most sanguine

hopes were entertained by his eminent medical attendants, that, severe

as the wound was, no vital part had been injured.”

Shortly before noon on Saturday, however, Drummond showed

symptoms of “a considerable uneasiness, and felt so much pain as in-

duced his friends to believe that inammation had taken place.” A

consultation between the medical gentlemen was immediately held

and another examination of the wound was determined upon. It was

then discovered that the lowest of the ribs had been seriously injured

by the ball. e doctors decided that the danger which, under the cir-

cumstances, was to be feared from the gunshot wound, had indeed

made its appearance in the form of an inammation (not recognized

at the time but almost certainly the product of infection); in order

to subdue the inammation, it was arranged that a quantity of blood

should be instantly taken from the patient.

Mr. Guthrie accordingly proceeded to open a vein in Drummond’s

left arm, but the operation proved fruitless. An attempt was then

made to obtain blood from the right arm, but still without success. It

was then determined that the temporal artery should be opened. is

operation was performed immediately and a considerable quantity of