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PHOto ey MTieN Chicago
Mme. Cerville-Reache in the Role
of "Herodia.."
ONE of the most difficult and dancer
ova operations of modern surgery
waa employed to save the life ot
Mm. Gervllle-Reache, the handsome and
talented grand opera singer.
Th operation la that ot hlood trans
faslon, which, though much discussed and
often attempted, Is not successful In many
caaes.
That It failed la a sad and common ex
perience, but the operation remains the
only hops of saving life In many illnesses.
If It had succeeded It would hare been
largely owing to the sound constitution
and good blood supply of the patient's de
voted husband, Ir. George u. Rambaud,
director of the New York Pasteur In
atltute. Mme, Gerville Reache's attack of blood
poisoning originated in a manner rather,
difficult to understand soma months ago,
when she was on a staging tour of the
West. It was said that It originated In
an attack of ptomaine poisoning after she
had eaten some unwholesome food. In the
tourry of travel and filling engagement
the illness waa not properly treated and
Vteadlly became "worse, until it developed
Into blood poisoning.
Soon after her return to New Tork the
trhna donna was taken to Roosevelt Hos
pital There it waa found that no ordinary
treatment would restore her blood supply
to Its normal condition and that the only
hope of saving her life lay In blood trans
fusion. At this point her husband, Dr.
Rambaud, promptly spoke up and said:
"I will give you all the blood you want.
I will give you all I've got"
Dr. Rambaud Is a strong, hearty man.
lie had once before shown his vitality by
recovering from a very serious automobile
aorldent.
The operation waa performed. Over a
pint of blood was received from Dr. Ram
baud and transferred to his wife. Her
Improvement waa Immediate, and many
Trtends began to celebrate her recovery.
On New Tear's Hay the prima donna
received a visit from her two young chil
dren. The excitement of the visit and
ther causes brought about a relapse, and
Mate. Oervllle-Reache'a life waa again in
langer.
Once more Dr. Ramband offered his
blood for transfusion. Tbia time the
peratlon proceeded until the doctor waa
svldently weakening seriously from loss of
5lood.
A friend of the family, another vigorous
young man, Isidore S. Lebmann, then of
fered himself, and the operation was at
tempted, but his blood would not mingle
kith that of the patient Another stal
aart friend was then tried, and from
lUn a quart of blood waa transf'js4.
The singer rallied for a few hours, but
:hen gradually grew worse and died.
Mme. Jeanne Gervllle-Keache waa very
popular on the operatic stage. She had a
riUt contralto voice, a fine figure and a
very winning appearance. Her family
came from the French West Indian colony
.f Guadoloupe, although she waa tom tn
"ranee.
She was first induced to take up oper
itlc singing by Mme. Calve, whose singing
t le was somen hat like hers. Mme. tier-l!ie-Reache
utate hr greatest succear.es
a Carmen, as Herodlas in "Herod lade,"
',r,t as Dallla In "Samson et Pallia."
Why the Transfusion of
Blood from Madame Gerville-
Reache's Husband to Her
Own Starved Arteries Failed
to Ward Off Death
The Operation, Its Method and Dangers
uy vr. John B. Huber, A. M.
Grand Opi
r
tim death pf Mme. Gervllle-Reache,
after three efforts to save her by
blood transfusion, directs attention
to the merits and the faults of thts heroic
operstlon. Theoretically a perfect treat
ment for certain crises, It is nevertheless a
fact that In the practical working out It Is
ver far from uniformly successful, nor is
It without danger. "Why this is so will he
explained later.
Blood transfusion is not a modern in
vention. It was performed long before the
Christian era, but In a crude way. the
Roman poet, Ovid, relates how the sorce
ress, Medea, took blood from young,
healthy men, mixed It with .vegetable
Juices, end Injected It Into the veins ot old
men to renew their youth. Savonarola
told of the transfusion from the volns of
two young men for the benefit of Pope
Innocent VII. But the operation in the
past was always very dangerous; and not
always successful by any means.
How Is blood transfusion done by sur
geons to-day? There are two operations:
artery and vein transfusion, and the vein
to vein operation. Various surgeons have
devised methoda peculiar to them. One
technique for each kind -of operation Is
here outlined.
In artery to vein transfusion the wrist
of the blood giver and the patient's arm
above the elbow ere scrubbed wlth.aoap,
water and alcohol. The radial artery, op
the thumb aldo of the wrist the one b;
which the doctor takes the pulse is ex
posed and covered with a warm, moist sa
line compress. A ligature is placed ovei
the patient's upper arm, tight enough to
distend the veins The vein selected Is
exposed by a cut along Its course, brought
to the surface of the akin and fixed there
by two fine clamping forceps placed side
by side, so thst when the vein Is opened
lengthwise (longitudinally) between them,
these clappa will control the cut edges.
The ligature la then removed from the arm
and the vein opened.
The donor'a artery is now divided, the
end nearest the hand is clamped; and its
other end, nearest the trunk of the body,
la seised with fine thumb forceps. Whilst
the blood Is streaming from it this artery
-of the blood giver is passed upward
into the patient'a vein about an inch. The
two forceps upon the vein are now crossed,
thua lapping their edges around the artery
tight enough to prevent the escape of blood
The donor's pulse, that of his free hand. Is
counted and watched as long as the trans
fusion continues; and so a fairly accurate
estimate is made of the total amount of the
transfused blood, and the operator Is as
sured that the donor Is not losing as much
as would endanger his life.
When the transfusion is finished the art
ery is withdrawn from the vein, tied, and
ture is tied. Then a vein ia the donor's arm
Is exposed and two ligatures are passed
around It also. Here the upper ligature
is tow Hed. The donor's vein is next
opened toIn!roduce the tube into it lower
segment, and the lower ligature is tied to
keep the tube firmly in place. Then the
donor's arm is brought close to the
patient's arm. Then the patient's vein la
opened and the tube is Introduced into
the upper segment. The upper ligature is
tied to hold the tube firmly in the patient's
vein. From this on the procedure is prac
tically the same as In the first operation.
What are to-day the dangers T For what
diseases in the patient Is blood transfu
sion done?
In other times, when there were not our
modern hospitals nor our wonderfully
made Instruments, nor sufficient knowl
edge of chemistry, the physiology of the
blood, pathology or bacteriology, and ma
jority of transfusions were unsuccessful.
Many accidents arose from blood clotting:
from unwise selection of donors and of
patients; from the patient's heart atop
plng by reason of a too sudden rush of
the donor's blood into it, and so on. So
that, with the advent of normal salt solu.
tlon as a substitute for blood, the latter
was no longer trsnsfused. This transfu
sion of normal saline solution (one tea
spoonful of salt to a pint of sterilised
water this being the proportion of salt
normally in our blood) Is etlll practiced;
and with the greatest benefit in appro
priate cases. But its beneflU are too tem
porary to serve in all cases where the
patient needs actual blood.
In blood transfusion, as It is done to
day, and by the methods here Indicated
there is no dsnger of blood clotting; the
operation is practically painless for both
donor and patient: the blood lost by the
donor is regained by the processes of na
ture In from four to five days; the amount
bestowed Is under the Immediate, control
of the surgeon; and this rate of transmls
slon is carefully gauged and kept within
the limits of "physiological safety."
The greatest danger to-day and the
Kr?af.BUBe of f,lure 18 om -hemolysis
This is a degeneration of the
blood and a destruction of the red blood
cells.
Formerly it was sup
posed that the blood of
the lower animals could
bo transfused; as In the '
case of a man who had
hydrophobia, whose
veins were opened and
a lot of blood let. Then
the blood from several
lambs was transfused
into hlra. but with
good results. The blood
of calves has also
been used, but unsuc
cessfully, a reason
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Mme. Gerville-Reache, the Grand Opera Prima Donna Whose
Husband's Blood Failed to Save Her Life.
tuberculosis peritonitis (consumption In
the abdomen), have been immediately im
proved by blood transfusion. Very weak
sufferers from this disease have been
transformed Into "safe surgical risks" per
mitting the removal by operation of tuber
culosis tissues from the body. And it
looks as if blood transfusion might in the
future have a special healing power in
such cases. In the cases of kidney dis
ease, blood transfusion is Ineffective; but
there have been great results in the
dropsies'' of "hobnailed liver."
Iu hemorrhage, where blood losses are
great, when transfusion hhas been don.
before the central nervous system has be
come damaged beyond hope by the bloo
loss, this operation has been a sure, specs
flc remedy. Mnny a mother having, In the
perils of childbirth, lost much blood, has
has had a b'essed restoration through the!
blood donation of a devoted husband. The
life of many a precious Infant has beea
saved through a father'a timely offering
up of his own life fluid. In typhoid hemor
rhages patients have been transformed
from a dying state to "safe surglcall
D La rrm m Sknwinir llnw Um If-- -f ii. m . " !
the Ii;.Tthy B ood Into the Wl Sm St'iVu of an Operation for Blood
Which It Pa.se. Into the LaterU Berst tfeJ", h ?J U
Magnets to Pull Out Bullets, Armor to Stop Them
Unfortunately, unless the
the wound in the wrist Is sewed up. The
opening of the petlenfa vein It closed by
ligature or elmply by a pressure bandage as
after any blood letting. The transfusion la
generslly continued half an hour or more
until the pulse, blood pressure and oher
eigne show a material change In the blood
giver or patient or both. From eight to
twelve ounces ot blood may safely be ex
cbsnged. For vein to vein trsnsfuslon a thin glass
tube three Inches Ion Is heated and bent
into the shape of a wide U or of an S. The
8 tube la necessary when the arms of the
donor and of the patient are lying side by
side, the bands pointing in the Same direc
tion. The U tube Is necessary when the
donor'a band la pointed toward the patient's
shoulder. The tube selected is sterilised by
boiling; It Is then dropped Into melted
paraffins; picked out wth sterile forceps,
and all excess of paraffins shaken from the
calibre. Then the tube is laid in sterile
game ready for use
A vein of the patient's arm, above the el
bow is exposed; two ligatures are passed
around it. one in the upper, the other In the
lower angle of the wound. The lower llg.
given for this Is that
tains particles of vsrious kinds necessary
for the development of such peculiar tis
sues as horns and so on; and thai conse
quently these elements are hurtful when
Injected Into human kind.
Certain it Is that the serum the fluid
part of any given animal blood has the
property of destroying the red blood cells
when transfused Into an animal of a dif
ferent species. And this fact Is important,
because It Is the office of these cella to
onvey the life giving oxygen to the bodily
tissues. v
So, all In all. as early as 1889 it was set
tled in medical science that the transfu
sion of the blood of lower animals Into
bumsn veins is dangerous; and must
never be employed.
The same process takes place when
human bloods fall to blend. Occasionally,
when the donor'a blood la transfused Into
Uie human sufferer, hemolysis occurs.
This contingency is tot necessary fatal
in itself; but It does render the transfu-
5 .fUtlJ?- U u cerula th tere
definite difference in the chemical make
up of each person. No man or woman is
oirlSht. 1813. bv the Star Comoaov.
like another in the chemical content of
their blood steams or anything else. It is
the chemical differences no doubt that are
the cause of hemolysis when blood from
one human being is mixed with blood ot
another.
This. It would seem, was what happened
In the case of Mme. Gsrvllle-Rsache. The
blood elvn her by her husband and by
her friends did not "mix" with her own,
and hemolysis probably occurred.
There la also danger that disease may
be transmitted to the already afflicted
patient, in the donor'a blood. Therefore,
careful examination ot the donor and pre
liminary testing of the bloods together to
avert possible hermolysls, is made when
ever possible; and when this la done the
dangers Indicated are minimized.
Pernicious anemia Is an almost invert
able fatal form of blood impoverishment,
for which blood transfusion is done. But.
sad to say, the course of the dtsesse Is
generally not much modified by this opera- -tlon,
which is done for a last recourse and
for a last hope. The same must be said
regarding leukemia, a disease of the white
blood cells, generally fatal. Fatleut wit
Orest Britain Plant Reserved.
A CURIOUS combination of ancient
Z and modern methods at the battle
v front la reported in Illustration
of Paris. Powerful electro-nisgnets are
being used to supplant wherever possible
the regular tools of the surgeon In ex
tracting bullets and shell fragments from
the wounded. At the same time experi
ments are being carried on to see how far
the old method of encasing the soldiers in
armor will stop modern bullets.
In metal making foundries the electro
magnet has long been In use to draw out
particlea of .metal, such as iron filings,
which have penetrated the bod lea of work
men. An invention by Dr. Rollet. of Paris,
has extended the field of usefulness to
heavier pieces of metaL The magnet has
no effect, of course, on the bullets of
shrapnel that are made of lead or upon
the Krench bullet which is Jacketed with
German silver. Fragment of cast iron
shells are. however very magnetic, and so
is the German bullet that Is covered with
a coating of Iron-nlckel. The Rollet electro-magnet
will draw out a bullet weighing
ten grama at a distance of 41-6 Inches
Before the wsr broke out there were w
number ot "bullet proof" cloths Invented
.It was.true that the bullet would not pene
trate the cloth.
protective covering was impracticably'
heavy, the blow given by the missile proved
almost as dangerous as penetration would
have been. What happened was that the
energy of the bullet waa transmitted to U
shielding fsbrie. which in Its turn de'.iverel
the blow to the soldier's body. The sever
ity of the blow depended upon the velocity
of the shield, and If the ahleld waa very
light the chest-wall received more or less
lnJur5Jn !!rder t0 be harmless it was
found that the shield must weigh at least
ten pounds. Jt is a repetition of the old c"
.HVnttf f 8trlk,D8 w,th a "ledse-hammer
th i maU 8 che8t- " ,n P,ac of
!h! S " S,"ibltitute a th,n me Plate.
h.n1m0.V'oul,d bo faU1- and the aledge!
hammer has about the same energy a I
bullet at hish velocity. S "
If the shield weighs but six or eirtt
knock bJW ot the bullet almost
Jf n'.im1 d0WB- The cloth' consisted
of expensively woven cotton and wire, and I
of courae. were rejected because cheap
steel plates of the same weight were
equally effective. The latter have
adopted not to be carried all the UmeJ
inc. the weight is prohibitive, but for
occasional protection lying down between
advances before trenches !