Booth reports a remarkable case of vitality of a newly-born child
which came under his observation in October, 1894. An
illegitimate child, abandoned by its mother, was left at the
bottom of a cesspool vault; she claimed that ten hours before
Booth's visit it had been accidentally dropped during an attempt
to micturate. The infant lived despite the following facts: Its
delivery from an ignorant, inexperienced, unattended negress; its
cord not tied; its fall of 12 feet down the pit; its ten hours'
exposure in the cesspool; its smothering by foul air, also by a
heavy covering of rags, paper, and straw; its pounding by three
bricks which fell in directly from eight feet above (some loose
bricks were accidentally dislodged from the sides of the vault,
in the maneuvers to extricate the infant); its lowered
temperature previous to the application of hot bottles, blankets,
and the administration of cardiac stimulants. Booth adds that the
morning after its discovery the child appeared perfectly well,
and some two months afterward was brought into court as evidence
in the case. A remarkable case of infant vitality is given on
page 117.
Operations in the Young and Old.--It might be of interest to
mention that such a major operation as ovariotomy has been
successfully performed in an infant.
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