But little blood was found at the base of the brain. Both orbital plates of the frontal bone were fractured, and the fragments pushed up toward the brain. The dura mater over these fractures was uninjured. The orbits were gorged with blood. 29[1]
A more colorful and emotion-packed account has been left by Dr. Curtis, who wrote:
Eleven o'clock comes; the two designated pathologists are ushered into what was the bedchamber of the deceased, a room furnished in simplest style. There sit in solemn silence some officers in uniform and some civilians, while the Surgeon General paces nervously to and fro beside another silent occupant of the chamber, a shrouded figure, cold and motionless, lying outstretched upon two boards laid across trestles * * *.
The shroud is laid back, and see! A smooth clear skin fitting cleanly over well-rounded muscles, sinewy and strong * * *. Next see at the back of the head, low down and a little to the left, a small round blackened wound, such as is made by a pistol-shot at close range. There is no counter-opening, so the missile has lodged and must now be found * * *. The part is lifted from its seat, when suddenly, from out a cruel vent that traverses it from end to end, through these very fingers there slips a something hard — slips and falls with a metal's mocking clatter into a basin set beneath. The search is satisfied; a little pellet of lead.
So impressed was Dr. Curtis with the historical interest attached to the autopsy on the martyred President, that when he found some drops of the blood of the President upon his cuffs, Mrs. Curtis cut them off and saved them. Ultimately, they were presented to the Medical Museum where they may be seen today, along with a tiny sliver of bone which evidently had been driven into Mr. Lincoln's brain by the bullet and had adhered to the surgical instrument used by Dr. Curtis (fig. 19) . 30 [2]
Another connection between the Museum and the events surrounding the death of President Lincoln was the preparation by Hermann Faber (fig. 20),
- ↑ 29 (1) This account is taken from a true copy of the original, certified by Maj. George A. Otis, in the collection of the Medical Museum. In Gilmore, Col. Hugh R., Jr.: Medical Aspects of the Assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Medicine, London, 47: 103—108, February 1954. It is Dr. Gilmore's opinion that "it is doubtful if modern medical practice could have saved Lincoln's life." (2) In a lecture at Walter Reed Army Medical Center on 25 May i960 (reported in the Washington Post of 25 May), Lt. Col. George J. Hayes, M.C., Chief of Neurological Service, said that even with the best of modern medical service, the President would have had no more than a 50-50 chance of survival, and even if he had survived, he would probably have been completely paralyzed on the right side and possibly unable to talk.
- ↑ 30 (1) Personal Recollections of the War of the Rebellion: addresses delivered before the Commandery of the State of New York Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, Fourth Series, A. Noel Blakeman (editor), New York, 1912, includes "Last Professional Service of the War," pp. 54-65, read on 7 October 1908 by Companion Edward Curtis, Brevet Major, Late U.S.A. (2) From the bloodstains on the cuffs preserved by Mrs. Curtis, Col. Joseph H. Akeroyd, MSC, U.S. Army (now stationed at Brooke General Hospital) was able to type President Lincoln's blood as Type A.
