Ok, I was reading some of the previous posts looking for Peter's 'car keys' reference and ran across this one by Bob.
I heard an opinion on TV just this week that sanitation was the greatest change in medical treatment ever.
Bob, you speak truth!
Last year we watched an episode of, American Experience, a TV documentary series –
Murder of a President.
Described as “The life of President James Garfield, including his rise to power and the aftermath of his assassination.”
The movie informs of some of the details of the 2nd American President to be assassinated. I had never read much about him as he was in office only 5 months when he was shot. What is curious about the story is that if the details are followed, strictly speaking Garfield was not assassinated. He died of poor medical treatment administered because of a non-fatal gunshot wound.
The physician
Dr. Doctor Willard Bliss, his 1st name was indeed Doctor, a rather ominous portent, refused to accept the new and emerging study of antiseptic methods advocated by Joseph Lister. The unfortunate events that occurred as a result of his choosing to advocate homeopathy resulted in his aversion to “new ideas”. He didn’t buy Lister’s assertions on the dangers of infection. He never once in all his treatments of Garfield used any kind antiseptic procedures.
It took 2-1/2 months for Garfield to die of a heart attack because of the
massive infection. Do any reading on James Garfield and you will see how true it is that small incidents trigger big change. Considering what we know of the policies Garfield was discussing and the fact that he was fought in the Civil War on the Union side, we can only speculate where America would be today. A series of events that would certainly have piqued the interest of
James Burke.
Another oddity is that two famous quotes have passed into American culture, “His name is Mudd” and “Ignorance is Bliss”. Both are the result of the aftermath of American Presidential assassinations about 15 years apart.
I love these kinds of historical tidbits.
Duane
P.S. I still haven't found Peter's reference. (hint, hint)
