ARTHUR TRACY CABOT. 795 



he undertake any operation which he thouglit could be better per- 

 formed by another. This absohite intei;Tity of character, combined 

 with rare soundness of judgment and with manual skill, won him the 

 implicit confidence of all who came into contact with him, and natur- 

 ally led to a wide consulting practice. He was as painstaking and 

 conscientious in the after-treatment as in deciding whether or not tf) 

 operate. He never in the least shirked responsibility; but it wore 

 upon him more than it does upon some men of different temperament, 

 and prevented him from doing as much work as he might otherwise 

 have done. 



Among his contributions to general surgery may be mentioned his 

 use of the valve acting dressing and chlorinated soda irrigation for 

 empyema operations, and a wire splint for fractures of the lower leg, 

 devised while Surgeon to the Children's Hospital, in large use through- 

 out the world, and, curiously enough, save in Boston, known by his 

 name. It displaced the old fracture box. He early ad\ocated and 

 practised incision ivithotd drainage for tubercular peritonitis. In 

 1S74 to 1875 he assisted his father in the first two successful abdominal 

 operations connected with the ISIassachusetts General Hospital. 

 They were on hospital patients, but the operations were done in a 

 neighboring house in Allen Street. It appears that Dr. Arthur Cabot 

 did the first successful abdominal operation within the hospital walls 

 in 1884, on a case of large strangulated umbilical herma. The patient 

 had been admitted to Dr. Hodges' service. He, however, being ill. 

 Dr. Bigelow was taking his place, and Dr. Cabot, then Surgeon to 

 Out-Patients, was assisting the latter. Dr. Cabot was called in the 

 evening. Dr. Hodges had recently published a paper on cases of this 

 nature, concluding that operation was always fatal, recovery occa- 

 sional without operation. Dr. Cabot therefore sought Dr. Bigelow, 

 whom he found at Dr. Hodges' house. He stated the case. Dr. 

 Bigelow: "What do you want to do?" Dr. Cabot: "Operate." 

 Dr. Bigelow: "Whether you operate or not the patient will die, 

 therefore do as you like. Is not that so. Dr. Hodges?" Dr. Hodges: 

 " No, if you operate he will die; if you don't he may get well." After 

 some discussion, Dr. Bigelow agreed that Dr. Cabot should do as he 

 liked, so he returned to the hospital, operated, and in a few weeks the 

 patient was well. We tell the story thus in full for the light it throws 

 on the state of surgery less than thirty years ago. In 1886, Dr. Cabot 

 had three successful cases of laparotomy in rapid succession, one for 

 ovarian cyst, two for fibroids. 



Dr. Cabot's ciualities did not escape the keen eye of the late Dr. 



