C. J. B. Aldis, M.D., F.R.C.P.
“Chester Terrace, Chester Square, March 26, 1866.”
It is recorded that Dr. Doddridge showed so little signs of life at his birth that he was laid aside as dead, but one of the attendants observing some signs of life, took the baby under her charge, and by her judicious treatment perfectly restored it.
Mr. Highmore, Secretary of the London Lying-in Hospital, confirmed (by a communication to the Royal Humane Society, April, 1816,) the statement of Mrs. Catherine Widgen, the matron of that excellent establishment, that, by a zealous perseverance in the means recommended by that Society, she had been the happy instrument of restoring from a state of apparent death in the space of three years no less than forty-five infants, who, but for her humane attention and indefatigable exertions, must have been consigned to the grave. Later on, Mrs. Widgen restored in one year twenty-seven apparently dead-born children—a striking instance of the truth of the remark of a celebrated writer (Osiander) that “the generality of infants, considered as still-born, are only apparently so; if, therefore, persons would persevere in their exertions to revive them, most of them might be restored.”—Report of the Royal Humane Society, 1816-17, pp. 52-54.
“For these exertions the General Court adjudged the Honorary Medallion to Mrs. Widgen, and it was accordingly presented to her by His Royal Highness the Duke of Kent.”—Ibid., p. 52.
[The question naturally suggests itself in this place: If the matron of such a noble institution as the above was able to save seventy-two apparently dead children from the grave in four years, how many of these poor little beings are consigned to the grave all over the world for lack of the “humane attention and indefatigable exertions,” such as this skilful matron gave to those that came under her intelligent care?]
“RECURRENCE OF SUSPENDED ANIMATION.
“A child, who had a cough for some time, was suddenly attacked with difficulty of breathing, and to all appearances died. A medical gentleman immediately inflated the lungs, and by persisting in this for a considerable time, recovered the child. A similar state of suspended animation took place three or four times, and inflation was as often had recourse to with the same success; but the attack, happening, unfortunately, to recur whilst the medical gentleman in whose family the case happened was from home, the proper measures were not taken, and the child was lost.”—Ibid., p. 140.
“SHOCK FROM LIGHTNING.
“A boy was struck down by a flash of lightning near Hoxton (in the suburbs of London), and lay exposed to the rain at least an hour, until his companions carried him home on some boards, apparently dead—the body being stiff and universally cold, the fingers and toes contracted, and the countenance livid. He was stripped of his wet clothes, put in hot blankets, and bled twenty ounces. In half an hour, interrupted respiration commenced, without inflating the lungs; in an hour more, regular pulsation and breathing were established, together with power of swallowing; and in a week he was quite well.”—Ibid., p. 147.