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    "localId": "7268611",
    "label": "Official Report of the Case of President William McKinley",
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    "id": "7268611",
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    "contentType": "document",
    "title": "Official Report of the Case of President William McKinley",
    "description": "This excerpt from the American Journal of the Medical Sciences gives an account of the shooting, operation, treatment, and autopsy of President William McKinley from the physicians that treated the President.",
    "citationUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/7268611",
    "collections": [
        "Papers of Ethan Allen Hitchcock",
        "Communications with the Executive Department"
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    "productionDates": [
        {
            "day": 19,
            "logicalDate": "1901-10-19",
            "month": 10,
            "year": 1901
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    "seq": 8,
    "pageIndex": 0,
    "type": "photo",
    "url": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/11/2686/7268611/content/arcmedia/dc-metro/HITCH/ud-8300-b/Box-1/6850595/HD1-129497211_2010_014.jpg",
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    "ocrText": "526 AMERICAN JOURNAL OF THE MEDICAL SCIENCES.\nOn gelatin it grows very slowly, with slight and slow indication of liquefac-\ntion. In litmus milk it produ ces acid and rapid coagulation.\nAt the time of the autopsy, September 14th, inoculations were made by\nmyself. From the base of the wound there was again obtained a number of\npus organisms, principally a white estaphylococcus and the bacterium described\nabove, but no streptococci. Cultures made from the peritoneal surface of\nthe intestines were entirely negative. Cultures made from the under sur-\nface of the omentum, near. the colon, were entirely negative, both with and\nwithout oxygen. Cultures from the blood of the right auricle were likewise\nnegative. A very careful and extensive search for micro-organisms in the\ncontents of the necrotic cavity behind the stomach reveals nothing but a\nshort, stumpy bacterium, which, as far as the work has been carried at present,\nappears to belong to the proteus group, and is very like proteus hominis cap-\nsulatus, described by Bordoni and Uffreduzzi.\nMorphologically, it is not uniform, and sometimes appears almost encap-\nsulated, being surrounded by material that does not stain, is quite refractory\nto Gram, and produces an odor of decomposition as it grows. It does not\nliquefy gelatin rapidly, and grows slowly as a glistening, white elevated sur-\nface growth, which slowly sinks; but on agar, in the thermostat, it grows\nvery rapidly as a moist, grayish-white, translucent mass. Colonies on gelatin\nplates have a clean circumference, are granular, and quite refractive. In\nlitmus milk it produces acid and rapid coagulation. Animal experiments\nare still incomplete and cannot be published at this time.\nIt must be stated that there is occasion for suspecting that this may be a\ncontamination, either from the outer wound or elsewhere, because, quite\nunavoidably, the technique of obtaining the material and cultures from the\nnecrotic cavity was not absolutely correct.\nCultures made from the small area of broken-down tissue under the chest\nwound at the time of the autopsy grew what appears to be staphylococcus\nepidermidis albus described by Dr. Welch.\nThe slimy, gray necrotic material from the cavity above the transverse\nmesocolon behind the stomach was carefully examined microscopically, with\nthe result that very few micro-organisms were found in the fresh state, and\nno recognizable tissue elements of any kind, no leucocytes or pus-corpuscles,\nbut an abundance of crystals, which appeared more like fatty acid than fat\ncrystals. It contained no free hydrochloric acid, and was alkaline in reac-\ntion. Experiments as to its digestive power were negative. About 2 c.c.\nof this material was injected in the space behind the stomach of a dog (still\nliving), with no results except quite an elevated temperature for three or\nfour days. Other animal experiments are also incomplete.\nIt might be well to state here that the bacteriological examination of\nthe chambers and barrel of the weapon used, as well as the empty shells\nand cartridges, ordered by the District Attorney, was entirely negative,\nexcept that from a loaded cartridge there was grown an ordinary\nstaphylococcus and a mould. The chemical examination of the balance\nof the loaded cartridges, made by Dr. Hill, chemist, was also negative.\nThe absence of known pathogenic bacteria, particularly in the\nnecrotic cavity, warrants the conclusion that bacterial infection was not\na factor in the production of the conditions found at the autopsy."
}