Ocean Heart

1907

The throbbing, and vibration of the engines of a modern steamer have a most extraordinary effect upon the human heart.

Let it be said at once that ocean traveling does not in any way injure the heart; on the contrary, it benefits it, with the general health. But the vibration of the machinery is transmitted to this vital organ with the most extraordinary results so far as medical examination is concerned.

A ship's doctor will tell you that when he listens through his stethoscope to the beating of a man's heart at sea it seems as if every moment the heart would stop. With sturdy and invalid passengers it is just the same. The heart appears to the doctor as if every beat would be its last. This being the case, it is exceedingly difficult for the physician to ascertain the true condition of the traveler's health, and he generally resorts to the expedient of slinging his patient in a hammock, where the vibration is considerably lessened, though no device can overcome it altogether. — London Answers.

The Heart of Jumbo the Elephant

1904

It's the Biggest Heart in the World

ITHACA, N. Y., Jan. 30. — The biggest heart in the world, that of the elephant Jumbo, is preserved in the museum of the department of neurology, vertebrate zoology and physiology of Cornell University. If the heart were not so large it would stand in a glass jar on the shelves of the museum with hundreds of those of other animals and men.

But Jumbo's heart is so big that it lies in a barrel stowed away in the cellar of the museum, glass jars not being made large enough to hold the great mass of muscle. Some time it will be dissected by a class of students and then thrown away.

Jumbo had a heart ninety-eight times as large as the average human organ. It now weighs 36½ pounds, after having soaked several years in alcohol. A human heart, which weighs a little more than a pound, soaked in alcohol for the same length of time, weighs 10 ounces. The human heart is less than six inches long. Jumbo's is 28 inches, and 24 inches wide. The ordinary heart could be contained in the main artery of Jumbo's heart. The walls of the artery are five-eighths of an inch thick, while the walls of the ventricle are three inches thick.

When Jumbo met his heroic death at St. Thomas, Ont., trying to save the baby elephant and being himself killed by a locomotive, his carcass was sent to the Ward Natural Science establishment at Rochester. The skeleton was presented and put on exhibition and the hide mounted.

Dr. Burt G. Wilder of Cornell purchased the heart of the animal to add it to his colossal collection. The brains of Jumbo were also desired, but these had been shattered in the collision. When the heart reached Ithaca it was found impractical to preserve it by the process which retains its original shape, and so the organ was put in a barrel of alcohol. It had not been removed for years until Dr. Hugh D. Reed lifted it from the barrel to show to The Herald correspondent.

—The Sunday Herald, Syracuse, New York, Jan. 31, 1904, p. 23.

Man Falls Dead By His Mother's Coffin

New York, 1899

Fifth Member of the Family to Die Within Three Months

By the side of his mother's coffin John F. Murphy, a retired fireman, apparently in full health and strength, fell dead, says the New York Times.

The mother, Mrs. Mary Ann Murphy, died on Wednesday afternoon, after an illness of only two days, at her home, 219 Harrison street, Brooklyn. She was the fourth member of the family to die within three months, and the sudden death of her son brings the number up to five.

John F. Murphy was 37 years old. He had been a fireman for thirteen years, and was retired on half-pay a short time ago. His home was at 521 1st avenue, Manhattan. He went to Brooklyn on Friday night to attend his mother's wake, and sat up with the body all night.

At 1 o'clock the next afternoon, when the body was about to be taken to Calvary cemetery, Murphy and a few friends were sitting in the room with the coffin. Murphy was talking. Suddenly he hesitated in his speech and clapped his hands to his heart. "Boys," he gasped, "I'm sick!" He attempted to rise from his chair and fell unconscious. His friends thought at first that he was joking, and then, becoming alarmed, sent for an ambulance.

Surgeon Smith of the Long Island college hospital responded and Dr. Walter Kean, of Clinton and Congress streets, was also sent for. The two physicians pronounced him dead and ascribed heart disease as the cause.

—The Lima News, Lima, Ohio, Feb. 11, 1899, p. 3.

Six Stiches in His Heart

1920

Trial Jury Is Shown Photograph Made by the Surgeon

PITTSBURGH, Pa. -- The story of a remarkable surgical operation was told in the Criminal Court by Dr. J. F. Berg of St. John's Hospital in the trial of John Hoza, accused of attempting to kill Steve Belonik in a fight last April 9.

Dr. Berg exhibited X-ray plates which provided a startling record of Belonik's case. He testified that Belonik had received a stab wound in the back, which had cut the left ventricle of the heart.

"I opened the chest, removing several ribs, and sewed the heart up, putting six stitches in it," said the surgeon. "The man was out of danger on April 21."

The photographs showed the heart and the sutured incision.

--The Saturday Blade, Chicago, March 27, 1920, page 9.