Too well I knew the meaning of the lapping, hissing,
sucking noise that instantly smote our ears. I had made a deep cut
across the jugular vein, the wound gaping widely in consequence of
the tension given to the vein by the position of the patient's head.
A large quantity of air rushed in instantly.
"An exclamation of alarm from Doctor Kline, as he changed the
position of the patient's neck in order to force the lips of the
wound together and stop the fatal influx of air, roused me from a
momentary stupor, and I came back into complete self-possession. The
fearful exigency of the moment gave to nerve and brain all the
stimulus they required. Already there was a struggle for breath, and
the face of Mrs. Carlton, which had been slightly suffused with
color, became pale and distressed. Sufficient air had entered to
change the condition of the blood in the right cavities of the
heart, and prevent its free transmission to the lungs. We could hear
a churning sound occasioned by the blood and air being whipped
together in the heart, and on applying the hand to the chest could
feel a strange thrilling or rasping sensation.
"The most eminent surgeons differ in regard to the best treatment in
cases like this, which are of very rare occurrence; to save life the
promptest action is required. So large an opening as I had unhappily
made in this vein could not be quickly closed, and with each
inspiration of the patient more, air was sucked in, so that the
blood in the right cavities of the heart soon became beaten into a
spumous froth that could not be forced except in small quantities
through the pulmonary vessels into the lungs.
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