GASTON 429 GASTON livered during the month died — about one in four — and the survivors escaped miserably with their lives. Compare this with the present mortality in our maternities, a mortality from sepsis of less than 0.1 per cent. At this time (October 1) the rotation of service brought Dr. Garrigues in charge. He proved to be the man superior to the emergency. Appalled at the frightful conditions he had already formulated, he at once carried into effect a detailed plan for driving out the pestilence. The plan consisted of rigid cleanliness, the use of bichloride solution, the rapid alternation of wards, and fresh bedding and clothing. On December 21, less than three months after the institution of the new regime, Garrigues, in reporting the result of his work, was able to say : "The effect of the treatment has been wonderful. As if by magic all trouble dis- appeared. Ninety-seven women have been delivered since its introduction, and not only has none of them died, but there has been scarcely any disease among them ; only three had any rise of temperature. The pavilions are scarcely recognizable. Where we used to have offensive odors; feverish, protrated, or despairing patients, overworked nurses and despondent doctors, the air is pure, the patients look well, their temperatures are normal, the nurses are cheerful, and the doctors happy." Could there be a greater triumph than this? Was ever greater lesson taught more quickly? And Garrigues lived to know we knew the value of his deed; lived to know the place of honor he; held in the hearts of his fellows."* Dr. Garrigues was a man of unusual culture, strong character, a very hard worker. He re- tained his activity of mind almost to his death. He was much interested in botany and languages, and at the age of seventy-eight took up Esperanto and became an authority on its pronunciation. Leon F. Garrigues.
- In Memoriam, Henry J. Garrigues, Brooks H.
Wells, M. D. Trans. Amer. Gyn. Soc, 1914, vol. xxxix, 511-516. Gaston, James McFadden (1824-1903) J. McFadden Gaston, for a long time the leading surgeon and teacher in the South, was the son of Dr. John Brown and Polly Buford Gaston and was born December 27, 1824, near Chester, South Carolina. He attended the common schools of his native county and at Russell Place in the Kershaw district. Gradu- ating A. B. at the South Carolina College, Columbia, in 1843, he began the study of medicine under his father, attended one course of lectures at the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania and a course at the Medical College of South Carolina, re- ceiving his M. D. there in 1846. Immediately entering on practice in partnership with his father in Chester, he stayed there until 1852, when he removed to Columbia. At the opening of the Civil War Dr. Gaston enlisted in the Columbia Grays and was appointed chief sur- geon of the South Carolina forces, serving in various capacities throughout the war. At the close of hostilities in 1865, Dr. Gaston went to Brazil, where he attended the lectures of the Imperial Academy of Medicine, and in 1873 received an ad eundem degree, en- titling him to practice medicine in that coun- try. He established himself with his family in the province of St. Paulo in 1867 and prac- tised medicine for six years in the interior towns. In 1874 he removed to Campinas, Brazil, and practised until his return to the United States in 1883. Then he made his home in Atlanta, Georgia, until his death, No- vember IS, 1903, at the age of seventy-nine. Soon after settling in Atlanta he opened a surgical infirmary in connection with his sur- gical practice, and in 1884 was elected pro- fessor of the principles and practice of medi- cine in the Southern Medical College, Atlanta. Dr. Gaston wrote extensively for medical journals and for the Southern Surgical and Gynecological Association, of ^hich he was president in 1892. His papers on surgery of the gall-bladder and ducts, yellow-fever in- oculation, appendicitis and ovariotomy received the most attention. He was chairman of the surgical section of the American Medical Association in 1891 ; he was also a member of the American Surgical Association. Dr. Gaston married Sue G. Brumby, daughter of Professor R. T. Brumby of the University of South Carolina, in 1852, and they had ten children, one son following in his father's footsteps. He was tall, fair haired, wiry and alert. He was the first surgeon to demonstrate the- feasibility of cholecyst-enterostomy by use of the elastic ligature on dogs. This original •work was done in Atlanta in 1885. One re- members him as an enthusiastic surgeon of an: original and inquiring type of mind. He was. not careful in his antisepsis, but was one of the first surgeons to appreciate the value of tincture of iodine as a local antiseptic. He was a bold operator, and always reported his untoward results with absolute fidelity. Atlanta Jour.-Rec. of Med., Dec, 1903, vol. v, 608- 610, Editorial. Personal communications from contemporaries.
