Page:A cyclopedia of American medical biography vol. 1.djvu/204

 BONTECOU

BONTECOU

came a leader in things surgical and medical ; in politics and social life. Several times he served in the House of Represen- tatives and in 1S70 in the Senate. Dur- ing the war of the rebellion he was ap- pointed surgeon to the Second Michigan Infantry, rapidly being promoted until he was surgeon-in-chief of the third division, ninth army corps, during service taking part in twenty-nine different engagements. On June 17, 1864, Dr. Bonine had charge of two thousand wounded and dying soldiers brought in from all directions, and forty surgeons working under him. In the fall of 1S64, because of illness (chronic diarrhea), he resigned and was appointed examining surgeon on the Provost Marshall's staff for the Western District of Michigan with headquarters at Kalama- zoo, and filled the place until the close of the war. He was a member of the Michigan State Medical Society. Dr. S. Belknap of Niles, his partner for eleven years and a personal friend, said: "As a surgeon he had marked ability and superior judgment; he rendered un- usual public service to his city and the state; his business ability guided the affairs of many households; his sym- pathy for his fellows impelled him to put forth his life to help others, either as individuals or institutions." In 1S44 he married Eveline Beall, and his three children survived him; one son, becoming Dr. F. N. Bonine. Dr. Evan J. Bonine died at Niles, Michigan, December 2S, 1892, from chronic diarrhea acquired dur- ing army service.

Paper: "Report of a Case of Ear Em- bolism." Physician and Surgeon, Ann Arbor, vol. viii. L. C.

Representative Men in Mich. "West. Bio- graph. Co., Cincin., O., vol. iv.

Bontecou, Reed Brockway (1824-1907). Reed Brockway Bontecou was known as one of the largest contributors of pathological specimens to the Army and Navy Museum, which was, of course, indirectly a contribu ion to the "Medical and Surgical History of the War of the

Rebellion" (J. S. B. Billings). He was born in Troy, New York, on April 22, 1824, the son of Peter and Samantha (Brockway) Bontecou, of French Hu- guenot and Scotch ancestry.

His early career may be briefly sum- med up by stating that he graduated B. Sc, Rensselaer Polytechnic Instiute, 1842; was instructor in botany and zoology, 1843. Studied medicine with Drs. John Wright and Thomas C. Brins- made of Troy; attended lectures, medical department, University of City of New York, 1844-45; made a romantic trip up the Amazon river, 1S46, to collect flora and fauna for the Troy Lyceum of Natural History; graduated M. D., Cas- tleton, Vermont, Medical College, 1S47, and began to practise in Troy with Dr. Thomas C. Brinsmade.

In 1S4S he made a study of Asiatic cholera, epidemic at the time; treated diphtheria (newly recognized as a specific form of disease) by open-air method and tracheotomy when necessary; and treated general peritonitis with large doses of pulverized opium, reporting the follow- ing remarkable case August 2, 1854.

Mrs. W. A., of South Troy, aged thirty-four, in good health and six months pregnant, while in squatting position, feeding her chickens, ruptured an old umbilical hernia, spilling almost all her abdominal viscera to the ground. Patient when seen was in collapse, in- testines covered with pebbles and dirt and swollen to size of a peck measure. The opening was enlarged, viscera cleansed and replaced, wall repaired by rolling up and fixation with skewers, and a large dose of opium administered "to let her die easy." Despite severe peri- tonitis, however, recovery ensued under repeated large doses of opium (15 to 20 grains).

Another case which attracted great attention as the first of its kind in this country was one of fracture of the cervical vertebrae with complete general paralysis; treated sucessfully, April 3, 1S56, by extension; patient recovering to resume his occupation as house painter,