Page:Intubation of the Larynx - Waxham (1888).djvu/11



Few operations in the history of medicine have excited more wide-spread interest than intubation of the larynx, and, like all other new operations, it has met with opposition. It has, however, fulfilled the expectation of its advocates, and rapidly, yet surely won its way into favor, until, even now, it fairly rivals the older operation of tracheotomy.

To Dr. Bouchut, of Paris, we are indebted for the idea of relieving stenosis of the larynx by a tube introduced by way of the mouth.

To Dr. O'Dwyer, of New York, belongs the great, the imperishable honor of reviving the operation, and by his ingenuity so modifying the instruments as to make them of practical utility. Mine has been the lesser honor of assisting in the development of the operation, and of first introducing it generally into private practice.

Few can appreciate the risks and dangers that were encountered in introducing this operation into private practice. Several times my life was