Page 256

“…when her blood first came…”

Anarcha’s case record does not record her first menses, even though it was often the first thing recorded in case reports at Woman’s Hospital. It would have suspicious to others around him had Sims not asked this question.

“…came out with the use of tongs…”

“By artificial means” means the use of forceps (see “…an implement that struck Anarcha…,” above).

Anarcha’s case record, in the first of three surviving case record books, is held at the Arthur H. Aufses, Jr. Medical Archives and Mount Sinai Records office at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, New York.

“…the position she assumed…”

See “…a large Irishwoman named Mary Smith…,” above.

Although Sims had transitioned to the “left-lateral” position for many procedures, he still used the older Sims position, the knee-chest or genu-pectoral, for some cases. There is no reason to assume that he would have considered Anarcha’s comfort level at this time.

“…the higher grades of life.”

Sims, J. M. (1990). Silver sutures in surgery; together with Clinical notes on uterine surgery. Birmingham, Ala: Classics of Obstetrics & Gynecology Library, p. 17.

“…she felt only a single finger…”

Anarcha’s case record, in the first of three surviving case record books, is held at the Arthur H. Aufses, Jr. Medical Archives and Mount Sinai Records office at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, New York.

“…her womb had fallen out of position…”

Anarcha’s case record, in the first of three surviving case record books, is held at the Arthur H. Aufses, Jr. Medical Archives and Mount Sinai Records office at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, New York.

“…she was given a dose of opium…”

I doubt the veracity of Anarcha’s case record—in particular, its claim that she was “cured”—but Sims does say that he used four silver sutures, one of them passing through the cervix. Although Sims later said that this was the kind of case that would require anesthesia (see “…conducted without the use of anesthesia…,” above), he says here “but little morphia used.”

Anarcha’s case record, in the first of three surviving case record books, is held at the Arthur H. Aufses, Jr. Medical Archives and Mount Sinai Records office at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, New York.

“…the drug had already begun to soften time…”

I have imagined Anarcha’s drug-induced reverie and vision here, but it is wholly in keeping with her history, and does not depart from what has been documented about her life.

“…to stifle the impulse to cry out…”

See “…never moved or made a sound…,” above.