second thoughts on Nkinis

[James A. Landau]

In a message dated > Sun, 26 Dec 2004 13:56:30 -0500,   Laurence Horn <
> laurence.horn at YALE.EDU> asks:
>
> wonder what the first cite is for "the
> operation/treatment was a success but the patient died".

I have heard not the exact phrase but a similar thought attributed to Abraham
Lincoln.  Allegedly he was visiting a Civil War hospital and heard a couple
of doctors discussing a procedure (an amputation?) they had just performed, and
Lincoln asked something like "but did the patient survive?"

I read the above anecdote years ago and cannot recall the source.

   - James A. Landau