Garfield had exclaimed immediately after he was…

Garfield had exclaimed immediately after he was shot, "My God, what is this?"

One bullet had grazed Garfield's arm; the second bullet was thought later to have possibly lodged near his liver but could not be found; and upon autopsy will be located behind the pancreas.

Though Alexander Graham Bell had specifically devised a metal detector to find the bullet, the device's signal was thought to be distorted by the metal bed springs.

Later, the detector was proved to work perfectly and would have found the bullet had Dr. Doctor Willard Bliss (who is a Doctor of Medicine but whose given name is also "Doctor") had allowed Bell to use the device on Garfield's left side as well.

Garfield had become increasingly ill over a period of several weeks due to infection, which had caused his heart to weaken.

He has remained bedridden in the White House with fever and extreme pain.

As the heat of summer became more oppressive for the stricken President, a Navy engineer, with the help of Simon Newcomb,had installed in Garfield's room what may have been the world's first air conditioner.

An air blower had been installed over a chest containing 6 tons of ice, with the air then dried by conduction through a long iron box filled with cotton screens, and connected to the room's heat vent.

This device is at times capable of reducing the air temperature to 20°F (11°C) below the outside temperature.

Sympathies for President Garfield have poured out across the nation and the world.

Condolences have come from the King of Italy and the Rothschilds.

Democratic Kentucky governor Luke P. Blackburn had ordered a day of "public fasting and prayer".