friend of Garfield, and about a dozen doctors, led by Bliss, were soon probing the wound with unsterilized fingers and instruments. Garfield was given morphine for the pain, and asked Bliss to frankly tell him his chances, which Bliss put at one in a hundred. "Well, Doctor, we'll take that chance." Over the next few days, Garfield made some improvement, as the nation viewed the news from the capital and prayed. Although he never stood again, he was able to sit up and write several times, and his recovery was viewed so positively that a steamer was fitted out as a seagoing hospital to aid with his convalescence. He was nourished on oatmeal porridge (which he detested) and milk from a cow on the White House lawn. When told that Indian chief Sitting Bull, a prisoner of the army, was starving, Garfield said, "Let him starve..." initially, but a few moments later said, "No, send him my oatmeal." X-ray imaging, which could have assisted physicians in precisely locating the bullet in Garfield's body, would not be invented for another 14 years. Alexander Graham Bell tried to locate the bullet with a primitive metal detector, but was unsuccessful, though the device had been effective when tested on others. But Bliss limited its use on Garfield, ensuring he remained in charge. Because Bliss insisted the bullet rested someplace it did not, the detector could not locate it. Bell shortly returned after adjusting his device, which emitted an unusual tone in the area where Bliss believed the bullet was lodged. Bliss took this as confirmation that the bullet was where he declared it to be. Bliss recorded the test as a success, saying it was "now unanimously agreed that the location of the ball has been ascertained with reasonable certainty, and that it lies, as heretofore stated, in the front wall of the abdomen, immediately over the groin, about five inches [] below and to the right of the navel." One means of keeping Garfield comfortable in Washington's summer heat was one of the first successful air conditioning units: air propelled by fans over ice and then dried reduced the temperature in the sickroom by . Engineers from the navy, and other scientists, worked together to develop it, though there were problems to solve, such as excessive noise and increased humidity. On July 23, Garfield took a turn for the worse when his