The Shasta courier., 1869-02-27
NUMBER 80.
" Extraordinary Recovery"

Under this caption the Russian River
Flag publishes an account of man having
his head sawed open, by which he lest
spoonful of brain" aud is nov alive:
On our recent tour through Mendocino
County we made the acquaintance of Mr..
+. B. Chase, a fireman in the Casper mill,
who received a wound in July, 1851, the
nature of which, aud his complete recovery,
furnishing one of the most remarkable cases
OF the kind to be found on record lie
was doing some work under picket saw.
which, when in motion, .ru-s at a tremeu-
dous speed. Inadvertently raising his head
against the saw he instantaneousIv received
a cut beginning at the frontal bone, one
halt inch above the nose, and running back
10 the occlpltal bone, making an lncison
nine inches IN length (taking in the CON
vexlty of the sluiD. Dir. 4. C. Folsom
was sent for and arrived in half an bour.
he very naturally supposed the wound was
fatal one, and at first thought that it
would be useless to dress it. believing the
min would die in few minutes. But Nr.
Chase being perfectly conscious and sniIer-
ing no pain whatever, the doctor finally
concluded TO attempt careful dressing,
even II the patient should die under the
operatlon-encouraged somewhat, he says.
by remembering the case Of the man in
ermont who had tamping iron blown
through his head and recovering there
from The cut in Mr.. Chase head gaped
open so that the skull bones were full
inch apart
The doctor made no attempt to probe the
depth, but did insert a pocket rule one and
half inches into the brain (besides the
thickness of the skull-bone), which was as
far as it could go without touching the
walls Of the cut. On account of its circu
lar shape, the saw must have penetrated
the brain much deeper than point on
straight line from one extremity of the
wound to the other. DR.. Folsom estmated
that the brain was cut nearly to its base
or fully three inches deep. He carefully
removed all the fragments OF the skull
taking out over thirty pieces-and washed
out the sawdust that had got into the OPEN
Ing, using warm water to promote henor-
rhage, which was slight for such an extern
slye wound. He also washed out more
than tablespoonful of.bran How much
more the saw carried away one can only
conjecture The doctor then shaved the
scalp, applied tourniquot to bring the
bones together, and closed the eaperture with =
SIX stitches, finishing with adhesive plaster
and leaving three openings, one "a oaol
end and one in the centre. The oaly dress
ing used Was water Mr. Chase was in
full possession of his faculties daring the
whole time, and experienced 10 pain
Neither did he suffer loss Of Sleep or appe-
tite
The doctors theory for this wonderful
case is that the wound was clean, smooth
cut, unaccompanied by conclusion, and
that it is usually the concusson and not the
ncision OF the brain that causes death.
We are indebted for the foregoing f.cts
to DR.. Folsom himself, who mas an enviabie
reputation on the Coast for surgical skill.
lie related the case to us in presence OF
gentlemen who We're also acquainted
with the circumstances The doctor said
he would have sent statement of the case
to the medical journals shortly after the
occurrence, but he was firm in the belief
for year or two that his patient would
ultimately die of the injury.
Mr.. Chase now seems to have as lone a
lease on this life as anybody, and as to his
soundness of mind we can only say in proof
that on reading the Flag he Immediately
subscribed for it.