Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1873-03-05
The CrOWbar Case.

This account of the Gage case, taken
from medical paper, will be new to mos
of our readers, and recall to the minds o.
many others the almost forgotten circum
stances Of that affair:
BY far the most extraordinary instance
Of this is known in the profession as the
" Crowbar Case" or, as it was at one time
called, in derision the - Great American
case" indicating its similarity to the Car
diff Giant and some other illustrations ot
! the love of humbugging and Of being hum
bugged, which seem to be equally and
largely developed among US. However
there is no longer any room for doubt
respecting this case, for here is not only
the published account, but any one may
now inspect the skull Of the man to whom
the accident occurred, and the Identical
bar which passed through his head, at the
/ Warren Anatomical Museum of Harvard
University. The bar l now show is an
exact model of the real iron bar, and the
holes in the skull fairly indicate the direc
| ton which it followed. The bar is called
happening iron, is round and compare :
lively smooth, , feet I inches long, 4
largest diameter, and at one end tapers
for about foot to a point one quarter
inch thick
The following is condensed from the
account of DR.. Harlow who attended the
case On the 18th of September, 1913
in Cavendlsh, VT, Phineas 7. Gage, the
foreman Of gang OF workmen, was charg-
ing a hole drilled in the rock, sitting at
the time upon a shelf Of rock above the
hole The powder and fuse had been ad-
justed, and he was happening it down with
the iron bar While looking behind him
be allowed the iron to strike fire upon the
rock, and an explosion followed which
sent the iron bar obiquey upward,
through his head, and high up into the
air so as to fall several rods behind him.
smeared with blood and brains.
The iron entered by its taper end the
left cheek and passed obliquely upward so
as to emerge from the medlan line on the
top of the head, at the back part of the
frontal bone, near the coronal suture.
Gage was thrown upon his back and moved
his extremities conyulslvelv few times.
but spoke IN few minutes He was car
rled some rods to the road, and then rode
in an ox-cart three quarters Of a mile,
supported IN a sitting posture. He got
out of the cart with little assistance. and
an hour afterward, aided only by Dr. Har-
low, walked up a long flight OF stairs and
got in bed The wound bled profusey,
the brain pIotruding through the hole IN
the skull by 3 Il inches and shreds Of
brain hung on his har. While searching
for fragments the doctor passed the two
openings 50 as to meet but this was
scarcely felt by the patient. His mind
was clear for two days. but he was more
or less dellrious for about ten days; then
had lucid interval followed by serious
relapse, when his life was despaired Of
But, on the 2Sth day was very clear in his
mind ; stated how long he had been in
bed, how he was injured and the circum-
stances attending it. On the 56th day,
less than two months after the injury,
Gage was improving in every respect; sat
up most of the day, ate and slept well ;;
walked up and down stairs and into the
street. On the 64th day he caught cold
from exposure, but the relapse lasted but
a few days, and he improved steadily un-
til three and half months after the iDiu-
ry, when the opening on the top Of the
head had closed over. In April, 1869
seven months after injury, his condition
was as follows: General appearance
good stands quite erect, with his head
inclined toward the right side; walks
steadily; his movements are rapid and
easily executed; vision Of the left eye
lost; partial paralysis of left side of face f;
has no pain in head, but says it has a
queer feeling, which he is not able to
describe. Is undecided whether to work
or travel but his former employers who
regarded him as their most efficient and
capable foreman considered the change in
his mind so marked that they could not
give him his former place
The equilibrium or balance, so to speak,
between his intellectual faculties and his
animal propenslties, seems to have been
destroyed. He is itful irreverent, indulg
ing i, times in the grossest profanity
(which vas not his previous custom), man
! ifesting but little Difference for his fellows,
| impatient of restraint Or advice when it
conflicts with his desires, at all times per-
tinaciously obstinate, yet capricious and
vacillating, devising many plans of opera
| ton, which are no sooner arranged than
they are abandoned in turn for others ap
pearing more feasible A child in his in
tellectual capacity and manifestations. he
has the animal passions Of strong man.
Previous to his injury, though unframed
in the schools, he possessed well balanced
mind, and was looked upon by those who
know him as shrewd smart business
man, very energetic and persistent in ex-
ecuting his plans. ln this regard his
mind was radically changed, so that his
friends said he was no longer Gage. He
was accustomed to entertain his little
nephews and nieces with the most fabulous
recital of his most wonderful feats and
hair r-breadth escapes, without any founda-
tion except in fancy.
After trying various occupations, he
went to South America in 1852, four years
after injury, and during the next eight
years Was occupied in caring for horses.
often driving coach and six. During
the year 1860 his health failed some
what, apparently from exposure, and be
removed to San Francisco. His health
improved somewhat, but in February,
| 1861, while sitting at dinner he fell in a
fit, and soon after had two or three fits