The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1873-09-04
TALKING, WITHOUT A
vn TONGUE.
4

DIT J0nn MalcOlm, Wrltlng troI
!. Persia in 1928, describes the case G
: a chief named Zal Khan, who, CON
| ing into disfavor with the reigniny
/ monarch, was condemned to have hi
r eyes put ont. Failing in his appea
for a recall OF this cruel sentence, Ia
Khan ''loaded the tyrant with curses
and, in return, his tongue was order
ed to be cut out. This order wal
imperfectly executed, and the loss O
half the member is reported to have
deprived him of speech. Being after
! ward persuaded that, if cut close, he
might be able to speak intelligently
with the root, he submitted to the op-
Grafton, and subsequently told his
own story to Malcolm. These state
ments were long doubted, but,in / 857,
they were fully confirmed by Sir John
Mcneil, whose inquiries in Persia
where this mode of punishment is
common, led to the, discovery. of
many instances Of !. similar nature.
The belief is universal in that country
that excision of the tip of the tongue
permanently destroys the power Of
speech, while it's removal at orhear
the root leaves the victim chance
of regaining the ability to again speak
his mind. Surgeons are agreed, how
ever. that, for the purposes of talking,
the more there is lett of the "unruly
member" the better. ~
A still more remarkable example of
the retention of the powers of utter
ance, after loss of the tongue, is that
Of Margaret Cutting, whose case was
brought before the Royal Society of
England in 1742, and again in. l747
This girl lost her tongue by what was
supposed to be cancer, when four
years old. This disease first appear
ed in the shape of small blackspeck
on the upper surface of the tongue.
and rapidly eat its way quite back to
the root. One day,while the surgeon
who had the case in charge was syr-
inglng the parts, the tongue dropped
out, the girl Immediately thereafter,
to the great astonishment of those
present, saying to her mother; Don't
be frightened, mamma; it will grow
again" Three months afterward it
was completely healed, with not a
vestage of the tongue remaining. At,
the age of twenty this girl was care
fully examined by several competent
gentlemen, who report in the forty
fourth volume of the philosophical
Transactions" as follows, regarding
her condition: eve proceeded to ex-
anime her mouth with the greatest
exactness we could, but found not the
least appearance Of any remaining
part of the tongue, nor was there any
uvula 4 = Notwithstanding
the want of so necessary an organ as
the tongue was generally supposed to
be, to form a great part of our speech,
and likewise to be assisting in deglu-
tition, to our great admiration she
performed the office Of deglutition,
both in swallowing solids and fluids,
as we'll as we could, and in the same
manner. And as to speech, she dis
coursed as fuently and as we'll as 9TH
ers do. ;: = Sheread to us
in book very distinctly and plain,
only we observed that sometimes she
pronounced words ending in ath as et
end as enab, al as eid; but it required
q nice and strict attention to observe
even this difference Of sound. She
sings very prettily, and pronounces
her words in singing as is common |
Science Month1y.