Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1876-04-07
TONGUELEsS BUT TALKAT1vE.
An Ohio Woman Coughs Up Her
Tongue, Yet Retains the Power OF
Specch.

Through DR.. d. r. Jennings, of
Cleveland, Ohio, who has been at
tending some of the annual cerc-
monies of the high degree Masons
in Cincinnati during the past week,
we have heard of a tongeless woman
living in northern Ohio, whose his
tory furnishes an unparalleled feature
in medical annals. Her name is Mrs.
Mary c. Burnham, wife of Daniel
Burnham, and her age is upward of
so. Her home and post-office address
is Rootstown, Portage county, O.,
about forty miles from Cleveland
For years she had been troubled with
virulent catarrh. The disease seem
ed to have penetrated her whole sys-
tenn. BY it her tongue had become
partially paralyzcd, so tar as the using
of it was concerned, though in it she
still retained the sense Of taste, and
that to an acute degree. About this
time her teeth became utterly decay
ed, and her case then came under Dir.
Jennings professional observation.
She was furnished with two sets of
artificial teeth, upper and lower, and
very soon afterwards complained of
their interfering with her tongue.
The trouble, however, was not in the
teeth, as Mrs. Burnham was soon
convinced. 1t was her tongue, and
was remedied as soon as an ulcera-
ton could be relieved, which had
eliminated at the tongues roots.
At this time, even though her
tongue was absolutely paralyzed and
capable of being moved only when
manipulated, Mrs. Burnham was
capable of conversing, though, of
course, not articulating with great
accuracy. Her friends had no trouble
in understanding her, and strangers,
with close attention, could distinguish
her pronunciation. The liberation
at the roots Of her tongue, though
possibly little better, did not heal,
but the swelling of the tongue did
go down. One morning, while Mrs.
Burnham was sitting with her family
at the breakfast table, an atom of
food dropped into her larynx. Chok-
ing was the immediate result, of
course, and violent choking, too,
when suddenly she was stupified with
horror at seeing her tongue, the
whole tongue, root and branch, flying
out Of her mouth into her hand,
which was at the time lying on the
table. 1t had loosened and given
away at the very roots, leaving the
two bony prongs which form the
framework Of the tongue entirely
bare. The only hemorrhage which
followed was slight, and that was
from the tearing out Of the frenum,
the thin skin which may be felt i'm
mediately under the tongue. There
was no effort made to put back the
wagging member. 1t had been cum
bersome a long time, any way, and it
is hoped that, for the good it has
done, Mrs. Burnham gave to it a de-
cent burial.
~hiN AoN SOliNS hllS ihoSC NoiIiCi-
full part of the whole history. With
natural teeth all gone, and with
tongue completely uprooted, Mrs.
Burnham could talk with ease. Her
words, many of them, to be sure,
were clipped, but yet she talked even
better than many persons with a
clipped palate. The liberation in the
throat Immediately healed up, and
to-day Mrs. Burnham is in better
health than she has been for years
prior to what many would consider
her terrible accident. When she eats
she mastlcates with her head leaning
little to the right or left, though
she sometimes moves the food with
her fingers, and when ready to swal-
low, gives her head slight toss
backward. Her sense of taste re-
mains perfect, SO that the goodness
of lip are as welcome to her as when
her tongue received them all. DIR.
Jenning saw her very recently sur
rounded by a family of grown up
children well and happy, and just as
capable of giving her husband his
usual rations of wordy precepts and
warnings as when the unruly mem
Der occupied her mouth. Tongue
lashing with her is done, but the
vocal use of the Kings English is
not, and she has thus exploded, and
most successfully, the plea that the
tongue IS the seat of talk.