Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1876-03-23
T0NGUELEss AND TALKATIVE.
w9ma Coughs Up Her Tongue. and Keeps
ON "Candling" Her Husband.


|
Cincinnati Enquirer Through
DIR. ID. Il. Jennings, of Ciev Gland, o.,
who has been attending some of the
annual ceremonies of the high degree
Masons Ia Cincinnati during the past
week, we have learned of tongue
less woman living 10 Northern Ohio,
whose history furnishes an unparal.
lelei feature to medical annals. Her
name is Mira. Mary G. Burnham, wife
.. Mr.. Daniel Burnham, and her age
is upward of so. Her home and post
office address is RootstowD, Portage
County, o., only 40 miles from
Cleveland. For years she had been
troubled with virulsnt catarrh.
The disease seemed to have peGetra.
ted her whole system. BY it her
tongue had become parallzed, 80 far
as The using of it was concerned,
| though in It she still retained the
sense OF taste, anu that to an acute
| degree. About this time her teeth
became utterly Gecayed, and her case
then came under DIR. jennings pro-
fessional observation. She was fur.
| nished with two sets Of artificial
teeth, upper and lower, and very
soon after complained of their inter-
fsring with her tongue. The trouble
however, was not in the teeth, as
Mrs. Burnham was soon convinced.
1t Was ia her tongue, and was reme-
died so soon as an liberation could
be relieved, which had eliminated at
the tongues roots.
At this time, even though her
tongue was absolutely paralized and
capable of being moved only when
manipulated, Mrs. Burnham was
capable OF converting, though, of
course, not articulating with great
accuracy. Her friends lad no diff
Gully 10 understanding her. and
strangers, with close attention, could
distinguish her pronunciation. The
liberation at the root 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 al
the breakfast table, an atom of food
dropped into her larynx. Choking
was the immediate result, of course,
and violent choking, too. when sud-
denly she was stupefied with horror
at seeing her tongue, the whole
tongue, root and branch, fly out of
her mouth and into her hand, which
was then lying on the table. 1t had
loosened and given way at the very
roots, l5aVing the two bony prongs
which form the framework Of the
base OF the tongue absolutely bare.
The Only hemorrhage which followed
was slight, and that was from tear
ing out of the r@num, the thin skin
which may be ftltimmediateIy under
the tongue. There was no effort
made to put back the wagging men,
Der. 1t had been cumbersome long
time, any way, and it is TO be hoped
that, for the good it had done, Mrs.
Burnham gave it decent burial.
And now comes the most wonder
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 titan many persons with
clipped palate. The alteration in
the throat Immediately healed up,
and to-day Mrs. Burnham is in better
health than she had been in years
prior to what many would consider
her terrible accident. When she
eats. she masticates with her head
lsaning little to the right or left,
though she sometimes moves the food
with her fingers, and when ready t.
swallow gives her head a slight toss
backward Her sense of taste re-
mains perfect, so that the goodies of
lip are as welcome TO her as when
her tongue received them all. DIR.
Jennings saw her very recently sur
rounded by family OF grown-up
children well and happy, and just as
capable of giving her husband his
usual rations of wordy precepts and
warning, as when the unruly member
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 success
fully, the plea that the tongue ia the
seat of talk.