The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1876-03-24

The Pain . Man suffered nom an Ampu-
satsd Foot, and how ne was Relieved.
The Virgins City (Nev.) Enterprise
of the I'd inst. prints this story: 1--WE
learn some curious circumstances con-
nected with the amputation OF the leg
OF William Scion, an account OF the So
rious accident to whom on the Virginia
and Truckee railroad was published IA
the Enterprise few days since. The
bones OF his foot and ankle were so
badly crushed that it was found neces-
sary to amputate the leg at point few
inches below the knee. The operation
was performed by Drs. S. A. McMeans
and +. b. Harris, of this city. After
the operation, DIR. McMeans took the
foot, with few inches of the leg at
tached, to his Office, for the purpose of
dissecting it and ascertaining the exact
nature of the fractures. The doctor
dissected the foot, and was engaged in
opening the ankle, when boy arrived
at his Office and said that he came for
the foot-that Mr.. Scion wanted it.
The doctor hastily rolled the foot in a
piece of cloth and gave it to the boy,
who carried it to Mr.. Solon's room, and,
by his directions, placed it in the drawer
of bureau that stood at the foot Of his
bed. II was not long before Mr.. Scion
became very uneasy, and finally suffered
so much pain that all the opiates the at
PENDANTS dared to give him did no good.
Thinking something was wrong at the
point where the leg had been cutsoff,
Mr.. Solon's friends sent for DIR. Harris.
When the doctor arrived he examined
the stump and found it in perfect order.
He told Scion that the leg was in as
good shape as it could possibly be made,
and he could see no reason for its giving
him so much pain. Mr.. Scion then en-
tered into a more particular account of
his sufferings. He said that the feeling
was as though his toes were doubled un-
der his feet and he was standing with
his whole weight on that foot also, that
there seemed TO be knife sticking in
his leg, the pain from which was very
severe. DIR. Harris then asked where
the foot was, though he probably knew
that DIR. McMeans had taken it. He
was told that Mr.. Scion had taken no
ton to have it, and that it had been
brought from the office of DIR. MoMeans
and placed in the bureau drawer. DIR.
Harris went to the drawer, and, unroll-
ing the cloth, found that the toes were
doubled back under the foot, and fur
Their found sticking in the skin of the
calf of the leg tenaculum, which is an
instrument in the shape of a hook, with
fine, sharp point, used in taking up
arteries. In hastily wrapping up the
foot to send it back DIR. McMeans had
forgotten to remove this hook, which he
had been using in holding back the skin
while dissecting the crushed ankle. DIR.
Harris removed the instrument and
placed the foot in an easy and natural
position, when Mr.. Scion declared that
he was free from pain and felt quite
easy indeed, he fell asleep in few
minutes, and slept well and soundly
DIR. Harris says that he has heard of
similar cases, but this is the first thing
of the kind that he has ever met with in
his practice. Neither DIR. Harris nor
DR.. McMeans can offer any explanation
of the phenomenon. DIR. McMeans is
of the opinion that it may be owing to
the two parts of the limb being connect
ed for time by some subtle fluid, some
thing like electricity, the exact nature of
which remains to be discovered. AS it
is thing about which nothing is now
known, each reader is Mt liberty to pro-
vide his own exclamation.