The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1876-03-23
A SINGULAR EXPERIENCE.
The Pain n MI n suffered from an Ampu.
tated Foot, and How he was Relieved.

The Pain n MI N Suffered from an Ampu-
tated Foot. aud How he was Relieved.
The Virginia City New Enterprise
prints this story: We learn some Curl
ous circumstances connected with the
amputation of the leg of William Solon,
on account of a serious accident on the
Virginia and Truckee railroad. The
bones of his foot and ankle were 80 bad
ly crushed that it was found necessary
to amputate the leg at O point few
inches below the knee. After the opera
ton, DR.. McMeans took the foot, with a
few inches of the leg attached, to his
office, for the purpose of dissecting it
and ascertaining the exact nature of the
fractures The doctor disseeted the foot,
and was engaged in opening the ankle
when boy arrived at his Office and said
that he had come for the foot-that Mr..
Solon wanted it, The doctor hastily
rolled the foot in 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 the bed. It was not
long before Mr.. Solon became very un-
easy, and finally suffered so much pain
that all the opiates the attendants dared
to give him did no good. Thinking
something was wrong at the point where
tho leg had been cut off, Mr.. Solon's
friends sent for DIR. Harris. When the
doctor arrived he examined the stump,
and found it in perfect order. He told
Solon 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.. Solon then entered
into more particular account Of his
suferings. He said that the feeling was
as though his toes were doubled under
his feet, aud 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. DR.. Harris then asked where
the foot was, though he probably knew
that DR.. McMeans had taken it. He
was told that ldr. Solon had taken q
notion to have it, and that it had been
brought from the Office of Dr. McMeans
and placed in the bureau drawer. DR..
Harris went to the drawer, and unrolling
the cloth, found that the toes were
doubled back under the foot, and further
found sticking in the skin of the calf OF
the leg tenaculum, which is an instru.
ment in the shape of hook, with fine,
sharp point, used in taking up arteries.
In hastily wrapping up the foot to send
it back, DR.. McMeaps had forgotten tc
remove this hook, which he had beer
using in holding back the skin while
dissecting the crushed ankle. DR.. Har
ris removed the instrument, and placed
the foot in an easy and natural position
when Mr.. Solon declared that he wa
free from pain, and felt quite easy in
deed, he fell asleep in few minutes an(
slept well and soundly. DR.. Harris say
that he has heard OF similar cases, bu
this is the first thing of the kind that h
has ever met with in his practice
Neither DR.. Harris nor DR.. McMean
can offer any explanation of the pheno
menon. DR.. McMeans is of the opiniol
that it may be owing to the two parts G
the limb being connected for time b.
some subtle fluid, something like cleo
tricity, the exact nature of which re
mains to be discovered. AS it is thin
about which nothing is now known, eac
reader is at liberty to provide his ow
exclamation