The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1878-07-31
Pins and Needles In the Human


The vlgaries Of needles which hare
been introduced IL the body, and have o.
caped immediate removal, have in all SgeS
attracted the attention Of collectors Of
the marvellous 10 medicine. HiIdanus
related an instance Of . woman who
swallowed several pins and passed them
six years atterward; bot . more remark
able instance Of prolonged dstsntion wAs
lately recorded by DR.. stsphenson,ot De-
troit-that Of lady aged seventy five
who last year passed BY the urethra, at-
ter Home Ave months symptoms Of veal
Gle irritation, 4 pin which she had sNal-
lowed while picking her teeth with it IN
the year lsS5-iorty two years preyionA-
u. Occasional pain In the throat wa
the only immediate symptom, bat In 1915
she was seized with severe gastric pain,
which passed away and she had no further
symptoms until heuAturiA in 1875. This
curious tolerance OF such foreign bodies
exhibited BY the tissues il often observed
in lnnatic asylums. N. Silvy recorded
some years ago the case OF s woman Who
had peaeAGHt for pins and needles 90
strong that abe made them, in effect, part
Of her daily diet, and, alter her death,
fourteen hundred or fifteen hundred
were remoyedlfrom various paris Of the
body.
Another case, almost 40 striking, has
been recorded BY DR., Gillette-that Of a
girl In whom, from time 10 time, Deedles
were found beneath the skin, which they
perforated, and were removed BY the en-
gers or forceps. Concerning the way in
which they had got into her system no
Information could be extracted from her.
She was carefully watched, and in the
course OF eighteen months no less than
three hundred and twenty needles wereex.
tracted, all being Of the same siEe, Mos.
escaped in the region Of the left nipple,
and q few escaped in the arm, axilla,
thigh, temple and cheek. Sometimes
feveral passed out Of the same opening.
The largest number which escaped in 4
single day was sixty one.
A curious phenomenon preceded the
escape Of each needle. For some hours the
pain WA severe, and there was consider.
able fever. She then felt & sharp pain,
like lightning, 10 the tissues, sudon look.
ing at the place At which this pain bad
been felt the head OF the needle was
generally found projecting. The needle
Invariably came out head foremost. No
bleeding was occanoned, and not the
least trace Of Inflammation followed.
The doctor in attendance extracted three
hundred and eighteen. They sometimes
held firmly, and seemed 10 be contained
In sort Of indurated canal. Il wa
conjectured that they had been swallowed
with suicidal intentions; but on the
other hand, the way in which the needles
escaped In series, and their direction with
the head outward, suggested that they
had been introduced through the skin.
That little weight ia 10 be attached TO
the place at which the needles escape Is
proof Of their mode Of introduction Is
evident from case recorded BY Villars Of
q girl who swallowed large number Of
pins and needles, and two years alter
wards, during period Of nine months,
two hundred passed out OF the hand, arm,
axilla, side Of thorax, abdomen and
thigh, all on the left eide. The pins,
enough, escaped more readily
and with less pain than the needles.
Many years ago case was recorded by
DR.. Otto, Of Copenhagen, and mentioned
at The time in the Laaeet, in which three
hundred and ninety.fve needles passed
through the skin OF . hysterical girl, who
had probably swallowed them during 4
hysterical paroxysm; butthese all emery.
ed in the regions below the level Of the
and were collected 10 groups,
which gave rise 10 inAammatory dwellings
OF some size. One Of these contained one
hundred needles.
Quite recently DR.. Bigger described be-
fore the Society Of Surgery Of Dublin q
case in which more than three hundred
needles were removed from the body offs
woman who died in consequences Of their
presenee. It ia very remarkable in how
few Of the cases The needles were the
cause Of death, and how slight an inter.
ference with function their presence and
movement cause. From time TO time
their detection by a magnetic needle e
proposed as a novelty; but as DR.. Gillette
reminds Us, thi. method was employed BY
Since nearly forty years ago, and has
often been adopted siDce.-Losd0a Laael.
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