West-Jersey pioneer., 1878-06-27
WANDERING NEEDLES.


of needles which have been introduced in
the body, and have escaped immediate re-
moval, have in all ages attracted the atten-
tion of collectors of the marvellous in med
woman who swallowed several pins and
passed them six years afterwards; but a
more remarkable instance of prolonged de-
tention was lately recorded by DIR. Stephen
son, OF Detroit-that of lady aged rs,
who last year passed, by the urethra, after
some months symptoms of vesical irrita-
ton, pin which she had swallowed while
picking her teeth with it in the year 1886
AZ years previously. Occasional pain in the
throat was the immediate symptom, but in
1S45 she was siezed with severe gastric pain,
which passed away, and she had no further
symptoms until h8maturia in 1876. This
curious tolerance of such foreign bodies ex.
hibited by the tissues is often observed in
lunatic asylums. M. Silvey recorded some
years ago the case of woman who had a
penchant for pins and needles so strong that
size made them, in effect, part of her daily
diet, and, after her death, 1,400 or 1900
were removed from various parts of the
body. Another case almost as striking has
been recorded by DR.. Gillette-that of a
girl in whom, from time to time, needles
were found beneath the skin, which they
perforated, and were removed by the fingers
or forceps. Concerning the way in which
they had got into her system no information
carefully watched, and in the course of eigh-
teen months no less than 800 needles were
extracted, all being of the same size. Most
were black and oxidized, but some had re-
tanned their polish. The majority were un-
broken. They passed out of various parts
of the body above the diaphragm at regular
intervals, but in sort of series, and always
in the same direction. The largest number
which escaped in single day was 81. A
curious phenomenon precedes the escape of
each needle. For some hours the pain was
severe, and there was considerable fever
She then felt sharp pain, like lightning
in the tissues, and on looking at the place
at which this pain had been felt, the head
of the needle was generally found project
ing. The needle invariably came out head
foremost. No bleeding was occasioned, and
not the least trace of Inflammation followed.
The doctor in attendance extracted 318.-
They were sometimes held firmly, and
seemed to be contained in sort of indu-
rated canal. 1t was 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 di-
rection with the head outwards, suggested
that they had been introduced through the
skin. That little weight is to be attached
to the place at which the needles escape as
proof of their mode of introduction is evil
from case recorded by Villars of girl who
swallowed a large number Of pins and need
les, and two years afterward during period
Of nine months, 200 passed out of the hand,
arm, axilla, side of thorax, abdomen, and
thigh, all on the left side. The pins, Gu
riously escaped more readily and with less
pain than the needles. Many years ago
case was recorded by DR.. Otto, of Copenha
gen, and mentioned at the time in the Lam
Get, in which 395 needles passed through the
skin of an hysterical girl, who had probably
swallowed them during an hysterical par
oxy>m; but these all emerged in the regions
below the level of the diaphragm, and were
collected in groups, which gave rise to in
flammatory swellings of some size. One of
these contained 100 needles. Quite recent
ly DR.. Bigger described before the Society
of Surgery Of Dublin case in which more
than 800 needles were removed from the
body of a woman who died in consequence
of their presence. 1t is very remarkable i'll
how few cases the needles were the cause of
death, and how slight an interference with
function their presence and movement
cause. From time to time their detection
by magnetic needle is proposed as a nov
city; but, as DR.. Gillette reminds us, this
method was employed by Since nearly 40
years ago, and has often been adopted since.
JOHN CHINAMAN's BoNEs.-Wheneve a
Chinaman is sick and beyond recovery, he
is placed in some out-of-the-way place and
left to die. None of his countrymen ever
go near him, and he is left to ''paddle his
own canoe" across the Styx in his exit from
this mundane sphere. When the deceased
| is buried, however, offerings will be made
at the grave, and in time his bones will be
sent back to China, in accordance with the
contract made with the six companies which
brought him here or from subscriptions by
Chinese merchants. Every year there are
tons of bones of defunct Cinnamon sent to
China to be buried. The business of exhum-
ing and packing these bones is an extensive
one, and very naturally it is pursued by
| Mongols. Many of these bones are polished.
| When disinterments are in progress the
graveyards of the Chinese presents the ap-
pearance of golgotha. Very small wooden
collins are used, just large enough to con-
tain the bones of the deceased. 1t is pro-
posed to impose tax of $40 on every dead
body disinterred, and to require the bones
to be placed in a metallic case, the price oi
which is some $50-the object of which is
to prevent the spread of infectious diseases
| by careless exhuming.
1t was finely said by Socrates that the
shortest and most direct road to popularity
is ''for man to be the same that he wishes
to be taken for" People are egregiousy
mistaken if they think they can ever attain
to popularity by hypocrisy, by mere outside
appearances, and by Disgusting not only
their language but their looks. True pop
ularity takes deep root, and spreads itself
wide, but the false falls away like blossoms