The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1879-05-11
EXTRAORDINARY EXPERIMENTS.
Some of the Wonderful Discoveries Mad
In science by Queer Experiments.

LII SEa6HC6 ny QhecE EApeEiMSHLBs
W hen one Of Pizarro's warriors received an
ugly wound from an Omeguan spear the
spanish leech took off the knights coat OF
mail, put 1t upon an Indian prisoner, put him
upon horse, and drove spear through the
hole in the armor Giving the Indian his
quetus, the surgeon opened his body, and
seeing the heart was not injured by the spear
| thrust concluded the knights hurt was not
| mortal, so he treated it as a common wound,
and soon set the patient on his legs again. A
similar method Of diagnosis was practiced by
the French surgeons when the eye OF Henry
IL was pierced by splinter from Mont
gomerie's lance. In order to arrive at a
knowledge OF the injury inflicted they cut oil
the heads OF four condemned men and thrust
splinters into the eyes at the same inclination
as that at which the fatal silver had entered
the Kings eye.
1t was common though to utilize criminals
In this way In the olden days. In the six
tenth century the College OF Montpelier was
allowed one criminal a year to dissect alive.
Doctors were never so highly favored as that
in England although the BARRIERS Company
and the Society OF Surgeons were, by act OF
Parliament, once privileged to receive an an
nual allowance Of four bodies Of executed
criminals between them and SO late as 1881
we read in the Gentleman's Magazine that
there was great talk about an experiment to
be made upon malefactor In Newgate, re-
prieved for the occasion, whose tympanum
was to be cut, In order ito demonstrate
whether the hearing proceeds from the tym-
panum or the nerves that lie between it an
| the conception OF the ear, it being the opinion
Of some that deafness is principally caused
by distractions on the said nerves"
nj. Chovet, surgeon, having, by frequent
experiments on dogs, discovered that OPEN
ing the Windpipe would prevent the fatal
consequences Of the halter, undertook Mr.
Gordon, a noted highwayman, and made an
incision in his windpfpe; the effect of which
was, that when Gordon stopped his mouth,
nostrils and ears for some time, air enough
came through the cavity to continue life.
When he was hanged he was perceived to be
alive after all the rest were dead; and when
he had been hung three-quarters OF an nouI,
| being carried to house In the Tyburn Roan,
he opened his mouth several times ana
groaned, and a vein being opened bled Freely.
1t was thought If he had been cut down I'VE
minutes sooner be might have recovered:
| A German lady, Fraulein Marie Won Gnau-
vim, Is credited with showing the posslDiilty
double-breathing animal into a lung-breath-
ing land creature. The lady ootained nye
strong Mexican axolotis and put them INTO
shallow water. Finding they dld not tnrive,
she adopted the bold measure OF Keeping
them on land, giving them tepid baths three
1 times q day to insure cutaneous respiration,
and packing wet moss between their DodleS
during the intervals between the baths. lney
were fed upon earthWorns. worm was N
serted as far as possible In an axoiou 8
month and its tall pinched until it wriggled
itself 50 far down. that the axoloti was
Obliged to finish the operation OF swallowing,
Whefher il liked it or not. Three OF the curl
Gus creatures proved stubborn, and, persist
ing in eiecting their food. died OF starvation.
The III others quickly displayed signs of cona-
ing change, their gill tufts and tail fms appar-
| emily shriveling through the action OF the
air. and, when little later on they were put
| into water, showed dislike to their natural
| element, and struggled to get out of it. By
and by further changes took place; they cast
their skins repeatedly, their giIl-elefts closed,
their their eyes became larger, and their skins
] originally black and shiny, became Of a