Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1879-04-09

The vsgaries of needles which have
been introduced in the body, and Lave
escaped Immediate renewal, bave in all
ages attract ted the attention of collect
ers Of the marvellous in medicine Hill
danCs related an instance Of . woman
who swallowed several pins asd passed
them six years aftervard; but q more
remarkable instance of prolonged de-
tentien was recorded by Stephenson,
Of Detroit last year-tlIat of q lady,
aged seventy-five, who passed by the
uretha, after some nsnths' symptoms
Of veeical irritation, pin which she
had swallowed while picking her teeth
with it in the year ye,r ls5s-forty-two
years previously. Occasional pain In
the throat was the immediate symptom,
but In 1S45 she was seized with severe
gastric pain, which passed away, and
she had no symptoms until hamaturia
In 1876. This curious tolerance Of
such foreign bodies exhibited by it's
sues 10 often observed in lunatic asy-
llns. n. SUvy recorded some years
ago the case ef . woman whs had a
psnchant for pins and needles SC strorg
that she made them, In effect, part Of
her daily Diet, and after her death
I40o or 1900 were removed frsm vari-
Gus parts Of the body. Another case
almost as striking. has been recorded
by DR.. Gillstts-that OF girl, in whom
from time to time, needles were found
beneath the skin, which thsy perforst-
ID, and were removed BY the fingers or
fsrssps. Concerning the way In which
they got into her system, No Informs
ticn could be extracted from her. Sue
WAS carefully watched and in the
course Of eighteen meBshs no less than
three hundred and twenty needles
were extracted all being the same size.
Nest were black and o1idizsd, but
some had retained their polish. The
majority were unbroken. They pass
cd est OF various parts Of the body
above the di.phr.m at regular inter-
walls, but in q sort Of series and always
Ia the same direction. The largest
number which escaped in 4 single day
was sixty-one. a curious phenome-
len preceded the escape Of each needle
For sene hosrs the pain was severe, and
thsrs 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 projecting. The needles invari-
ably came out head formost. No bleed
ing was ocoasisned, and not the least
trace Of inflammation followed. The
doctor in attendance extracted three
hundred and eighteen. They were
sometimes held firmly, and seemed to
bs contained In sort Of indurated can
al. L. was ssnjeotured that they had
been sv,llewed with suicidal iuten-
tions; bat on the other hand, the way
In which the needles escaped in series,
and their direction with the head out
wards suggested that they had been liz
trodssed through the skin. That little
weight is to be attached to the pace at
which the needles a. proof of their
mode Of introduction is evident, from a
ease recorded BY Villars of girl who
swallowed large number Of pins and
needles, and two years afterward, dur
Ing . period of nine months, two huR-
irsd passed out Of the hand. arm .axilla
.iSe Of throsx, abdomen and thigh, all
on the left side. The pins, curlously,
escaped more readily and with less
pain than the needles. Many years
ago case was recorded by DR.. Otto, of
Cspsnhagen, in which four hundred
and ninety-five needles passed through
she skin of q hysterieal girl, who had
probably swallowed them during an
hysterieal psroxysm, below the level of
the displran, and were collected in
groups, which gave rise to innanma-
tory swellings of some size. One of
tasss contained one hundred needles.
Quite recently, DIR. Bigger described
before the Society of Surgery Of Dub
Lin, q case in which more than three
hundred needles were removed from
he body of ! woman who died in con-
sequence Of their presence. Ii Is very
remarkable in hev few cases the
needles were the cause Of death, and
how slight an interference with func-
tien, their presence and movement
cause. From time to time their dstec-
ten by = magnetic needle is proposed
a. novelty; but, as DR.. Gillette re-
minds rs, this method WAS employed
By Since nearly forty years ago, and
has often been adopted since.