Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1881-11-12

between four and five inches of the bone was
removed. Remaining in the hospital till April.
1865. he was discharged. well and able to use
the limb (minus portion of the bone) This
man was lost sight of for some time but # be-
ing an interesting case to follow, inquiries were
made. and it was found that he was in 1866 in
poOf-house, but two years after he could walk
without cane. and was at work as hod-car-
rier. Sabsequea tly he was given pension ofS15
per month.
NAN, BON. AND MISSILE.
There are several other cases of EXCLUSIONS on
exhibition. One is that of the shoulder joint
and seven inches of the shaft of John F. Rear
don, one of those now on duty at the Museum,
who as soldier of the 9Th New York cavalry,
was wounded at Culpeper. Va. October IL,
1858. The operation was performed by Dr.. d.
w. Bliss on the following day, and Mr.. Reardon
recovered and Is now able to use the wounded
arm quite as well as the other He was struck
with piece Of shell, which is also in the
Museum. The bone and shell are numbered
1873.
The theory Of these cases and similar ones. is
that the muscles and tendons became so hard
ened as to answer the purposes OF the lost bone.
GEN. FEssENDEN,
The tibia. or large bone of the leg of Brig Gen.
Fessenden (No. 5000, with transverse frac-
ture by rife bali, attracts attention, There was
controversy as to whether amputation was
it was. This, with Gen. Sickles' leg. and other
specimens, show that the conservative treat
ment which, at one time during the war, was
prevalent, gave way to radical treatment and
that in most cases Of fracture it was best to
amputate or excise the bone.
SKULL. CRUSHED BY A BUTTING MAN.
One of the skulls-that of Charles Kane col
ored, who was killed in an alteration near
Bunker Hill, in the county, has been used sew
eral times in the Criminal Court. This skull was
broken. it was claimed, by stick and shattered
into twenty or more pieces, and, as may be sup
posed. the work of mounting it required great
Skill The fact is that the fracture was caused
by Stokes who was charged with the murder,
giving Kane several butts with his own head
The only specimen which exceeds in the extent
OF the damage done is that of an old soldier who
jumped out of the third story window of an
asylum. Every bone in the head and face has
one or more fractures. There are specimens
here which have offer done duty in the courts
Recently, when the grand jury examined the
case of Guiteau for the murder of President Gar
Held, DR.. d. S. Lamb produced section of a
human spinal column with the ribs. from the
museum and marking where the ball struck,
&C., made his testimony very clear.
THE COLLECTION OF SKULLS
or craniums numbers2 z, 800, most of them being of
North American Indians, but there are included
specimens Of every race of man. At present
there are measurements being taken of the In
dian Uranium for the purpose of determining as
to the capacity Of intellect of the different tribes
In the jars are many of the organs of the
human body, which afford study, and even the
casual visitor becomes interested. This is par
tlcuiarly the case with the specimens OF the
Wlndpipe, showing how that dreaded disease,
the diphtheria, fills up that organ, and causes
death.
COMPARATIVE ANATOMY.
Not the least interesting portion of the mu-
scum is the department of comparative anato-
my, or 'the menagerie in bOne." which en-
braces some 1850 specimens, some very rare,
and representing extinct species of the lower
order OF animals. 1t is unnecessary to say that
this museum has within the past few years be-
come one OF the features of the capital. and
probably there has never been gathered in so
short time such a complete and valuable col
lection Within the past few years the officers
III charge nave received many compliments es-
peclaily from foreigners. A Russian medical
OFFICER, who spent several weeks in studying the |
subjects. before leaving remarked that it
was perfectly wonderful to find collection of
such magnitude and of SO complete q character
made in SO short time-this government hay
ing in twenty years done what the older coun-
tries OF Europe required one-half century to |
accomplish.
THE OFFICERS OF THE MUSEUM
The late DR.. George A. Otis was the first cur
ator, and, in addition to supervising this collec-
ton. he wrote up volumes 1 and g. and nearly
the whole of volume of the Medical History of
the War; DIR. D. l.. Huntingtonis the curator, and
DR.. Otis successor in the work. and has Dr. R.W.
Shufeldt as his assistant, in charge of the COM
parative anatomy department. Dr. J. j. Wood |
ward is in charge of the medical and mfcroscop- |
icaf departments, with DR.. d. s. Lamb managing |
the former and DR.. j. c. Mcconnell the latter !
department. Mr.. E. F. Schafhirt is the anatomist.
having succeeded his father the hate Dr. f. Schaf-
hirt, who mounted the first specimen. Mr. E. |
7. Parker is the custodian
SOME NEW BOOKS.