The People's vindicator. [volume] (Natchitoches, La.) 1874-1883, 1881-06-11
Wandering Needles.

-SUN francisco CNTONlCLt.
Wandering Needles.
The London Lancet observes that the
vagaries of needles which have been IN
troduced in the body, and have escaped
immediate removal, have in all ages
attracted the attention of collectors OF
the marvellous in medicine. Hlldanus
related an instance of a woman who
swallowed several pins and passed them
six years afterward; but more remark
able instance of prolonged detention was
recorded by Stephenson, of Detroit
that of lady, aged seventy-tiye' VINO
last year passed q pin which she had
swallowed while picking her teeth with
it in the year 1885 forty-two years pre-
viouslv. Occasional pain in the throat
Was the immediate symptom, but IN ls4o
she was seized with severe gastric pain,
which passed away, and she had no
symptoms until h;cmaturia in 1876.
| Thi; curious tolerance of such foreign
bodies exhibited by the tissues is often
observed in ]unatic asylums. M. silvy
recorded some years ago the case OF a
woman who had apcnchant for pins and
needles so strong that she made them,
in effect, part OF her daily diet, and after
her death lao or 100 were removed
from various parts of the body. An
other case almost as striking has been
recorded by DR.. Gillette-that of u 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 could be extracted from
her. She was carefully watched, and in
the course Of eighteen months no less
} than $40 needles were extracted, all be-
| ing of the same size. Most were black
and oxidizcd, but none had retained
their polish. The majority were un-
T broken. They passed out of various
parts of the body above the diaphragm
3 at regular intervals, but in q sort OF
8 series and always in the same direction
Q The largest number which escaped in q
t single day was sixty-one. A curious
. phenomenon preceded the escape o.
2 each needle. For some hours tn
4 pain was severe, and there was consid
cradle fever. She then felt a sharp pain
like lightning in the tissues, AM
i on looking at the place at which thu
pain had been felt, the head of tn
needle was generally found projecting
N The needles invariably came out hea
e foremost. No bleeding was occasioned
f. and not the least trace of intlamnatio
% followed. The doctor in attendance es
81 tracted Sls. They were sometimes he'll
f. firmly, and seemed to be contained in
N sort OF indurated canal. It was cor
'e iectured that they had been swallowe
a. with suicidal intentions;. but, on til
le other hand, the way in which the needle
n, ESCAPED in series, and their directio
II with the head outward, suggested ths
g. thew had been introduced through tn
~ skin. '."firor ~ -nA'..'"
re That little weight is to- be attached
8: the pace at which the needles escape
IA proof of their mode of introduction
w evident from a case recorded by Villar
r. of a girl who swallowed a large numb
IN of pins and needles, and two years a
er terward, during a period of nine month
on POO passed out Of the hand, arm, axill
Is side of thorax, abdomen and Oh, :
IS on the left side. The pins, curiot'sl
de escaped more readily and with less pa
ne than the needles. Many years ago
as case was recorded by DR.. Otto, Of {
he penhagen, in which 1875 needles pass
a through the skin Of a hysterical girl, VI
en- had probably swallowed them during
err historical paroxysm; but these
ed emerged in the regions below the Icy
m of the diaphragm, and were collect
'm in groups, which gave rise to inilamn
zen tory swellings of some size. One
OF these contained 100 needles. Quite
ley Gently DR.. Bigger described before
TO Society of Surgery Of Dublin a case
The which more than 800 needles were
ma moved from the body of a woman "
ied died in consequence of their presen
unit 1t is very remarkable in how ley ca
ed the needles were the cause of death, a
rye how slight an interference with t1nct
,op their presence and movement cau
lm' From time to time their detection b!
MS magnetic needle is proposed as . no'
am I'm :. ty; but, as DR.. Gillette reminds Us,
ers, method was employed by Since nea
9 a forty years ago, and has ;. often 9fen b.
way adonted since. '''''.,.'' '''' ''' ,st'
n IL w. >I