The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1881-06-17
WANDERING NEEDLES.
some very RemarkabIe Ca...


The London Lancet observes that +ba
vagaries of needles which have been in
troduced in the body, and have escanad
immediate removal, have in all ages at-
tracted the attention of collectors Of tIa
marvellous in medicine. Hildanus ra-
lated an instance of a woman who svroI-
lowed several pins and passed them sly
years afterward; but a more remarkobIe
instance of prolonged detention was re-
corded by Stephenson, of Detroit
that of a lady, aged rs, who passed
by the urethra, after some montbs'
symptoms of vesical irritation. a min
which she had swallowed while picking
her teeth with it III the year 1S35-fortv.
| two years previously. Occasional main
in the throat was the immediate SWIM
tom, but in 1915 she was seized with
severe gastric pain, which passed away
and she had no symptoms until hama.
turia in 1876. This curious tolerance of
such foreign bodies exhibited by the
tissues is often observed in lunatic asv-
lums. NJ. $$5ilvy recorded some years ayo
| the case of n woman who had a pencba1t
for pms and needles so strong that she
made them, IN effect, part of her daily
diet, and after her death l 400 or ! 50tr
were removed from various parts of the
body.
Another case almost as striking bss
! been recorded by 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 torceps. Concerning the way
III which they had got into her system
no information could be extracted from
her. She was carefully watched, and IN
u Is -
than 800 needles were extracted. all
being of the same size. Most were black
and oxidized, but some had retained
their polish. The majority we're an
/ broken. They passed out of various
| parts of the body above the diaphragm
| at regular intervals, but in a sort of
series and always in the same direction,
/ The largest number which escaped in a
single day was siXty-one. A curious
| phenomenon preceded the escape OF
each needle. For some hours the pain
was severe, and there was considerable
1 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 gener-
ally found projecting. The needles in
variably came out head foremost. No
/ bleeding was occasioned, and not the
least trace of Inflammation followed
/ The doctor III attendance extracted 318.
| They were sometimes held firmly, and
! seemed to be contained IN a 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 direction with the head
outward, suggested that they had been
introduced through the skin.
That little weight is to be attached to
| the pace at which the needles escape, as
proof of their mode of Introduction, is
evident from case recorded by Villars
of a girl who swallowed "A large number
of pins and needles, and, two years after
ward, during a 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, curiously,
| escaped more readily and with less pain
than the needles. Many years ago a
case was recorded by DIR. Otto, of Co
penhagen, In which 495 needles passed
through the skin of a hysterical girl,
who had probably swallowed them dur
ing a hysterical paroxysm but these
all emerged in the regions below the
level OF the diaphragm, and were col
lected in groups, which gave rise to in
tiammatory swellings of some size. One
OF these contained 100 needless Quite
recently DIR. Bigger described before
the Society of Surgery of Dublin case
in which more than 300 needles were re-
moved from the body of woman who
died in consequence of their presence.
It Is very remarkable in how few cases
the needles were the cause of death, and
how slight an interference with function
their presence and movement cause.