The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1882-11-16
LIFE AND DEATH.


LIFE AND DEATH.
Marvellous Cases OF Recovery from SUPP
posed Mortal Wounds.
The extinction or continuance Of the
vital sparks physicians agree. is
problem that is never solved until the
final extinction is absolutely determined.
1t is easy to tell that man is dead, but
it is very seldom certain that he will
die, since there are cases of recovery
that no sane man would think Of pre-
dieting. For example, no person would
have supposed for moment that the
man in Massachusetts, whose case las
no often been quoted would have lived
twelve years after having a tamping
iron blown directly through his head,
entering under his jaw and coming out
through the roof Of his skull. yet lie
good physical health. And it would
no. occur to any ordinary man that he
could live long with a hole in the side
Of his stomach, yet if Saint Martin had
not done that very thing the physicians
agree that comparatively little would
be known to-day of the marvellous pro-
ccsses that 60 on inside the laboratory
OF the body.
On the other hand, one who is accns-
toned to seeing the enormous strains
and shocks the human frame witllstanls
is often surprised at seeing how little
thing will "loose the silver cord Not
to speak Of the swift and fatal maladies
that are often brought about by seem
ingly absurd trifies. such as littl, too
much ice-water when one is oycrheated.
or the swallowing Of some indigestihle
morsel. the accidents that cause death
are often trivial in all but the result. 4
man steps on a bit Of orange-pecl, or
his friend sportiyelv pulls away his
chair, with the idiotic idea that he is
joking, and the victim sits down too
far, fractures his spine, and is picked
mp dead. A strong man scratches his
finger and dies OF lockiaw. A large
man, bending sideways in his chair,
trying to button his shoes, loses his
balance, rolls over on the carpeted floor
and breaks his arm. Gangrene sets in
and he dies. Such cases are on record,
and 20 to show how slight the
real hold on life is. Aud vet
the inevitable death that was formerly
supposed to attend npon any serious
accident to the main organs Of the body
does not always come, and men live,
not only with bullets in their brain,
holes in their stomach, dislocated spine
and actual wounds in the heart itself,
Int even with open wounds clear
through the body itself. Gen. Henry
A. Barnum. Of Brooklyn, wrote, while
President Garfield lay dying, a letter
to the press, in which he told of his
own wound. which he received in battle
during the civil war. It remained an
open aperture through his body and
has never healed, and for years his
treatment of it has been simply to wear
in the hole roll of prepared lint.
This is renewed daily, and the suppura-
ton of the wound is constant, some
times greater and sometimes less. hut
never entirely ceasing Gen. Shields,
OF Mis- souri,. hid similar wound ex-
tending through his body and open in
front and behind. His wound. it is
said, WAS received i'll the Mexican war,
and he wears, not lint. hut silk hand
kerchief in it. This he can draw lii
roctlv through his body. Some three
or four years ago 10y in Paterson. n.
j., picking mp shasings in carpenters
shop, fell backward against huzz-saw
that was revolving with immense rapid
ity. Recovering his equilibrium he
walked. unai,led. t. drug store near
by and asked to have his wound
dressed. He complained of having a
terrible headache, and til S was not
doubted when j, MS found on examin-
alton that the saw had divided his head
almost in two. One end Of the cut was
halfway between the forehead and the
crown of the head, and the other end
was Just at the base Of the skull. 4
right line from one end to the other
would have passed almost through the
middle Of the head, but the saw was a
small one and its outside edge had, be-
yond question, cut far beyond such q
right line. Yet the boy lived several
days and retained his con cionsness to
the time of his death. 1t was sup
posed that the saw had passed between
the two lobes Of the brain. hit that
was never settled positively, as the
boys f.ther refused to allow post
norton examination. In reporting
this case, the writer learned of two
more, both living in Patterson at tine
time, each Of whom carried bullet in
his brain for number of years. Ore
of them had. been shot in the eve. and
the physician who attended him de-
clared that the bullet was, beyond u
doubt. lodged against the skull at the
back of the head. Both of these men
enjoyed good health. 4 fracture Of the
skull is generally supposed to be fatal
injury, and generally proves so, and vet
there are not lacking cases where death
has not ensued, ut least for long time.
In the Gutermuth case it will be re-
memhered that the victims skull was
badly fractured. and vet he was sup
posed to be recovering week after the
injury Was received, and was well
enough to walk out and pay visits--or
ut least supposed himself to he. Other
cases could be cited Of similar nature
il it were desirable to make catalogue.
There are ca IS on recard-tliere
were many of til IN duriny the War Of
the Rebellion-in which men were re-
pcatedly hurt so that death appeared
inevitable. No sooner would they re-
cover from one apparently mortal wound
than they would receive another. The
Hartford Times not long ago published
story that was widely copied of man
whose history WIS told by himself to a
correspondent i'll Michigan, and whose
personal appearance bore ont his story,
50 the correspondent said. He claimed
that his troubles began when he was
only 5 years old. when he fell through
the roof OF shel. breaking nil his ribs,
both collar bones, his breast bone, his
right arm in two places, his left arm
above the elbow and the bones OF his
left hand. 1t was thought that he coult,
not recover, but he did. Ten years
later his hip was dislocated twice in the
same year, and his right ankle was
broken. In 1856 he was shot in the
ankle in fight on a Mississippi steam