The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1882-05-12
A CELLULOID NOSE.
How San ErmncIscO DentiAt RePaiTeo
the sSAvAepH Of Tfn,o

the HaEaGes OF Time.
A Kearney street dentist, who is any
thing but old in years or his profession,
has performed the difficult artistic job OF
supplying a horribly disfigured human
face with an artificial nose and upper hp.
reporter who had heard that the OPP
Grafton was to be performed called upon
the skillful practitioner and requested
permission to witness the achievement
OF science. The dentist consented TO
crafty his visitors curiosity. and stated
that the patient was a Chinese woman,
whose nose and upper lip had been de-
stroyed by cancer. ." She will be here
IN few moments" said the dentist and
almost Immediately the woman entered,
accompanied by man in Chinese ATTIRE
whose face offered incontroyertible evl-
dence of an admixture of Caucasian
blood. The woman held ndkerchief
to her face until she had taken her seat
IN the operating char, when she re
moved the cloth and displayed couDte-
nance lnexpressibly horrible. She had
been once good-loOking beyond the de-
gree of cOmelness usually displayed by
the Chinese women one sees in Califor-
MIA, for her cheeks were round and her
eyes rather shapely. The disease had,
however, not only deprived her of q nose,
but had destroyed her upper teeth and
left the bones bare and surrounded by
frlghtful cicatrices that ran through the
corners of her mouth and up the bridge
of the nose toward the eyebrows. To
make such a face presentable seemed
an impossibilIty, but the task was per-
formed speedily and successfully. The
nose and lip had already. been nalded IN
cellulold from a plaster cast of the face,
and, having been carefully colored, pre-
scented n most life-like appearance. The
dentist IN molding the nose had to de-
pend entirely on his imagination, and
had modelled a thoroughly Aslatic one.
The artificial hneaments having been
prepared, there remained only the inter
esting bat difficult feat of attaching
them. In supplying artificial noses 1t is
customary to attach them by spectacles,
but In the Chinese woman's case such
an arrangement would have been lmpos
sible, owing to the great size OF the dis
figurement caused by the loss OF the lip
and teeth. The difficulty was overcome
by attaching a gold spring to the upper
Jaw IN the manner in which single teeth
are affixed. The spring ran up to where
the bridge of the nose should have been,
and TO this spring the artificial nose and
lip were attached by an India rubber
loop. The combined pressure of the
spring and the India-rubber drew the
celluloid mask 50 close to the face that,
being nodded to fit the cheeks, it would
have looked quite natural but for the
lack of that transparency which living
tissue possesses. While the woman's
countenance was in repose, the effect of
the work was remarkably good, and the
| transformation which it effected in her
looks was so great that she eagerly seized
/ the mirror offered by the dentist, and,
| looking at herrefiection, she uttered an
exclamation of surprise and delight. She
| give the practitioner a handful of ten
/ dollar pieces, and trotted of with her
half caste escort, filed with a satisfaction
at parting with wealth seldom shown by
Mongohans. -.Saa Francisco Bulletin.