The Bossier banner., 1882-08-10
A Queer Profession.

lf
dentistry; but have made special study
of facial defects and the best means OF
obviating or hiding such blemishes. My
late father was my Instructor. 1t was by
accident he turned his attention to such
things. He was also dentist, and in
the years Immediately following the war
he often attended to the teeth of persons
who were severely disfigured by sabre
or bullet wounds. They were honorable
scars, no doubt, but extremely ugly, and
several heroes asked my father If there
were no means of hiding them except by
cloth coverings. He thought the matter
over in his mind and made several ex-
periments, but with poor success for
some time, Finally man came in who
had lost an ear at Cedar Mountain. Now
it is exceedingly difficult to model an
ear so that it pairs with its fellow. How
ever, my father took a plaster cast of the
real ear and matched it beautifully with
an india-rubber ear, which he affixed
with spring to the head. The patient
was delighted, you may be sure.
After that we had good many ap-
plicants for artificial features. Some we
managed to patch up pretty well and
others by no means so well. Celluloid
was not known then, and suction springs
were still uninvented, so that unless there
was something left in the shape of flesh
or carthage of patients lost feature to
which the artificial nose or ear could be
attached, the arrangement was liable to
have a clumsy appearance, and would
be detected Immediately. During the
last few years, since have succeeded to
my fathers business, the appliances at
command have vastly increased. l can
now initiate anose, or cheek, or an ear,
just as perfectly as an optician can fix a
glass eye or dentist a set of false teeth.
While / think of it. must tell you of an
interesting piece of work carried out by
my father.
"a man came in one day to the office
looking frightful object. The centre
of his face was hidden by black patches,
and it was evident his nose was gone.
He could not speak intelligibly, but by
means of writing he informed my father
he was Frenchman who had been dis
figured in the Franco Prussian war A
bullet had entered his mouth, taken an
upward direction, and passed out
through the palate and through the
nose. The wound had eaten away the
roof of the mouth and the whole Of the
nose, SO you can imagine his condition.
Well, a nose was made for him with a
back piece which fitted into the cavity
and completely filed up the place of the
lost bones and tissues A little gold
catch was affixed to the portion which
covered the aperture in the roof of the
mouth, which closed with a second piece
fo1e, .1,fx L. 4
gether. Thus the nose was firmly fas-
tened on one side and the mouth on the
other. The man recovered his power of
speech, for the tongue had the necessary
resistance to beat against. and we then
discovered that he could speak no less
than six languages. He is still living,
and resides in this city. Strange to say,
he has since married a handsome
woman.
An accident occurred to him some
time ago which might have had serious
consequences, and which considerably
startled some companions who were
with him. He was on the spree, be-
lieve, and had forgotten to bolt his nose
firmly to the roof of his mouth. While
taking drink the false palate become
detached and went down his throat and
his nose tumbled out in the glass from
which he was drinking You can imao-
inc the astenishment of the persons who
witnessed the sight, for it seems not one
of them was aware of the artificial con-
dition of the Frenchman's face. To find
him suddenly become speechless and
noseless, and at the same time hideously
offensive to the eye, was little startling
should say. By his wife's directions
he was brought here, and the palate
piece was eventually recovered and the
nose refixed. He has been more careful
since.
"Youwere saying, Doctor remarked
the visitor, ssyou had far superior appli-
ances OF recent years; will you not ex-
plain them to me?''
Certainly. Firstly, have celluloid
which can be made to more closely re-
semble human flesh than any other
substance. Secondly, / have myself
devised suction springs and other ad-
herring appliances Of india rubber,
which obviate the necessity for metal
springs, thus relieving the patient from
much irritation. From time to time T
am requested to make cheek. / used
to fashion them of aluminium, a very
ight-weighted metal; now use cellu-
loid. A bullet wound, burn or a can
cerous affection frequently causes a large
hole in the side of the face, and false
cheeks become necessary. I can affix
inner and outer pieces in a way which
will almost defy detection. If YOU
noticed anything you would probably
suppose it to be a scratch on the side Of
the face, nothing more. The two pieces
are made to adhere by rubber suction,
Are you only asked to improve faces
which have been damaged by disease or
accident, Doctorp'' i asked.
s.As rule, yes. Though some per-
sons are born without noses or with
shriveled ears, and they come to me oc-
easionally. have more orders for
noses than any other feature. always
take mask of the face of the patient
and make perfect model first. There
are many people walking about now who
would gladly avail themselves of INV
services If they knew how cnrnnIotaI,v +