Omaha daily bee., 1883-04-06
ARTIFICIAL NOSES.
How and Where They are Made
and the Cost Of Manufacture,
A Surgeons Experience Of the
Drafting Process,
In Which it Takes the Flesh OF Three
People TO Make one Nose.

III u'Cu hhD bhO faODA
People to Make One Nose.
In a dimly.llghted workshop abut'
ting eff Ninth street and Third avenue,
a Journal reporter found yesterday q
faded.looking little man, busily at
work upon a complicated steel instru'
ment that reminded him of q double
iointed thumb.screw. His name 10
Albert Pslsky, q Prusaisn by birth,
and an anatomical instrument maker
by occupation. PAlsky Is q man of
large experience , no speaks several
languages with luency, and has been
in this country about nine years.
The eubjeot of conversation was
upon falge noses. 81 am afraid l cant
tell you q great deal about them" he
said, "because comparatively very few
are made In this country. The last
one l made was nearly a year ago, and
cost the owner $1C0 1t was made of
papier mache inlaid with silver, and
took q month to finish. 1t was for a
rich customer out West who was the
Victim of q dreadful cancer, the pro.
gress Of whose disease could only be
arrested by completely amputatlpg the
natural member. 1t was a job l didn't
care much about, because the man was
well and. advanced in years, and I
hadn't very great faith in the perma.
manont ability Of the substitute.
H.wsver, 1t was as fine q piece Of work
as l over made" continued the little
man with pardonable pride.
"And how was 1t %attached?"
"By very fine springs fixed to q pair
of spectacle frames. False noses are
now made of q composition of papier
mache and rubber, of which the Paris.
ians possess the only true secret. In
some parts Of Germany artificial noses
are made of leather. Wax Is no longer
used"
According to the medical Authorities
one of the earliest instances of nasal
surgery on record dates back to 1850,
when DR.. Fioravanti, an italian ply.
s%ician, happened to be present when a
mans nose had been cut of, and which
had fallen Into the sand, took 1t up,
washed 1t, and replaced 1t 80 that IL
grew together again. A similar In.
stance is told of Regnault In the
Gazstte Salutaire Of IVA. The owner
of the nose took it to the surgeon, who,
although the part was cold, reset it,
and 1t became attached.
In the Clinical Annals and Medical
Gazette of Heidelberg, 1880, may be
found an account cited by DR.. Ho.
fscker, who was appointed by the Zen.
ate to attend to the duels Of students,
where sixteen similar cases occurred
through that cause; the olfsctories be-
ing attached BY m~uoilage. It seems
IL was not uncommon for q student to
slice off the nose of his adversary and
deposit it on o table until the duel was
over.
DR.. Shorter, of 1873 east Twelfth
street, narrated to The Journal re-.
porter some curious instances of the
''grafting process" which has now
practically superseded the manufacture
Of false noses.
"The younger the patient the better
chance for . successful operation"
said the doctor. Operations Of this
kind usually proceed frem either aooi.
dent, ulcer or cancer The third case
ID generally more d fioult to deal with,
because persons are usually we'll ad-
vanoed In years before the disease 10
fully developed"
"And how Is the grating accom-.
plished2"
"By taking little bits of skin from
the arm Of of the patient and attach
Ing them to the injured organ. So
much depends upon the health and
habits OF the patient. Another oourse
where the original nose has quite
gone, Is first to place the right arm of
the patient In q strong plaster of
Paris spliut In an upward posture;
then to cut o strip of fash from the
forefinger the length Of the nose and
and place 1t In the required position.
The finger and hand are tightly bound
and remain there until the adhesion IL
firmly set. The operation takes from
two to three weeks and IL necessarily
tedious and painful"
"But how do you manage elderly
peopleT
They mostly come to as In what I
may term 'the cancer STAGE" which
Ia more difficult to deal withon account
Of the iaterior cartilage being eaten
away. The method of replacement IL
too technical to describe satisfactorily,
and mainly consists In trying to give
the nose Its original form. Tais can
only be done, however, by very slow
stages, although In some cases q nose
almost az good as the original ha,
been the result. Sometimes pieces Of
flesh are taken from the forehead ant
laid over the organ. Not infrsquent
ly hssh Is taken from the bodies O
two or more healthy person
before the right kind of nos,
Is obtained. In most cases, hcw
ever, the art of surgery can do ia
moregoodthsn the instrument maker.
A manufacturer Of surgical instru
. ments who does q large business o
. Fourth avenue and Twenty-Five
/ street said: "Ws occasionally get a
order for an artificial nose, but yer
!" rarely, and when we do we usual
get it made In Paris. 1t is q job W
), don't care much about, because
A surgical science can do nothing for til
y patient, it Is almost hopeless to expe'
: 1t 10y mechanical agency"
Sand the COST"
depends. upon tho msterial al
tho time and trouble in making 1t.
] should say On artificial nose would 90
all the way from 800 up. Its man
f~acture Ia very tedious and has to 3
through many changes before 1t is cor
A pleted. A model has to be made; Il
n proportions to be obtained; the exa