Daily Kennebec journal., 1884-05-01
0alfs aud Skftthfs.
A PHILADELPHIA DOcroR's ExTRAoRDI-
NARY Confession.

? Bastian. then an intelligent celored boy
[ of se eyeuteen, was servant in the house
. of fairly prominent Philadelphia physi-
: clan. who was regarded by his professional
. brethren as a man OF rather eccentric
ideas. He made diseases of the mind his
specialty-or more properly speaking bis
E one peculiar hobby-znd dabbled IN the
: unrecognized sciences of psychology and
, mesmerism. The BOY Henry was slngu
, Iarly apt for one of his years. and took
. the greatest delight in arguing with his
: master on such subjects, and in gaining
a general knowledge of medicine and
| surgery whenever the opportunity offered
| Two years ago the physician died. leay-
ing behind him strange story OF how tnls
: Youthful enthusiasm proved TO be the lad
mental ruin and caused him to become
, living physical organism, but bereh o'
| everything that made him accountable to
his maker or his fellow men. The history
of the case is probably without parallel 10
medical annals. 1t was secured with grea'
difficulty. and then in such fragmentary
form as to be without consecutiveness.
Careful fitting and dove-tailing. however.
reveal coolly premeditated and carefully
executed crime, not punishable under any
statute. although in tact murder without
killing the physical body. In diary OF
1869. belonging to the dead physician.
under date Of March 9. was found the fol-
lowing entry. which is probably the start
ing point for what follows:
.Henrv's theory about superfiuous brain
cells is certainly novel, and if the boy
were not so precocious ] would laugh at
il. There may be something in it. but
how can it be proven
Under the date of March IL is found a
second entry. which very clearly indicates
the train of thought into which the writer
was drifting. Comparative anatomy"
he says, docs not go far enough. Henry's
crude suggestion has awakened within me
an entirely new set of ideas. All need
now is a subject. | can see already a
great future for myself and a greater bene-
| fit to science. A subject is all that is
needed"
Between March II and March 21 the
leaves of the diary are, with the excep-
ton of some irrelevant memoranda, blank,
and under the latter date are written the
following words: "If he is perfectly
willing, see no reason why | should hes
itate. can certainly stop, should any
i'll effect appear
The leaves of the diary from the last
named date up to April were torn out
and missing They evidently contained
some conclusion. for on April the doctor
writes: 1T will be better for me to act
alone in this matter. If anything be
proven, the credit belongs to me alone.
If anv risk be incurred, | alone should
bear it,"
A partial explanation of this entry is
found under subsequent date, April 9,
but which in all probability had been writ
ten previously. 1T is strange" says the
physician, ''that the very same thought
should be possessed by both of us at one
time Henry knows perfectly well what
danger may arse. feel that he is thor
oughly sincere. am unwilling to do the
lad harm, but such an opportunity" and
here the thought abruptly ends. On the
same page. lower down. are few words
evidently put down some days later. 1T
must be, or else Pll begin to think I'm
getting weak and childish"
april II chronicles the following: "Am
now thoroughly convinced that the opera
ton can be performed without the slight
est danger. Inflammation is about the
only thing care about now. and that is
easy enough TO control. If there does
exist particular CELL the seat of some
particular passion, it can be sacrificed.
without injury to the structure as whole.
Supertiuous cells cannot exist, but, thank
God, the boys foolish suggestion will, ]
hope, result in a grand discovery. | am
perfectly satisfied"
1t is difficult to determine whether the
dates given are the dates on which the en-
tries were made, because the next record
that would follow in natural order is on
January 80. 1t saws: IL will pray God
this night TO direct my arm on the coming
morrow so that may be brave and strong
it is not a sacrifice, and have no more
hesitation"
1t would seem from these memoranda
that the physician had studied over the
matter for some weeks before he conclud-
ed to make an attempt to remove por.
ton of healthy human brain simply as
an experiment. That he did make the at
tempt. and did succeed in accomplishing
the object. is proven by an entry made
under date of May 30. Stripped of the
greater part of its technical verbiage, the
, history of the operation is as follows: 81
feel that have brought down the anger
of heaven upon my head in attempting tC
tamper with the noblest part of the Crea
tors handiwork. Henry Bastian. who has
been beneath my roof since childhood
, still lives He exists, he breaths, he di
gests. but that is all. He is no longer amen,
tety, and by my hand. To you, my below
ed wife. confide this horrible secret, ant
beg of you to do all you can to proven
e my memory from being tarnished. becaus,
s feel the grave to be near. You will nov
= know why the lad was sent to an asylum
0 1t was because his presence was to me ,
constant knife in my soul. Know then
dear -. that three months ago yester
day" this is an unexplainable discrepan
cy) II determined to perform an act whicl
, would make me famous in the eyes OF tn,
/, scientific world. 1t has made me infamou
> in the eyes of God and of all men. Yol
+ have toiled patiently with me in nv stud
: les. and will understand what am abou
e to relate. All ask is that the childrel
# may never know it, and that you will keel
my secret locked within your own breast
"A remark made by the lad some tim
= ago led me to think that could safely re
f. move portion of the cerebrum. and thu
:, prove the existence of separate functions
Henry talked with me about it, and with
out any preliminary thought offered +
= submit himself as a subject. did not tax