Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1884-05-25
The Most Wonderful Surgical 0per-
ation in the History OF Medicine
"A Very Remarkable
Operation.
Cutting Holes in a Patients Skull,
Probing for a Bullet; RemOV-
ing With a Knife Portions
of the Brain.
The ban Alive and in Excellent
Health "A Case That Will
be the Wonder of the
World for Ages.

BOSToS, MAY -t-Itol' riuhrtIt VI ui'
visiting surgical staff of BelleSue Hospital,
to-day presented to large gathering of
medical gentlemen, among whom were
Profs. Lewis A. Savre. A. Post and Charles
Mittendorf Drs. Anderton, Putnam, Jacob
and others, the most wonderful case of sue
cessful surgical operation Of the brain that
ever came under the observation of a sur
geon and which still remains unexplained
from the fact that the patient recovered and
is at present ENJOYING the best Of health.
The case has no parallel in the annals of
medical literature and until it presented it.
doubted the possibility Of introducing the
knife into the brain without fatal results.
The patient, Bruno Knorr, who yesterday
sat in the amphitheatre Of the hospital in
the centre of group of intensely interested
physicians, who carefully examined his
head. which was mass of sears showing
where the bone was cut ont, has a remark
able history. He is well formed young
man and were it not for his much chopped
up 70: ehead would be quite good looking.
He apI ears to be of very affectionate dis
position, which is the cmsc Of his strange
wound. On the C"cning of Jan
uary % last he visited his sweet
heart and asked her TO marry him,
but >he declined; he pressed his suit,
but waS ha'ly refused, upon which he pulled
out - revolver and fired a bullet iuto his
bra,c Tho ball entered the forehead, abou.
an inch and half above the eyes, directly
in tie centre. He fell TO the ground with
blood gushing protuscly from the wound.
Hewa, supposed to be dead, but ncverthe
less he was removed to Bellevue Hospital
Upon arriving at that place the junior sur
geOnS were surprised to find that he was
still alive. Through the night they sat hy his
bedside intent upon making observations
as 10 how long he could really live
applying only such simple remedies aS wonId
ease the last moments Of a dying man. But
they miscalculatcd, for in the morning they
found him still alive, although unconscious.
Afraid to do anything upon their own re-
sponsibiltv, they tclcgrap phcd the visiting
surgeon, Prof Fluhrer, at daybrcak, and he
came at once in response to the summons,
hardly supposing that he could do anything
for the patient. From certain peculiar sur
rowmdngs however, he was led to undertake
a most hazardous operation, which he de
scribcd to his listeners Yesterday while
standing at the side of the man whose life lie
had saved
Life or Death.
Finding the pulsations Of IL l.'.'' ~ ~
growing weaker and life slowly ebDing' ne
took the most desperate chances ana re
rnt uf,tm Nsqssate,Ht,a@cG.y yEeGhnG as:IISn re.
ticlcs of its substance that oozed through
the hole made by the bullet, he boldly set
10 work and, thinking that he could no more
than apply the last measures, he dlssected
off the flesh around the wound clean to the
bone. holding back the flaps with pins, and
then cut out disc of the skull about the
size of dime with trcphinc above the
bullet hole, joining the two by chseIing
away the bridge intervening. On attempt
ing TO remove the particles Of bone which
had been driven upon the brain matter by
the bullet in It's passage and had
set up dangerous condition by their pres
sure. he met with n profuse hemorrhage
from one of the large arteries, which was
cut across its GATED edges scarcely to be
seen. Two attempts to catch it up proved
futile, and realizing that death from the
loss Of blood under the circumstances was
matter of moments he introduced his finger
into the wound and pressed the artery
against the bone and for a time became
master ofth situation The cxcrtiOn tired
him soon. and he instructed his assistant 10
relieve him while he again attempted to
catch the end. After five trials he was sue
cessful and placed ligaturc OF catcut
around it, The little vessel, however,
was tricky, and the lgature slipped OF, leav-
ing matters worse than before. Again he
tried il and at last overcamc the obstacle by
tying it tightly. Next he introduced large
bullcttipped probe which descended by its
own weight about five inches into the brain,
when he stopped short and held it in place
Carefully STUDYING the angle in which 1t on
tered he marked point at the back OF the
head where it would if further pushed come
out. and there cut of three faps around IT
sawed through the bone, exposing the brain
coverings in thercar There he cut through
and met with mass Of dark, half-ciotted
bio, mixed with particles Of brain which
foa:cI about This was carefully washed
out
The T,uIIst IN the Brain.