The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1884-02-22

All l ask is that the children may neve
know 1t, and that you will keep my secre
locked within your own breast.
"a remark made by the lad some tim
ago led me to think that could safel
remove portion of the cerebrum, ant
thus prove the existence of separat
functions. Henry talked with me abou
1t, and without any preliminary though
oiiered to submit himself as subject.
did not take kindly to the idea at first
but by degrees became accustomed
to it, and then accepted it. o.
the morning of that terrible da,
placed Henry in the operating
chair in the back office, first telling
him what intended to do. I admin
istered five ounces of ether, and wher
he was thoroughly under its influence
used the trephine. A semi-circular open
ing was made in the right parietal bone,
one and one-half inches above and il
front of the ear. The brain was exposed
and then without hesitation I inserted .
curette "a little scoop and pushed it for
ward toward the posterior part of the
longitudinal assure, where, phrenology
teaches us, the seat of generation lies.
An ounce of gray matter was removed,
and then fearing to risk further re-
moval that day, I replaced the flap OF
the scalp, and when the patient came to
himself administered an arterial sedative.
There was slight hemorrhage, but moth
ing dangerous, and as the sedative
brought the pulse down to fifty, had
no fear of Inflammation. When the eff
fects of the anesthetic had passed off
entirely was little alarmed at the re-
suit of my work. There was witch
ing of the entire muscular system in the
left side, and a continual drawing down
of the left side of the mouth. shall
never forget the expression of the boys
eyes to my dying day His right eye was
sparkling and intelligent, but the other
was dead and stony, and the con-
trast between the two was amazingly
strange. A singular effect was produced
upon the larynx and pharynx. He was
unable to speak, seemingly, and gave
utterance to unintelligible sounds from
one side of the mouth. The result was
somewhat unexpected, I must confess,
and l then determined to take the des-
perate chance of removing correspond
ing cell from the left side to equalize the
robbery. You will recollect how shocked
you were at the time speak of, to learn
from me that Henry had suddenly be-
come an idiot. I remember well the
wicked lie told to hide my crime. My
theory about equalization was altogether
unsound, as l aftetward proved, because
l falsely reasoned that the removal of
cell from the right hemisphere of the
brain would act on the right side of the
muscular and nervous systems. That
was In contradiction to my early teach
ing, and was conclusion drawn from an
experiment l made with rabbit. do
not wish to enter too infinitely into the
details of the second operation and of
the terrible thoughts that then took pos
session of me. Three weeks later the
idiot, as you thought him, was in the
chair again"
1t is impossible to reconcile this por-
ton of the diary with the brief entries
that precede the history of the operation,
because the doctor speaks of the second
time as though it were summer. The
word "weeks" may have been written
instead of months, " or else there is an
other part of the story missing.
"lt was bright summer day." contin-
ues the physician, land all nature seemed
filled with gladness and life. felt no
pity for the poor creature before me, be-
cause the moment l cut into the scalp
was filled with mad desire to push my
skill to the uttcrmost. began to think
could recreate creature, whose will,
Invested of its individuality, could be
made subservient to mine. But enough
OF my thoughts. Let me hasten to the
last and worst part of my confession, for
it is confession. The boy was subjected
to the same treatment as before, except
that the trephine was used in the left
parletal bone instead of the right. The
opening was nearly opposite the other
one. l plunged the curette into the
brain and removed portion of the brain
directly opposite where the first removal
had been accomplishedA Then, i'm
PEELED by some devilish thought,
reopened the first opening, over
which the Acknowledgements substance
was beginning to grow, and forced ca
,heter from one hole to the other, A
'ather profuse hemorthage warned me to
cease, and replaced the scalp flaps. and
waited Henry's return to consciousness.
The excitement following the operation
made me weak and nervous. and leaving
he room I locked the door. and went
INTO the street. Feeling the need of a
went into saloon and took
heavy draught of brandy, and then
walked | know not where. l seemed to
AVE lost all recollection of what had
lone, until it suddenly flashed across my
mind that the boy might come to and do
himself an injury. hurried back to the
'ffice and looked at the clock. l had
'een gone nearly two hours. Henry was
till seated in the chair. He had not
moved an inch. The bandages on his
lead were precisely as l had left them.
shook him slightly and then spoke to
i'm, but he made no sign or motion.
hen sat him in an upright position.
lie remained perfectly motionless. 1
ook him out of the chair and placed
i'm on his feet. He remained standing
lmmovable as block of stone. I
fted his arm, and it staid in whatever
ositlon it was placed. l drew up his
losed eyelids, and they remained open.
Like flash of lightning the thought
truck me that was a murderer! Yes,
~ dear wife, a murderer. l realized
1stantly what this cataleptic condition
Henry Bastian was no longer
accountable human being. had ut
'rly destroyed his individuality. His
xecutive and directive power was gone.
lie was simply a piece Of living clay-a
egetable without will; and as 1 looked
the expressionless face, the dull, sight
'ss eyes, the fixed limbs, felt the same
'morse, l believe, as the assassin who
.es the hot blood squirting from his
-, I