Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1886-10-06
The Brain.

III IA1
A remarkable surgical operation was
described at the meeting of the British
Medical Association, held August IS,
by Surgeon Horsley, of the Blooms
bury National Hospital for the Para
lyzed and Epileptic. The patient up
on whom the operation had been pei
formed wa exhibited by the successful
operator. The case is a very interest
ing one, because it shows how great
progress has been made recently in
brain surgery and in the art of locat-
ing the seat of disease at the. surface
of the brain before the surgeons in
struments are used. The patient ex-
hibited by DR.. Horsley was treated for
epilepsy. 1t was decided that his skull
should be opened in order that the
cause of irritation might be removed.
But at what point should the opening
be made? Was it possible for the ply
sicians to locate accurately the position
of the morbid growth before the sur
geon should begin his work? A spot
on the skull was pointed out, although
there were no external indications by
which the physician could be guided
or assisted. At that spot the skull
was opened. There's tumor was found
imbedded in the brain substance. This
tumor, with a portion of the brain sur
rounding it, was removed. The cause
of irritation having been taken away,
the patient ceased to be an epileptic.
Before the operation was performed he
had been a great sufferer, and both
the frequency and the severity of his
fits had been increasing. When he
was exhibited at Brighton, one month
after the operation, the fits had not re-
turned.
Two other patients, whose skulls bad
been opened for the removal OF diseased
structure or morbid growth, were
shown at the same meeting by DR.. Hors-
ley, but in these cases the physician
had been assisted in locating the seat
of disturbance on the surface of the
brain by external marks, caused by in.
jury in n ase and by trephining in
the other. The surgeons treatment of
these patients was successful, but for
obvious reasons the first cas- was far
more remarkable. In the first case the
point at which the skull should be
opened was determined solely by the
fact that the patients fits began in the
muscles which act upon the left thumb.
Knowing this the attending physician
also knew that the region of the brain
which excites or governs the move
ments of those muscles was irritated by
something that should be removed:
He knew under what part of the skull
that part of the brain surface could be
found. He pointed out the part of the
skull which covered that part of the
brain; the surgeon removed the bony
covering; the tumor was revealed and
taken out.
1.-THE art of locating accurately in
this way the seat of disturbance has
been developed by a long series of ex-
periments upon the brains of living ami
mails. 1t is n of the greatest Of the
results that have been attained by
what is commonly called vivisectior-
a broad term which covers experiments
of many kinds, some of which do not
necessarily fall under a strict definition
of the word. By the side of this art
the art of surgery has been developed
and improved by means of vivisection.
Ability to locate the irritating growth
and ability to remove it without kill
ing the patient have been obtained
alike in great measure by experiments
| upon living animals. The results are
already of great value to mankind
| New York Times.