Waterbury evening Democrat., 1888-01-30
THE MEDICAL MUSEUM.
SOME OF THE GHASTUY RELICS
 KEPT ON EXHIBITION.

Curiosities of the Government Collectior
 at Washington-Freaks of Rifle Balls
 "Reminiscences of Indian wars-SecticGs>
 of Bones-Gen. Sickles' Leg.
 But the museum abounds in things that are of intrinsic interest. There are object lessons illustrating the wonderful freaks Of rifle balls. One of these is a section of . skull with the ball which struck it split III two, one-half going inside and inflicting the wound which caused death, the other half remaining on the outside between the scalp and the skull. The soldier who received this remarkable wound as Spottsylvania lived twenty-three days.
 Still more wonderful than this case is one where mimic ball struck the soft bone of the nose and divided. Along with this goes the head of the man who put the muzzle of a pistol in his mouth and fired. The bali passed through tho jugular vein and stuck fast in the bone, acting as n stopper on hemorrhage from tho vein. Tho would De suicide lived seventeen years before yielding up his head to make museum visitors marvel.
 INDIAN BABIES
 The museum possesses quite a collection of opposes, picked up by tho army surgeons in the wild west and forwarded. The witherc;l and battered remains have been ''crred'' isy long exposure to sun and wind on tho clc- vated stages where the Indians used to bury, but they arc not pleasant to look upon. The most notable of these opposes is . l;@;.c chap, said to have been found in tree near Laramie He is dressed in a suit of blue. upon which the Indian mother has scwcd great collection of buttons. Around the neck is string of beads, and on the feet are little embroidered rloccasins.
 "Reminiscences of the Indian wars arc ru- mcrous There is the skull Of one brave who orlI succuT5cl when he had been saberci nino times. At !cast that must De the con ciusion, for the c,Qnium shows nine distinct penetrating cuts from tho sword. Of course it Is Tot to be supposed thaE the white man amused himself by whacl,ing away need lessly at the red mans head after the latter was hors de combat. The skull belonged to an Araucanial, who was killed by Chiiian soldiers. The skull of tho favorite squ;.w of Little Bear, tho Indian chief, is a very good | companion piece to the above. Shc v.s | killed in Wyoming. In the preserved era nium are seven bullet holes.
 l One day after the war closed there car,c to | Washington a ono armed ve-eran He had n 1 bundle wrapped in paper, aad he said it was | something that ought to be in the museum When the wranpinSs wero taken of there ! was brought to view a human arm The muscles had dricd ilard and the skin Lad been tanned by tho action of the wind and sun. Sc complete had been natures process that there was nothing G.scgrecable but tho looks Of the arm. The drying and shrinking of the flesh had left the jagged bone bare at one end, and the same causes had clinched the fingers at the other. The veterans story was that in the battle at Gettysburg . cannon ball had taken off his arm. Unconscious, he had been carried to the field hospital, and then to the general hospital. Months af eerward he had reSained his health and had been discharged. Curiosity prompted him to visit the battle field and live over his terrible experience He found, after some trouble, tho spot where he stood when the cannon ball discovers Si him. It was in Q corn field, and there be- tween tho furrows was the arm in the well preserved condition apparent. The scientific gentlemen of the museum didn't think it worth while to take the soldiers affidavit. They saw at Q glance that tho arm was an 1 interesting specimen, aside from its history They took 1t, mounted it upon two supports in glass case, and gave it place of promi- nence in the museum.
 WONDERFUL WORK WITH ARROWS
 Some of the wonderful accomplishments of tho Indians with their arrows arc illustrated in Q very realistic manner. These arrows had heads made of tho iron hoops of barrels. A shoulder blade Of buffalo, with the thin, frail looking arrow head piercing it is shown. l Upon close examination tho visitor discovers that the point projects through the outer side of tho bone. Tho only explanation is tha; the arrow must have passed through the body of the buffalo and struck tho shoulder blade on the inside. These arrow heads may bn fol-o, rIa evse, they arc So thin; but shot from the bow by the Indian, they went through obstacles which would have stopped bullet. They penetrated bones without fracturing them and they made cuts as clean as the keenes; surgical blades. Tho Apache arrow head O. soft iron has pierced where a leaden project ile would have fattened.
 The visitor secs hung up in the cases hc:J and there sections of bones which possess Il, significance until it is learned that they have been taken from tho arms or legs of men sti. living. In cases where balls had shattercC the bone, surgeons sometimes preferred tl,S operation of cutting out a section instead o adopting tho shorter and, for them, easiri method of amputation. One of thess ezcised bones hung up in the museum came from tho arm of q veteran wht was for years an attache of the institu ton. He used to walk up to the case occa sionally and shaise his fist at it. Muscle a-i sinews had developed in place of the Inissin: bono to such an extent as to make the arr. strong enough for more than ordinary use This man could lift 200 pounds with the arI from which tho bone had been taken.
 Pension Commissioner Black had one of hi arms cxcised s:nd there is Q considerable DOT ton of it which is only gristlo and muscle Tho bono is gone, and he becomes painful. aware of tho feet when he tries to sha-z hands with 400 or 300 people.
 No. 1895 i3 large bono with tho splinter ing about midway, where the bullet strucl; The tag says: Maj. Gen. D. E. S., Unite, States volunteers, Gettysburg, July 2; amDu ta:ed il the lower third of the thigh by Sur Gcon T. Sim, United States volunteers, on th field Stump healed rapidly, and subjec was able to ride in carriage July 16; com plc.cly healed, So hat he mounted his horse in September, 1865. Contributed by the sub ia.tm Ii is tho Ter of Cen SickIns Hyhn