Wichita eagle., 1888-06-15
NOSES MADE TO ORDER.
WARRANTED TO HOLD COLOR AND
TO WEAR FOREVER.

WARRANTED TO HOLD COLOR AND
TO WEAR FOREVER.
Chat with Man Who Supplies Unfort-
innate People with Artificial Probos-
cides - Fingers and Hands Made to
Order-An Artificial Soft Palate.
''The discovery OF xylonite has marked an
era OF improvement in the art OF making
false noses, said a we'll known doctor, who
supplies unfortunate people with artificial
proboscides when accident or the ravages Of
disease have removed that very prominent
feature
Before that time, he continued, 1--WE had
to make noses out Of rubber and paint them
to the right color. Rubber is not a flesh
color, and when the paint began to scale of
the effect was not ct all good A rummy
nose Was beauty beside one that needed q
coat of paint But xylonite can be made to
take the color very easily, and we get it In
all shades Of pink, to correspond with the
tint of the face 1t is light and very hard
1t Is almost impossible to break it. See
here" and he took blank of the material
and dashed it on the floor with all his might
1t was not in the least affected
bow NOSE Is MADE.
"For nose," said the repairer Of facial
damages, 1--WE find out which way the flesh
and blood nose naturally curved. There
isn't man living. l suppose, whose nose was
exactly in the middle Of his face We find
out from his friends what it's proper appear
ance was, and then we make wax model as
near Like life as we can A plaster cast is
made of the model, and then the blank
xylonite Is heated so as to soften it and
pressed into the mold by an Archimedean
screw. That forces it into the proper place
1t is then polished up and attached either to
springs or sponge cut button shape so it
will crowd into the cavity and hold on with
enough force to keep it from falling out Ii
the flesh shall have become sunken around
the nose so much as to cause the eyes to have
staring look, spectacles are worn to Offset
it OF course you understand that this is not
practicable nose as the stage carpenter
would say. 1t is for looks only. Methuselah
couldn't have worn out such a nose. 1t will
last forever and that's as long as any one
would want it" and the old doctor chuckled
at his joke. "a body wants to be careful
how he goes into a rough and tumble fight
get his nose knocked off. He ought to boiler:
Here, you just wait spell till put my nose
in my pocket"
"Do you ever make artificial outer earsf"
"Never had a call for one yet They could
be made all right, but to insert one would be
to destroy the hearing, which would be too
dear price to pay for the whistle
FINGERS and hands, though, are often
made They are the hardest thing to get
right They are made of the same material
xylonite The joints of the wrists and fingers
are made in what mechanics call the uni
versal joint You often see people on the
street who always wear glove on one hand
That is their artificial hand The well made
hand can close up the fingers so that articles
can be held almost as securely as with tho
natural hand. Usually only one articulation
is made in the fingers, as it is very tedious to
put in two joints Artificial feet | have
never made for patients, although they would
be much easier than artificial hands.
AN ARTIFICIAL PALATE.
"Here is something which might interest
you," said the physician, handing the re-
porter a red flap OF rubber spatulated at one
end, like a beavers tail, and bearing small
rivets at the other.
whats thatT'
"That's an artificial soft palata You know
some people are SO unfortunate as to be born
with cleft in the roof of the mouth, which
interferes sadly with their speech All
sounds which depend upon the breath being
excluded from the nose, like n and m, they
are unable to pronounce These sounds are
called nasal because they go through the
nose. Look in the glass with your mouth
wide open, and you will see little tongue
dangling away back at the roof Of the mouth.
This is the uvula, which is absent in those
who have cleft palates 1t helps in swallow
ing as well as in speech. Now, this artificial
uvula is not the natural shape, as you see,
but is thinned out and spread out like fan
at one end. That is so that it may rest
against the muscles which would naturally
move the palate. The other end of the piece
is riveted to plate, which is kept in the roof
of the mouth either by suction or by springs.
ga queer thing about these cases Of cleft
palate is that the perception of the proper
sounds Of letters dies out as the man grows
older. A child in whose mouth an artificial
palate is attached soon learns to talk as ma
turally as people whose palates are normal
But those who have passed middle life before
they have one put in have, it is said, to learn
q language like French, where the great
prevalence of nasal sounds compels them to
notice their Importance. Only in that way
do they learn to speak English properly.
Talking about palates reminds me-" con-
cluded the doctor, 'of the old fashioned style
of teeth Before the material of which arti
fetal teeth are made was invented sets used
to be carved out of what was called hippo
potamus ivory. When / was a young man
| can remember when there were only q
dozen houses here-when was young man
used to get front teeth for artificial plates
from the old Indian burying ground The
teeth were very sound, and | have known
them to be in uss for over thirty years with
out showing signs of decay."-Chicago Mail