St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-01-01
The Peculiar Manner in Which
a Case Of Elephantiasis
Was Cured. IN
An Operation Rendered Sue
eessful Only by Presence
OF Mind. 1o
The Victim Will Have to Earn
Her Living by Doing -
Homework. =,

ally affects the eXtremitieS, generally
one or both the legs. 1t cause is OBJ
scure, and has given rise to many heated
discussions among medical men. The
disease is comparatively rare. and its
treatment, both on this account and be-
cause so little that is valuable is
with much success. There are
cases Oh record where the legs have
swollen to such an enormous extent
that locomotion was entirely suspended
People with this disease are looked upon
as freaks by many ignorant persons.
The dime museum men have taken adj
vantage of this notion, and a museum is
not considered complete one at the
present day which does not have on eX-
hibition some unfortunate individual
who makes living by exposing his de-
fOrmity. There was on exhibition in
BOWery museum several months ago
young woman whose stage name was
Annie Finley. She had elephantiasiS of
both legs. The measurement around
ONE CALF WAS TWENTY-EIGHT INCHES,
and around the other thirty-one inches.
The thigh was prOportionately enlarged.
Her shoes would make a splendid canoe
for an ordinary sized man. There were
some remarkable things told by the
Snowman about her history, all of which
were untrue. Her case attracted con-
siderable attention in the medical pro-
fession, and DIR. Meyerberger, of the
Polytechnic hospital, who has made
written extensively upon this subject,
was frequent visitor at the museum,
says the New York correspond
ent of the Cincinnati ENQUIRER.
His visits were not merely to
satisfy an idle curiosity, nor even
to study the characteristics of the dis
ease. He had another object. 1t had
long been desire of his to have pa
tent with this disease under his charge
to experiment upon, with the view of
etfecting a cure. In this case the girl
was getting salary of s25 week, and,
while she was willing to go to the hos
pital, she did not like to give up the
money. DR.. Meyerberger got several
gentlemen to pledge themselves the
salary for as long as the girl would he
under his care, and she consented to go.
to the Polyclinic. The idea never en-
tered her head that if she should be
cured she would
NO LONGER BE AN ATTRA CTION,
and no one mentioned it to her. =
Annie is twenty-five years old, and
her legs have been increasing in size
for the last seven years. There is no
either of the limbs. She had a severe
attack of rheumatism when she was
twelve years old. 1t is her belief that
the disease was caused by wearing tight
shoes. Her feet were always large. and
pride caused her to wear shoes a size or
two too small. Bunions were formed
on the joints of the big toe on each foot,
and it is singular that the first pain and
swelling began at this joint. The dis
ease spread rapidly up the legs
at first, and then there was a
steady increase of few inches year.
After the firsh year there was no pain.
it required hard pressure to make an
indentation. The joints were not
affected in the least, and were, if any
thing, more timber than before the dis
ease began. She could walk without
trouble, although her big feet made her
movements awkward. 1t is a strange
thing that in elephantiaSiS there is no
constitutional disturbance. Her health
was always good and her appetite ex-
cellent. The nerves in the legs were
active. and all the sensations were nat
ural and active, with the single excep-
ton of heat and cold. The skin did not
seem to take notice Of the changes in
temperance, and piece of ice or red
hot iron held close to the skin, but with
out coming in contact with it, made no
impression at all upon the girl.
The day after the patient was admit
ted to the hospital she was put to bed,
and then the long siege began. Each
leg was strapped to a board which eX-
tended from the heel to the thigh. A
pulley was arranged over the bed, and
rope being attached to it
THE LEGS WE'RE ELEVATED
to an angle of about forty-five degrees.
They were kept in this position for a
month without being changed. 1t took
great deal of tact to keep the patient
cOntented. She suffered greatly from
burning pains in the legs, and often
yearned to become a ''freak"
again. The effect of this treat
ment was to soften the tissues
in the legs and to interrupt
the flow of blood and to hasten its re-
turn to the body. She was kept strung
up long enough to settle the fact that
given to the legs by the blood produced
radical change in them, and gave
promise that if a greater interruption
was effected there would be a more ben
eficial result. To test this view the pa
tent was an8sthetiZed. An incision
was made in the left leg in the thigh,
about an inch below Poupart's liga-
ment, and extended in an outward di-
rectiOn about five inches. Below the
superficial muscles the tissue was very
tough, and turned the edge of the knife
like a piece of lead. The hemorrhage
was very troublesome, and there
small arteries. 1t took a long time
to get down to the FemOral artery. But
at last it was brought to view. with the
crural nerve and the femoral vein, both
enormously enlarged, directly behind
it. 1t required great skill and patience
to separate the artery from the vein and
nerve and elevate it so that it could be
handled. The sheath was opened and
an aneuriSm needle was passed around
the artery from without inward, and
ligature was securely fastened. The
wound was closed with the usual anti
septic precautions. The same operation
was performed upon the other leg. The
patient had been under ether so long
that she showed
SIGNS OF BEING IN DANGER,
and the work had to be hurried along,
and this detracted from the skill of the
operation. The patient did not recover
from the shock for seventy-two hours.
On the night of the fourth day after the
operation the nurse discovered that the
patient was unconscious. DR.. Meyer
berger was summoned at once, and dis
covered that the secondary hemorrhage
had set in, caused by the ligature in
the right leg giving way. Without
calling for assistance the surgeon
whipped out his pocket case, got
a scalpel and made an incision in the
abdomen just above the right hip joint
| about four inches long. The peritoneum
and the iliaca fascia were cut through
and the intestines exposed. These were
pushed aside and the surgeon plunged
| his hand into the abdomen and seized