Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1889-07-03
TWO QUEER CASES.
THE PART IMAGIN ALTON PLAYS
IN DISEASE.
A Man Who Believed He Was Fatal
ly stabbed-A Patient Who En-
diired Torture for the Purpose of
Fooling the Doctor.

There are two cases to which will
call your attention that afford an illus
iration of what curious thing human
nature is, says ~ New York letter to the
Cincinnati Enquirer. The first is that
pf John Burke, who has been butcher
At Eastman's slaughter house for about
year. He is muscular fellow, with
the usual high flow of spirits and vital
ity. possessed by, men who follow this
calling, and the direct opposite to What
is termed the nervous temperament
Burke got into II quarrel with a fellow
worker in the slaughter house and came
to blows. Burke was getting the best
of it, and the other combatant in order
to even MP matters, seized knife and
made vicious thrust at Burke's abdo-
men. Burke cried out 81 am stabbed, !"
and fell upon the floor unconscious.
There was long rent in his red flannel
shirt, and as he rolled over on the floor
he was covered with blood from head to
foot An ambulance wus speedily sum
moned and Burke was packed into it
and driven at full speed to the Bellevue
Hospital. He moaned ard cried aloud
with pain all the way to the hospital,
and said that he felt he was dying and
wanted n priest sent for. When he
reached the hospital he WAS pulseless,
pale and exhausted, and was hurried
without delay to the surgical ward. DR..
Connor, the house surgeon, ripped off
the mans clothing with nervous haste,
and the sight that met his eyes nearly
threw him into a fit. Instead of the
viscera that he expected was hanging
out, he was astonished to find that there
was not a spot OF blemish upon Burkes
body. The knife had simply slit the
shirt and grnzed the skin without break
ing it. The ambulance surgeon, i'll the
first instance, had been deceived by the
blood which Burke had fallen into on
the Slaughter house floor. DIR. Connor
told Burke that there was nothing the
matter with him, but he would not be-
licve it and said that he felt the pain,
and it required an orderly with the Wig
orous application of a heavy strap to
his body to bring him to his senses. He
LETT the hospital cured in about two
hours, impressed with the belief that
he had been in the hands of magicians.
The case of Burke shows what n large
part the imagination can play in disease
or in Jury, and con firms what physicians
have everywhere found, that where the
imagination is treated first, the disease
disappears suddenly without drugs.
Burke was honest in the belief that he
had been stabbed, but in the following
ease of Louis Fitzgerald the patient
was neither honest in action nor inten-
ton.
Fitzgerald is young man, with n
dark skin, firm muscles, and presuma-
ply large development of the bony sys-
em. He was n little wild, and his
ather placed him on the schoolsbip st.
Mary for discipline. After he had been
on the ship year he fell into the hold,
broke his arm and ruptured one of the
auscles i'll the neck. An abscess
prmed from the neck and discharged
,us for two months before it healed.
After he got out of the ships hospital,
Ind was compelled to report for duty,
he began to have fits daily. He had Sc
we're commissions, frothed at the mouth,
became perfectly rigid, and exhibited
the symptoms usually found in epilep-
sy.
The tests ordinarily made to discover
whether a patient is shamming were
tried without disclosing any deception,
and Fitzgerald was relieved from duty
When he got his freedom the fits de
creased in number and abated in inten-
sity, but another interesting phenome-
non appeared. He lost the sense of feel
ing in the right hand and according to
his description the anRsthesia spread
up his right arm to the shoulder. Then
the right leg was attacked, beginning
at the toes and extending slowly to the
! II. -, -,
| Jump to the other side of the body and
in short time the left arm and leg were
without feeling. This condition con-
tinued to spread until the trunk and
head showed apparently the most com
plete anasthesia. Fitzgerald claimed
that he had neither taste nor smell, or
at least these senses were perverted, so
that the same thing at different times
would taste and smell differently.
| There was no interference with the mo-
tive power, and he could walk and use
his muscles nearly as well as ever. He
was sent to st. Francis Hospital. The
entire history of FitZgerald's case led
DR.. Coudert to be skeptical, and he
made thorough and critical eXamina-
ton. The patients body was pricked
in every part with needles, and needles
were run under the patients nails, a
test that will make n ut-hcarted man
cry for mercy, but the lad paid no al
tention to it. An eye wise was applied
to the eyeball. This would make a
statue weep, but Fitzgerald gave no sign
of pain. While the rat ent was blind
folded heated irons were kept close
enough to his body to burn and blister
without being met with a protest. A
little alcohol was set on fire on his
abdomen, and he seemed to enjoy it
There was every evidence that it was Q
genuine an1 sthesia, and n strong Fara
die current run from the spine to the
legs did not dispel the idea. Such al
extensive an@sthesia had never bcel
met with before, and the medical pro
fcssion took great interest in examin
ing the patient. He did not object t.
any test that was suggested. His mint
was ill Mt ease and he exhibited peevish
ness mt times, but this was thought t,
be due to the effect of the disease upol
the brain.
Another peculiar feature was tina
quite frequently there would be n swell
ing in the back of the patients neck, il
the form of n pouch, similar to that seer
in pigeons. The pouch was soft ant
disappeared of its own accord. 1t coult
be fattened entirely by pressure. Sucl
an interesting affair could not help but
arouse curiosity as to its cause, and DIR
Coudert took the best means of finding
it out. Without placing the patient
under the influence of ether, the sur
geon made an incision into the patients
neck and found tha5 the bag was simply