Johnstown weekly Democrat. (Johnstown, Cambria County, Pa.) 1889-1916, 1889-11-15
STIMULATING DISEASE.
STRANGE CASES MET WITH BY PLY
SlCIANS AND OTHERS.

ered.-
A man. apparently in great bodily pain,
was found lying upon the sidewalk at
Front and Chestnut streets. by police
man The man had fallen "all in u heap
and his story was that he had been way
laid and beaten \ patrol wagon was
! summoned. hut when an attempt was
made to place him in the vehicle he com
] planned of such exquisite pain il was
found necessary To discard the patrol
wagon and to carry the man on a stretch
or to a hospital On arriving at the lat
ter institution he was carefully removed
/ from the stretcher to cot in the raceiv.
( ing ward and, although handled very
/ tenderly. the change of position seemed
to aggravate his suffering Singularly
! enough, when the surgeons made an ex
animation. it was found that when pin
was stuck in any portion of the mans
| body below the neck he apparently failed
| to feel it. and the natural conclusion un.
/ der the circumstances was that he had
suffered spinal injury. 1t was then
| proposed to place the patient under an
anpsthetic, with the view of performing
an operation. but when the man heard
this Inc Jumped oil the cot and darted
quickly out of the hospital gate and was
soon lost to view He had been playing
puSsum. but for what reason will. per
haps, never be known
TO AVOID THE DRAFT
Such cases are not lnfrequently met
with by physicians in their regular prac
! tiCe and at hospitals and other charitable
institutions Either to excite sympathy.
ar from other motives, people sometimes
cultivate the power of Stimulating dis.
eases These individuals are known tc
the medical profession as "maln"erers.
and they become particularly numerous
on certain occasions During the civil
war, at the time conscriptions were made
1t was surprising to see the number of
able bodied men limping along with canes
and apparently suffering with rhelna
tism or other Gripping ailments. While
it is not always easy, even for an expert
doctor, TO detect between real and sim.
ulated disease, yet he can generally dis.
tinguish between the genuine and feigned
rheumatism by the manner in which 2
man plants his cane on the pavement
To understand the difference it is only
necessary to watch man who carries
cane to assist him in walking and one
who flourishes cane for pleasure
Among the disorders generally simu,
lated are fainting and epilepsy Both
have been SO well counterfeited as to have
been mistaken for genuine cases 1t is
only when heroic measures are proposed
that the imposition is disclosed Not long
since an up town physician, while pass.
ing an open air religious meeting on
Broad street. had his attention attracted
to "A middle aged woman, apparently suf
fering with an epileptic attack She was
surrounded by a group of sympathetic
men and women. and one of the latter
had procured from a neighhoring resi-.
deuce n pinch of salt The woman re
covered consciousness, however. without
the use Of the latter remedy
On the following Sunday the physician
noticed the same woman in church, and.
thinking she might be seized with another
spell, took a seat several pews from her
Sure enough, an attack came on, to the
discontinue of a number of nervous peo
pie The poor woman was carried out
to the vestibule of the church, and the
physician followed The seeming epilep
tic seizure passed off in about five min.
utts
FEIGNiNG DEAFNESS.
The next Sunday there was a repeti
tion of the attack. The woman, who
was a stranger to the congregation, was
again taken to the vestibule, and the
physician who had previously attended
her was again called upon Thinking
that the attack was simulated. he pro
posed that settee should be procured
and the woman carried through the
street to police station, In a twink
ling the woman sprang from the chair
in which she had been placed, hurried
from the building and has not since ap-
peared at the church.
One of the methods adopted to mis-
lead is to feign deafness, This is one of
the tricks resorted to by men who desire
to avoid being placed upon jures. Cen
orally, however, the judges are able to
fathom the deception, and, by the use of
a little stratagem, it is easily exposed
Men who simulate deafness will clasp an
ear in the palm of the hand and lean
forward as though the auditory nerves
were strained to catch what was said
In an unguarded moment the supposed
deaf man is asked question in an ordi-
nary tone, to which he generally replies
and his deception is unmasked
As Il ruio, however. illness and other
physic;.I disabilities are simulated by
people WHO wish 10 avoid work or who
desire to obtain admission To some IN.
stitutIOn where they may live without
cost to themselves, and sometimes by !
convicts with the hope of bettering their |
condition In fact very many diseases
are feignpd. but in the hands of skill |
full physician they are soon exposed A |
common method of Stimulating apoplexy |
is by falling down as if deprived of SEN
sation and consciousness Powerful |
stimulants, an electric shock. the appli- |
cation of hot water or an nr..sGtion of |
the nostrils, quickly detect the inposi-
ton. Philadelphia Ledger