News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1889-04-18
A NEW WONDER.
MIGRATING THE NERVES or.
A DOG UPON A MAN.
A Successful and Marvellous Surgical
Operation, and the only"one on
Record.

4 physical activity that comes in the wake.
OF Turkish bath, when it. .is-yre,ily
needed by the system, has aiiGxer@ tasted
the pleasures Of LIE er.onjoy6d,dhe Sen
sation Of absolute health. These, baths
are reco1hmended by physicians every
where, and they are usually benefioial
but the old saying is frequently verified,
that what is one mans meat is another's
poison, and the Turkish bath has some
times. worked incalculable injury.
Hugh Abernethy, a student at the
New York College Of Physicians and
Surgeons, being anxious to carry off the.
honors of his class, burned the midnight
oil at furious rate and set up highly
nervous condition, which prevented him
from sleeping. Opiates prevailed for ~
time in producing artificial sleep, but
the strain upon the system was too
great to stand, and the drugs had to be
discontinued. ,Abernethy had to give
up his Studies, but the insomnia re
NAMED. The Turkish bath was sug-
gested, and he tried the experiments
with most disastrous result The bath
went ali right up to the cold lJlnuee.
He jumped into the cold water fearless
Z ly while the body was. very warm. The
accustomed reaction did not come, and
as soon as he Struck the water1e gasped
. for breath, raised his. head from the
water and swooned. Hewas pulled from
the pool by an attendant and was, re-
stored to consciousness 'by vigorous
treatment.
The symptoms that Immediately fol-
| lowed were alarming. The entire body
began to swell, and the skin puffed as
if it had been blown up with air. The
] ann1ifiA1, L.
sudden cooling CT the body while the
skin was secreting a large amount of
sweat had caused the sweat glands to
close tightly without corresponding
stoppage of exudation from the vessels,
and the result was a sudden odema, or
dropsy. Measure es were at once taken
to excite the lymphatics and veins, and
| to reduce the inflammation in the capil-
laries, but the deposit of fluid was not
| stopped. There was danger of sudden
death from suffocation, as the symptoms
| pointed to the filling up of the lung
spaces. In order to combat this diff
Guilty, incisiOns were made in the abdo-
men and legs in several places, and
small drainage tubes were fixed in posi-
ton to keep down the accumula ion of
water by slow but steady flow.
A remarkable feature of this operation
was that no blood came from the
wounds, except in one place in the right
leg, showing that nearly all of this life
giving liquid had been converted into
water by some peculiar chemical change.
| The patient was in very low state. He
was unconscious, with a temperature be-
low the normal, and the breathing was
confined to the throat entirely. The air
could not be heard passing in and out
of the lungs. The patient had never
given any evidence of cardiac disease,
and his lungs had always been sound.
After the dropsy appeared there was u
slight cardiac murmur, such as is found
in cases of fatty heart.
The dropsy finally succumbed to the
measures employed to control it and the
body returned slowly to the normal size.
1t had been swollen almost twice as
large as in the natural state and the
muscles were soft and flabby, and pos
sessed but little strength Electricity
/ and other means were employed to eX-
cite muscular activity. During the early
stage of the disease the patient had been
\ removed from his boarding place TO ST.
Luke's Hospital, and was looked after
| by DR.. Hart, the consulting surgeon.
| When the dropsy disappeared another
phenomenon took its place, which in its
nature agreed in many respects with the
/ disease known as progressive hemla-
! trophy. This latter malady takes usually
several years to develop, while in the
present case it only extended over n few
weeks. The muscles of the right arm
and leg wasted away to nothing, and
sores appeared on them in spots. There
was much in their condition to lead to
the belief that they were slowly rotting,
and that they would have to be ampu-
tated at the shoulder and hip-joint.
Both the limbs were paralyzed, and re-
manned for weeks without sensation.
They suddenly became the seat of the
most eXcruclatlng pain, which seemed
to include the entire length. The pa
tient was in such agony that he scream
ed and groaned nearly the whole time.
The cause of the pain remained obscure
for about ten days, and the patient had
found relief in delirium.
A small swelling upon the under side
of the leg disclosed the presence of n
neuroma. This is q fibrous tumor, and
it had developed in the sheath of the
sciatic nerve, near the groin. Another
tumor of the same kind had formed in
the ulna nerve, i'll the inner side of the
arm. There is only one remedy and
that is extirpation, and it is an opera
tion that requires great skill and deli
cacy, as well as perfect anatomical
knowledge.
The arm was operated upon first,
being the easier to handle. Ether was
not given, as the patient was iusensible
TO pain. To avoid the twitching of the
arm it was strapped to the table. Tho
incisiOn was made over the nerve, and
in short time the tumor was found. 1t
was about the size of chestnut, and
was cut out safely, the dissection being
made with lare Judgment. The nerve
was preserved intact, the only rupture
being i'll the sheath. The wound was
dressed and closed quickly. The pa
tient was hard to control during the
cutting, and to keep him quiet during
the operation on the leg ether was given.
The patient was turned face down
ward and an incision several inches
long was made over the swelling. As
the knife sank through the tissue tho
blood spurted forth as if the entire leg
had been transformed into an artery.
The arteries We're seemingly rotten, and
the hgatures gave way repeatedly The
was about the size of an orange,
md i'll cutting it out of the sheath the
nerve was divided. 1t contracted inn
and was lost in the bleeding
flesh. The surgeon attempted several
times to unite it with sutures, but the
strain was so great that the stitches
would not hold. To leave the nerve
separated would result in permanent
paralysis of the leg, and the surgeon de-
eImined to try bold experiment that
even in the event of failure would not
make tho condition any worse. \ large
log was procured and anPstheti2cd.
The upper part of its leg was speedily
opened with a knife and the large nerve
eparatcd from the tissue. After it had
,acn freed from blood, il was divided
rear the elbow, and as quickly as posi-
lie the dog was thrown into position, SO
hat the nerve could te made TO connect
without tension with one end of the
ciatic nerve i'll the Tatieut
The dogs nerve was then stitched to
he mans, and after the lapse of fifteen
minutes the nerve was entirely severed
rom the dog with scissors, and the di-
ided end was joined with the other
'art of the sciatic nerve, and a complete
was formed.
The blood was allowed TO coagllate
round it, ard the wound was partially
losed Spaces were left to secure per-
ect drainage. The transportation of
ervcs was never tried ON II human
'eing before, hut it has been attempted
nth rabbits, though never with marked
ucCpSS