, 1889-06-13
REMARKABLE VITALITY.
A MAN LIVES DESPITE A BRUREN
SPINE.
Iongs y. u. biii's Life
Six Days.

would have resulted in instant death In 900
out OF 1000 instances. has been puz2llnx
the doctors for nearly q week
The New Amaden miner, who many
years ago had tamping'ir n driven
through the anterior section OF his brain,
from the base of his chin to the top OF his
head. and for dozen years aft'r bis re-.
covery. and before his death form natural
causes, carried section of.the implement
around with him as a walking stick, has
not created as much interest III the medical
profession as has Jas, B. Hill. who lies at
the point of deatht in his modest little
home at 1911 Folsom street
The $50 pound bale of hay which fe'l on
his head last Wednesday crushed his neck
into his body and left what had been
originally neck four inches long only one
and one-haf inches. The visible exterior
signs of the accident we're a slight abra-
sion on the side of the head and gathering
of the flesh III folds, which oddly enough,
was not broken. IL did not require the
practiced eye OF DR.. David Wooster to de-
Lermine that the spinal column had been
broken and the wonder to him was that Hill
was alive at all. His pulse was ABOUT forty,
but as there was chest breathing. Dr.
Wooster called IN Drs. Perry, Cachot,
Mays and Todd next mornin0 and an op-
GRAFTON was decided upon. Hill was insen-
sibe from the time of the accident which
occurred at / | o'clock on Wednesday morn
ing, until after the operation.
THE SURGICAL OPERATION.
Twenty.four hours later the surgical
knife was applied to the patient. The
operation occup pied just two hours. An
ipcision was made in the center OF the neck
and at its base, and along its entire length
about eight inches, exposing the spinal
column. The deepest incision was little
more than two inches.
LAYING bare the SPINAL column disclosed
the fact that the third and fourth vertebTB
had been crushed. The third vertebT@
is the weakest Of the spinal column, and
the one which breaks and causes the snap
ping Of the spinal cord In hanging. 1t
was what physicians call CON minuted
fracture. The fragments pressed upon the
spinal cord and a portion OF them had pen
etrated the membranes allowing escape or
the spinal fluid In considerable quantity.
The bone was removed with the greatest
care, leaving the cord exposed for nearly
an inch and a half. Into this CAVITY the
doctors thrust AM isep'ic gauzs aud a few
stitches we're put IN the lower pOrtions of
OF the incision made by the knife.
THE suspESsoIY MACHINERY.
But the work of restoring the unfortu.
nate man to consciousness vas by no means
completed. Inc application ot tue Cnurcot
system for suspepsion tor fraction of the
spine. or locomotor ataxia. WAS necessary,
for with the condition of the injured yer.
tebrae. the head having no support. would
inevitably fail down upon the spine and
death wonld soon follow. No improved
appara,us to keep the spine elongated
WAS az hand, so Or Wooster proceeded to
improvise the machinery
The patient was placed upon mattress
on AN extension dining table about seven
feet long in the Center of the room on the
main floor. There are three rooms on this
foor. a parlor. dining room and kitchen.
In the nartition wall separating the par
| Ior and dining room an iron pulley was
screwed in tight and another in the kitch.
en- wall. Strong pieces of muslin about
four inches wid. were procured and titoed
under the chin around to the apex of the
head. and then u smaller piece of muslin
WAS sewed under the base of the mead,
Al ouud TO ami below the ears Then cords
were fastened to the bandage under the
chin and by means of the puileys drawn
ont and slightly elevated so as to relieve the
pressure upon the injured spine, In that
position MIR. Hall mas since remained, ex-
cppt Tor periods OF two minutes three times
a day.
puy,prAnrs VITALITY.
. -.
An examiner r,ppr.er was P,es '"s.
nlsht when " oos,.r was m"s;uH an
examination Oh tne p'.ieh'' ,i, W, u"' ~ ~
haa recoVtfru cohsrlous'l.ss s eu?Is MI
env . .',s' 49,, ~. h,, honrs lyar. mum
! hered tor the doctor had told him that he
conll not i've more than twenty four hours.
but, for all that, ne would nave his little
Joke In turning him over on his side
ii nj complained that his neck hurt him.