The weekly Union times. [volume] (Union C.H., South Carolina) 1871-1894, 1889-11-15
SlNULATING DISEASE.
STRANGE CASES MET WITH BY pHy.
SlCIANS AND OTHERS.

Row People Feign Injuries and Other Dis
biiities-Scveral Illustrations Taken fro,
Life-How the Deceptions .Aro n,.,o
cred.
"A man, appare,Nly In great bodily pair
was found lying upon the sidewalk O
Front and Chestnut streets, by n polic.
man. The man had fallen "aIl in a heap,
and hisstory- -was thnt ne had been way
iafd una beaten. a patrol wagon wa
summoned, but when an attempt wa
made to place him in the vehicle he com
planned OF such. exquisite pain It wa
found necessary to discard the patro
wagon and to carry the man on stretch
er to hospital. On arriving at the lat
Ter institution he was carefully removed
from the stretcher to cot in the receiy
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, 1t was found that when pin
was stuck in any portion of the man.
body below the neck he apparently failed
to feel it, and the natural conclusion I'm.
der tho circumstances was that he had
suffered spinal injury. 1t was then
proposed to place the patient under nm
anesthetic, with the view Of performing
an operation, but when the man heard
this he jumped off the cot and darted
quickly out Of the hospital gate and was
soon lost to view. He had been "playinp
possum." but for what reason will, per.
haps, never be known.
TO AVOID THE DRAFT.
Such cases are not infrequcntly me,
with by physicians in their regular prsc.
tice and at hospitals and other charitable
institutions. Either to excite sympathy.
or from other motives, people sometimes
cultivate the power of stimulating dis.
eases. These individuals are known to
tho medical profession rs "malingerers,,
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 rheuma.
tism OF other crippling ailments. While
1t Is not always easy, even for an expert
doctor, to detect between real and sim.
ulated disease, yet he can generally dis.
between the genuine and feigncd
rheumatism by tho manner in which
man plants his cane on the pavement
10 understand the difference it is onIs
necessary to owatet1H-ns|v17T74fess- -anu one
anIo ftourishcs n cane for pleasure.
Among tho disorders generally simu-
atcd are fainting and epilepsy. Both
have been so we'll counterfeited as to have
been mistaken for genuine cases. 1t if
only when heroic measures arc proposed
that the imposition is disclosed. Not long |
since an up town physician, while pass
ing all 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
by group OF sympathetic
men and women, and ono Of the latter
had procured from q neighboring resi-.
dence pinch Of salt. The woman re-
covered consciousness, however, without
tho use of tho latter remedy.
On the following Sunday the physician
noticed the same woman in church, and,
thinking she might be seized with another
spell, took seat several pews from her.
Sure enough, an attack came on, to the
discomfl urc Of number Of nervous peo-
ple.' The poor woman was carried ou'
to tho vestibulo Of the church, and the
physician followed. The seeming epilep
tic seizure passed off in about five min
utes.
EEIGNINd DEAFNESS.
The next Sunday there was repett
ton Of tho attack. The woman, who
was a stranger to the congregation, waa
again taken to the vestibule, and the
physician who had previously attended
her was again called upon. Thinking
hat the attack was simulated, ho pro
posed that q settee should be procured
and tho woman carried through the
street to pSS1ice station. In twink
ling tho woman sprang from the chair
IN which she had been placed, hurried
from the building and has not since ap
peared at the church.
Ono 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 juries. Gen
orally, however, the judges are able
fathom the deception, and, by the use O
a little stratagem, it is easily exposed
Men who simulate deafness will clasp al
ear in the palm Of the hand and lcal
forward as though the auditory nerve
were strained to catch what was SAID
In an unguarded moment the suppose
deaf man is asked n question in an ord
nary tone, to which he generally reptile
and his deception is unmasked.
AS rule, however, illness and othe
physical disabilities are simulated o
people who wish to avoid work or VIII
desire to obtain admission to some II
stitution where they may live witho'
cost to themselves, and sometimes L
convicts with the hope Of bcttering the
condition. In fact very many discas
are feigncd, but in the hands OF ski
full physician they are soon exposed.
common method of Stimulating apoples
is by falling down as if deprived of Sc
sation and consciousness. Powerf
stimulants, an electric shock, tho app
cation of hot water or an irritation