Telegram-herald., 1889-11-22
SMUGGLING DISEASE
ssEsnxs Cases Nst MIA rs Physicians
80 O4ker.

ssEsnxs Cases Net MIA as Physicians
sd osksr.-
AnAn. apparently II great bodily pain.
wss foaa3 lying uPOa tks sidewalk al
Frong snd Chestnut streets. ~ police
Inzn. Tie n1An lad fallen AL ia = heap"
sna his ssory was that De had teea way
l4ia and beaten A p&Eroi wagon Was
sunauoned buI when an Stts1r "a VAS
made - place him In the veAlcls he COM
paainsd u such exquisite pain Is vas
found Deoessary 20 discard the p&trol
wagon and % carry the man on stretch
eT 70 = hoSpiEzL On arriving 81 Uhe lat
Ter institution ne wss carefully removed
from the stretcher - g cot IN the recei.-
Ing ward, and, although handled very
tenderly. the change Of position seemed
70 sggravate his suffering. SIngulsTly
enough. when the surgeons made an ex-
animation, II was found that when q pin
was stuck IN any portion Of the mans
BODY below the neck he apparently failed
10 feel il. and the natural conclusion un-
der the circumstances was that he had
suffered spinal injury. IL was then
proposed 70 place the patient under an
ansesthetc, with the view Of performing
an operation. but when the man heard
this he jumped OF the cot and darted
quickly cat Of the hospital gate and was
soon lost 20 view. He had been playing
possum." but for what reason viii, Per
haps er be known.
TO AVOID TIE DRAFT
Such cases are not infrequently met
with by physicians IN their regular prac-
tioe and at hospitals and other charitable
institutions Either 10 excite sympathy.
or from other motives. people sometimes
cultivate the power of Stimulating dis
eases These individuals are known 70
the medical profession as "malingerers,
and they become particularly numerous
on certain occasions. During the civil
war, at the time conscriptions were made,
IL was surprising TO see the number Of
able bodied men limping along with canes
and apparently suffering with rheuma-
tism or other crippling ailments. While
II is not always easy. even for an expert
| doctor, 10 detect between real and sim
ulated disease, yet he can generally dis
tinguish between the genuine and feigned
| rheumatism by the manner in which a
man plants his cane on the pavement
| To understand the difference il is only
necessary TO watch a man who carries a
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. Ii 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 group Of sympathetic
men and women, and one of the latter
had procured from a neighboring resi-
dence 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 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 of in about five min
utes.
FEIGNINd DEAFNESS.
The next Sunday there was a repeti-
ton of the attack. The woman, who
was 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 o:
the tricks resorted to by men who desire
to avoid being placed upon juries. Gen
orally, however, the judges are able tc
fathom the deception, and, by the use oi
little stratagem, it is easily exposed
Men who simulate deafness will clasp ar
ear in the palm Of the hand and lear
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 rule, however, illness and Other
physical disabilities are simulated by
people who wish to avoid work or whC
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 theii
condition. In fact very many diseases
are feigned, but in the hands of q skill
full physician they are soon exposed. A
common method of Stimulating apopleIy
is by falling down as II deprived of sen
sation and consciousness Powerful
stimulants. an electric shock, the appli
cation of hot water or an irritation ot
the nostrfls. quickly detect the imposi
tion.-Philadelphia Ledger.