Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1890-09-13
MhRVELS or SURGERY,
Che Brain Probed with Steel and Hea
ing Restored to Mules.


ing Restored to Muies.
To open the skull and penetrate the
brain is not so common surgical fact
that it has ceased to be a wonder. IN
deed, such an operation performed at the
Roosevelt Hospital, New York, has at
tractcd the attention of the entire medi-
Cal profe son.
The patient. who is a physician, was
thrown from his carriage last fall, strik-
ing heavily upon his head. III was re-
moved to his home, where, upon eXami-
nation, no external evidence of fracture
OF the skull was found. Later paralysis
of the entire right sid of the body was
developed, and with it a complete ina
bility to express his thoughts. In t..
course of time the paralysis Of ;he !,
gradually disappeared, until the pltien
could move it sd ,i,factorily, but the p"
alysis of the arm persisted, as W,
the inability to speak. Alter 5eyoIa.
months. and while in this helpless and
well nigh hopeless condition, the patient
was brought to this city The physi-
clans who examined him concluded that
the troub.c was due to pre- sure on the
brain, especially on that part of it which
governs the faculty of speech, and that
tbs pre- sure was probably caused by a
cot of blood, resulting from the rupture
OF blood vessel within lhe skull cavity
at he time of the injury
Acting uVon this belief, it was decided
to open the skull, lay bare the surface of
the brain, and remove the cause of press
y, Il l,n
outside OF II n.an's heal the p.ccise spot
in the brain which governs any particu-
lar faculty or function is obviously diff
fcul task. After carefully mapping out
the head by the most delicate measure
melIts the spot corresponding to the CEN
ter of speech in the brain was found.
Then thc patient, having been rendered
UNCONSCIOUS by ether, the surgeon, after
the prelim aiy incision of the scalp, re-
moved by means of a trcphine round
disk Of Lone Immediately over t re spot
indicatcd, somewhat enlHr- ing with cut
ting lorccrS the opening thus made. The
outer delicate membrane covering the
brain was now brought into view. Be-
meath it lay a large dark mass of clotted
blood, cX,e"ding down into the substance
of the brain. The clOt was carefully re-
moved when the effect of its pressure
Masclearly perceived in the impoverished
circulation of tie part. The wound was
then drcs ed with every precait,on, and
the patient was crmitted torecover from
the operation. The following night, for
the first time after his injury, the patient
was able to say YES" and No" The
condition of his righ; arm was also i'm
proved, and it is lclieved that he will
eventually recover.
AS a rule muteS are born deaf, but
sometimes severe diseases in infancy de-
stroy compile ely the sense of hearing.
Under these circumstances even par
tial recovery OF hearing is extremely
rare. A girl who is now 10 completely
lost her hearing when 3 years old through
an attack of ccrcbro-apiral meningitis,
and in conse4uc CO was brought up as a
deaf mute. attending until recently the
school OF the Deaf and Dumb Asylum at
Fordham. Coming to New York this
spring, she was placed under treatment
with Sight hopes OF benefit. Her ply
sicians asccTtuined that the delicate nerv-
Gus apparatus of the internal ear was
still sound, else the case would have been
hopeless. Under appropriate treatment,
combined with dila,ation of the middle
ear by initiation, improvement was soon
noticed. In month the Young woman
heard the ticking of a watch held 20
inches away and conversation at dis
tance of 10 feet, and then she began learn
ing how to talk. a month later she
could hear watch at a dijtance of 5
feet and conversation across the room.