The morning call., 1891-05-22
ALMOST A MIRACLE.
Cure of a Blind Man Whose Face
Had Been Crushed.

The value of surgical training and
| methods is seen in the case Of Philip
/ Swartzberg. He is known the world over
as a glass-blower, and specimens of his
handiwork are in every land. For many
years he has had trouble with his eyes, but
the nature of his maIady was not under
stood by bis physician, says New York
correspondent of the Cincinnati Enquirer.
There was a gradual loss of sight In both
ewes. He kept at his trade, but his poor
sight interfered greatly with his work, and
his trade began to fall off on account OF the
inferior production. In two years he be-
came totally blind. He consulted oculists,
but they could not do anything for him.
The cause of his disease was obscure.
Strong lights we're thrown into the eyes,
but nothing abnormal was revealed.
SYartZberg was helpless, and his life was
merely memoirs. He seemed to be doomed
70 eternal blindness, but an accident came
that brought different aspect. While walk
ing along the street in peTtectdarkness he
was struck by horse and knocked down.
One of the horses stepped on lis face and
crushed it into a shapeleSS mass lie was
taken to the New York Hospital in an APP
paTently dying condition. The top OF his
skull was fractured, and when the patient
did not die Dr.. Burrows began TO do some
thing fer him. His scalp was cut into two
maps WHICH DFiuH LuEuSu DRCh 6ApUSCu tIIC
broken skull. Several small pieces of bone
were taken out which had become lOosened
by the shock, aud when the surgeon went 70
work with a trephne and bored several
holes into the skull where the fracture was
the worst, and several other fragments were
taken ont, making altogether a section OF
bone about four inches square. The de-
pressed bone was raised so as to take the
pressure from tue brain, and, after two days,
when the patient had recovered from his
shock, he became conscious.
The bones of his face, which had been
ground almost to spinters, did not unite as
well as their condition at first promised.
The bones threw off splinteTS, which sup
purated and rotted the tissue near them,
and this process WAS continued until the
! bones themselves became rotten and broke
up. Such an extensive carries had never be-
fore been met with, and DR.. Burrows was at
q loss for a time to decide what method
should be employed to give relief. Surgical
| interference was plainly indicated, but where
to begin and where to leave off was the ques-
| ton. An exploratory lncislon was made
| along the line of the lower jaw after the pa
| tient had been etnerized. 1t was carried
| from ear to ear, and the flesh was dissected
| upon from the cheek bones until the tissue,
! when elevated and stretched over the pa
| TENTS forehead, exposed the entire bOny
! structure of the face. The tissue making
! tile nose was preserved intact, but was freed
| from its attachment to tue bridge. A probe
could be forced, with only a slight pressure,
/ into any part Of the bones, and the sur
geOn concluded that relief could only be
| given by removing all the bones below the
| eyes. The lower jaw was first attacked and
removed without difficulty. The removal
of the upper jaw and cheek bones, with its
! complicated network of nerves ard arteries,
/ was a task which any surgeon might hon
esIly shrink from. With the active use of
saws, ehiSels hammers and f0rceps for three
hours the surgeon took out ali the bOny
| structure of the lace, including the roof OF
the mouth and bridge Of the nose.
This exposed the eyeball fully, and while
the surgeon held 1t preparatory to putting
on a bandage, he felt pTlckIng sensation
in his fingers. Nothing could be seen to
cause this, but a strong magnifylng glass
brought into plain view large number OF
haiT-lke spiinteTS of glass. These were so
sharp and fine that by mere gravity they
had been carried through the eyehall. The
operation had to be abandoned Tor time,
as the patient had been under ether for six
hours, but subsequently all the splinters
were removed with small fOrcepS and the
aid Of glass. During the operation one Of
the eyes was punctured, and the fluid ran
out, which caused a collapse OF the BAH. In
the remaining eye there was little cluster
Of glass splinters at the JUneture OF the
optic nerves. These were got at W it'll great
| difficulty, and it took two weeks to get them
all out. When the Inflammation subsidized
the sight of the eye was restored.
In the meantime the terrible wound in the
| face had been slowly healing. DR.. Burrows,
who had an inventive turn Of mind. devised
an apparatus after much thought of an ad-
| Unstable framework Of the human face. 1t
| was a very ingenious arrangement, and
! could be enlarged or made small by a single
| set screw about in the center Of where the
roof OF the mouth would be. CellulOd and
hard rubber were the materials used, which
! gave the face strength and elasticity. The
! lower jaw was put in first and when the
| tissue had got used to this the upper jaw,
cheek bones and nose were put in place in
sections. The face by work of the screw,
was distended so as to make it assume the
natural position and form. All the muscles
! had been retained intact, and, as they
touched the various protuberanceS which
had been purposely left on the artificial
jaws, motion was impaired to the inert ma
terial and fair imitation was given of the
human Jaw. The external appearance is
frst-class, and but for the Gears, the fact
that the face was not natural w0nld not be
suspected.