Hot Springs weekly star. (Hot Springs, S.D.) 1892-1917, 1892-04-15
GIVING REASON TO AN IDIOT.
rreph,n,nr a ch,ld'. Skull to Lot the
Brain Have Room to Expand.

Trephining a Child's Skull to Lot the
Brain Have Room to Expand.
There came to the City Hospital a
poor woman, who told Il story pitiful
indeed, says the Cincinnati Com
mercial-Gazette.
She was the mother of two children,
both girls. One of these, she said,
was is years old and the other a little
child of 4 years. The elder daughter
had been a hopeless idiot since child
hood, and now the terrified mother
was convinced her baby, too, had
fallen under the curse. The little
one had w acted like other chill
dren, had never PLAYED or prattled in
her infancy, and now, though 4 years
Old, she could not speak Il word. The
mother came to beg the help and in
tercst of the hospital authorities, and
her pathetic appeal was not made i'm
vain.
Though it is not the custom of the
hospital to receive cases of idocy, yet
the peculiar circumstances of this
poor woman's sorrow, and the sus-
picion that the case might furnish Il
remarkable disclosure i'm brain atfdc-
tions, induced the officers to promise
admittance for the child. Next day
the mother returned with a hopeful
heart. by her side was her little,
girl, just toddling out of infancy.
Her features were regular, almost
pretty, and her little figure strong
and well-formcd. But the sad story
of her life was written plainly in her
face. No intelligence was there: no
light in the eyes; none of the bright
JOY of loving, learning childhood.
The little patient was taken to the
surgical ward, and for the next ten
days she was the subject of the most
careful study by the resident and
visiting physicians. 1t was discov-
cred that the aust of her mental inn
pairment vas the premature ossifica-
tion of the several bones of the skull,
thus combining the brain in too small
a space and preventing it's develop
ment. Then the operation limited at
was determined upon, the purpose
being simply to remove a strip of
bone from the skull, thus allowing
expansion, just as one would slit Il
tight shoe with his knife to relieve Il
tender foot.
The day was set for the operation;
at 10 o'clock the room was filled with
watching physicians. The child
knew not the agony of fear. She was
as unconscious of the meaning of the
strange faces about her and the sharp
instruments of the surgeon as the
lamb led to the slaughter. Even
idiocy has its compensations.
A long, narrow table was placed in
a convenient light and the child care
fully laid upon it. After the mother
had given her parting kiss chloroform
was administered, and it was not
long until all consciousness of pain
had vanished. Then the curious doc
tors gathered round to view the bold
procedure. The scalp was carefully
shaven and thoroughly cleanscd with
alcohol and bichlOride of mercury so
luton. The newly sharpened scalpcl
was then applied, and an incision was
made clear down to the bone, extend
ing from nca the root of the nose di-
rectly backward v the top of the
head for IL distance OF five inches.
The edges of the wound were gently
held back by %rctractors so as to *
pose a large arca of the skull. Now
the %trephine, an instrument rcsem-
bling Il gimlet, was put to work in
n end of this incision and a circular
piece of bone the size of a dime was
removed, exposing the transparent
covering of the pulsating brain. Now
a pair OF cutting pliers were inserted
in this opening and the bone chippcd
off piece by piece until an area five
inches long and half an inch wide
had been removed. This part of the
operation vas done with the utmost
care, for the delicate aud important
structures in SO close proximity might
have been wounded by the slightest
slip of the instrument. After the
wound had been thoroughly bathcd
in a stream Of clear, warm water the
edges were brought neatly together
by fine silk stitches and tEs whole
we'll covered and protected by cotton
and bandagc. The child was then
carried back to the ward apd i'm the
course of an hour rallied from the eff
fects OF the chloroform and displayed
no untoWard symptoms.