St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1892-06-10
MADE TO ORDER.
\ New Mouth Put on IL Gotham
Baby.

Several babies are daily brought into
existence ut the New York Emergency
HOSPITAL for Women. and the chorus of
uncutivated vOcalizati0n that Is I'M
pressed upon the visitors to the wards
might be considered by Mr.. Gerry'S So
ciety as cruelty to children. But what
can the commodore do: Nothing. 1t
is not a question whether the child act
rrSSeS should DE allowed 10 sing their
baby rhymes in Wang, but whether
these poor unfortunate infants, appar-
entity out of reach of the society, snail
be allowed to yell their natural, un-
trained tunes until their little lungs re-
fuse to act and they sink exhaust ed
asleep.
One day recently, says the New York
Advertiser. an infant was born in one
of the wards who was restrained by the
miLhty power from Joining Ill this
chorus as if done so for the purpose.
Tie infant, az result, grew fat and
was the heaithiest in the institution.
The poor little fellow had no mouth, its
cheeks being perfectly united from ear
to ear by Il piece Of smooth, white skin
and flesh, that was without blcmiSh.
and appeared to have bee" made to
stay 50.
[
the books are silent. and what to do for
the child was a puzzle to the physicians.
The oldest practitioner had never seen
ANYTHING like it, and the case was pro
n0uncpd a remarkable freak of nature.
Even DR.. Francis Mason, the famous
London facial specialist, in his work OF
the surgery of the face, mentions no
such cases.
As the babe grew older it seemed to
understand that something was wrong,
and would seem 20 fret over It by bold
ing lis breath. The physicians deter
mined that something must DE done. II
possible. and a consultation Of prDmI-
nent surgeons and physicians was called
\ thorough examination was made with
a view of remedylng the deformlty-
The upper and lower JaW00nto seemed
to be perfectly formed, and were capa-
bic of Slight motion. but Il structure OF
some kind was upon them. This miss
Ing mouth opening should not prevent
the JaWbOueS from operating. Inc at
tachment was thought to De due to some
adherIng membrane, although there was
evidently little opening between the
flesh and bone, as when the child tried
TO initiate the action of blowing, the
cheeks would puff out slightly.
The construction OF the inside Of the
mouth could not be determined with
precision: all that was known was that
the front and rear nasal passage seemed
to be naturally developed. The exam
nation resulted in determination to
perform surgical operation on the
child and run the risk OF the internal
mouth being adapted to the admission
OF air
A local injection of cocaine was adj
ministered in the flesh under the nose
and of each cheek for several minutes.
When needles could be stuck into
the skin without the child wincing
the operating surgeon made an lnclS-
ion about half an inch under The nose,
where the ObiculariS owls muscle ought
to be. The knife sunk deeper and
deeDer into the SenSeleSS flesh until an
obstruction was reached. Upon the
flesh being disSecteG up from the bones
it was found that that probe could be
inserted between the upper and the
lower jawDOnes, and, as 1t met with no
resistance, ii was concluded that the
internal formation of the organ was
normal. and the operation was con
tinued with more confidence.
Further investigation resulted in the
discovery that the jaWbOneS, as antlci-
pated by their imcapablity of more than
Slight motion. were joined together i'll
front by an elastic membrane that was
thick and tough. The back had no con-
nectiOn, however, and the front mem
brane was severed the entire length
with the greatest deXterity, as 1t bled
prOfuSely. and there was great danger
that some of the blood might get into
the infants windpipe and cause suifoca-
ton.
When the membrane had been divided
the laws could be moved easily, ana
when opened wide the roof Of the mouth
was the only thing that appeared nor
NAL. There was only a suggestion OF
palate, and the tongue, which is usually
large in babies, was far back in the rear
of the mouth and not more than half the
size it should have been, 1t exhibited a
peculiar motion, also, that had never
been noticed in tongue before by the
surgeons present. 1t moved directly up
and down, quickly aud regularly.
Now that the mouth was made, some
thing had to be done to keep the inciSiOn
from healing. For this purpose, before
the wound was bandaged, plugs OF
pressed cotton were placed between the
jawbOnes to keep them from coming to-
gether. Pressed cotton was also APP
piled behind what would be the lips, so
as to have them prOtrude naturally.
This done. the wound was bandaged,
the mouth being held open by the plugs.
1t is now several days since the opera
ton was performed. and the wound, as
is usual with children, has healed rap
idly. The mouth has already formed
itself, and is quite natural in appear
ance.
What will surgeons attempt next?