Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1892-05-26
cuRtNe IpIocY.
An Operation to Give the Brain Esor
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An Operation to Give the Brain Esou1 q
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A distinguished New York physician
has discovered that children born with
inferior brain capacity, and showing de
cided predisposition to idiocy, can 3
cured by a surgical operation upon tx
skull There are six soft spots known
to physicians upon the Uranium of 6
child The anterior one, which is the
largest, is situated where the coronal
and sagittal sutures meet, and remains
open some time after birth These
spots are called frontanels, and at the
age of eighteen months become solid
bone, like other parts of the skull The
problem, therefore. was to decrease the
thickness of the skull in certain parts,
so that 1t could expand and thus afford
greater brain activity. An experiment
has recently been made on a child in
the New York Juvenile asylum al
Mount Vernon, and there is every evil
dence that complete success has been
attained
Little Harry Thatcher's father and
mother died within a month of each
other four years ago, when Harry was
a year old He wasn't very bright when
taken to the asylum, and developed in
to a stupid idiot He did not grow fast,
so that now he Is no larger than an or
binary child Of three. He couldn't re
member anything or eat any solid food.
1t looked as if Harry was doomed
Then the doctor decided upon a won
derful operation, which will make
Harry famous in all the medical jour
nails after awhile. He determined to
cut pieces out of Harry's skull, to give
the child's brain chance to grow.
The operation was performed and was
most successful It is always extremely
dangerous to open the skull, but that
was the only chance for the child
The doctor used his brain electrical
boring and cutting apparatus, besides
knives and saws The left side of Har-
rvs head was shaved. The child's or
gans of speech were affected, and as the
brain matter which controls them are
on the left side, the surgeon operated
there The head was washed with soap
and then a solution of bichloride OF
mercury, the strongest of all antisep-
tics. Then the boy was ready for the
knife. Ether was administered, and
the moment Harry was under its inf
ence the surgeon made a rapid cut
through the middle of the scalp. Then
he made transverse cuts over the frontal
and back bone of the skull. The flap OF
scalp was thrown back, leaving the
skull bare From this point on the
surgeon had need of all his skill.
He decided at the last moment not to
use the electrical instruments The
bone was not so hard as he anticipated
and SO he could work to better advan-
| tage with his hands On the left side
| just above the eyebrow, he placed a cyl
| indrical saw, which is used like a bit;
with which the skull was first per
forated. The trepan cut out button
| of bone just a half inch In diameter.
Back six inches from the first opening
and near the occipital bone or the pos
terror segment, another button was ex-
tracted. The doctor then decided to re
move part of the skull with punch
capable of taking out slice half inch
long and three-sixteenths of an inch
wide The doctor inserted this punch
into the opening made by the trepan. I
cut out the bone smoothly and sharply
and the doctor made the opening the
width of two missions From one
| opening to the other he cut away the
| bone, making a smooth, even trench six
inches long and three-eighths of al
| inch wide, laying bare the fibrous mem
brane of the brain The trench raI
along the middle of the junction of the
two side bones at the top of the head
This channel was no sooner opened
| than the surgeon made two transverse
| ones of the same width, but about two
inches long. One passed through the
frontal bone and the other on the pos
terror segment over the left parietal
bone half way to the occipitaL Thi:
blowing along had to be done with the
greatest care, for it would be dangerous
to cut the membrane, or even bruiSe it
for fear of Inflammation Then, too, il
the cavities directly underneath the
seams are myriads Of blood-vessels, and
| the least disturbance would cause hem
orrhage. And, above all, not moment
must be wasted. Each second added tc
the danger. The surgeon piowed
through the skull as fast as his hands
could sever the bone When he had
finished the cutting the wound was
washed. Then the scalp was drawn
back into place and stitched. The
| compress about the head was re
moved. The whole operation was per
formed in twenty-five minutes. Harry
xx-aS rlovinO ont Of doors in five DAYS =