Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1892-04-19
VINO SWEPT HEADS.



A Physician's scheme for Detecting the
Presence Of Insanity.
\ Dr. Peter McCahey, Of Philadelphia. ha,
found that by placing u stpfhoscope to i
persons head he can distinctly hear tils
sound Of an air current within, and by the
character of the soasll can tell whether a
| person is sane or insane; and he positively
nvers that in the Uranium OF big headed
idiot this wind current can be distinctly
heard loudly whistling.
The doctor ~ convinced that the brain
breathes as well as the lungs. For many
| years he has been Investigating air MS a
mechanical agent in the human body, and
about u year ago conceived the novel iden
| of u rubber tip to the ordinary stethoscope,
| whereby the instrument can be fitted so
exactly to the subjects headthat the sound
of this brain respiration cannot escape, but
Inay be undeniafly heard That it differs
In sane and insane persons the doctor Is
convinced, and by means of the stethoscope
he feels sure that he can distinguish, as a
rule. between healthy Drained people and
those who are insane or idiots.
The little rubber tip, which Is DR.. Nc
Cahey's discovery, il novelty, and its
story was unfoldcd by DIR. McCahey him
self
my general theory" declared Dr. Me-
Galley, lis that the great mechanical agent
employed by NIL the animate world, animal
or vegetable. TO permit of growth against
the continual resistance Of the atmosphere
Is heated air. Within the interstices Of the
tissue OF the body ~ air, and this air, be-
coming heated by the processes of life, ex-
ercises greater expansive force than the
outer atmosphere, and thereby enables the
animal to grow against it. You can squeeze
this mir out Of tomato and pepper under
water and see II come up Ia large bubbles.
In the tissue and hollow organs OF men this
air II used as the direct mechanical fnnc-
tion. The cxpulsive force in splitting.
coughing and sneezing we know to be air.
"A free supply Of air to the brain is Just
as necessary AZ n free supply to the lungs,
and any interference with this brain res
piration will cause serious disturbance OF
the cerebral functions, even insanity. In
sanity may be caused by n tuinor or by 4
congestive blow, but post mortems almost
invariably disclose no resident cause of In.
sanity. That people become insane and
are permanently restored and that there IL
a recurrcnt insanity points TO Il functional
arrangement
This disturbed function claim to be
the cranial respiration Air taken into the
lungs passes to and from the brain through
minute pores ut the base Of the skull. The
normal circulation of blood through the
brain depends upon this normal air cur.
rent. IL from any cause these tiny pores
become closed or stopped TO AN abnormal
degree, the current Is impe,.cd or destroyed.
The air that In shut in becomes overheated
and cangests the brain"
by means Of the DOCTORS rubber tipped
stethoscope wonderful things come to light
In the head OF n healthy person two dis
tinct sounds can be heard, coincident with
the Inhalation and exhalation of air by the
lungs. These sounds are practically OF the
same tone in all healthy heads, but arc al
tered or absent in all classes Of insane or
idiots. The sounds of the heart and voice
In these mentally weak and deranged un
fortunates are also different from those IN
sane persons. AS these are grades OF In
sanity 80 there are degrees of sound.
As n rule the noise Of the wind current
OF mn insane or idiotic brain is more marked
ly perccptihle than that OF sane organ
and In big headed IDIOTS il whistles loudly.
The major portion OF insanity is caused by
arrangement OF the craiiiai wind apparatus
Where II IN not due 10 tumor, a blow or
some kindred direct injury to the brain or
its covering, insanity is traceable to this
ill wind" and the rubber tipped stetho-
scope may yet become the champion insane
expert in the world Newark Journal