St. Paul daily globe., 1892-06-10
MADE TO ORDER.
4 New Mouth Put on a Gotham
Baby.


Several babies are daily brought into
existence at the New York Emergency
Hospital for Women, and the chorus OF
uneultivated vocaliZation 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
resseS should be allowed to sing their
baby rhymes in wang" but whether
these poor unfortunate infants, appar-
emily out of reach of the society, shall
be allowed to yell their natural, un-
trained tunes until their little lungs re-
fuse to act and they sink eXhauste ed
asleep.
One day recently, says the New York
Advertiser, an infant was born III one
of the wards who was restrained by the
mishty power from Joining i'll 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 piece of smooth, white skin
and flesh, that was without biemish.
and appeared to have beeH made to
stay so.
Upon this question of closed mouths
the books are silent. and what to do for
the child was puzzle to the physicians.
The oldest practitioner had never seen
anything like it, and the case was pro-
nOunced remarkable freak of nature.
Even DIR. Francis Mason, the famous
London facial specialist, in his work on
the surgery of the face, mentions no
such cases.
IN0I N
understand that something was wrong,
and would seem to fret over it by hold
ing its breath. The physicians deter
mined that something must be done. if
possible, and a consultation of proml-
nentsurgeOnS and physicians was called.
A thorough examination was made Wit n
a view of renedying the defOrmity.
The upper and lower jawboneS seemed
to be perfectly formed, and were capa-
BILE of slight motion, but structure OF
some kind was upon them. This miss
ing mouth opening should not prevent
the jawboues from operating. The at
tachment was thought to be 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.
month 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-
inatIon resulted in a determination to
perform a surgical operation Oh 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
deeper 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 IL met with no
resistance, it 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 antici-
pated by their incapability of more than
slight motion, were Joined together Ill
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 it bled
prOfusey. and there was great danger
that some of the blood might get into
the infants windpipe and cause sutfoca-
ton.
When the membrane had been divided
the Jaws could be moved easily, and
when opened wide the roof of the mouth
was the only thing that appeared nor
NAL. There was only suggestion OF
palate, and the tongue, which is usually
large in babies, was far back In the rear
of the mouth andn more than half the
size it should have been, 1t exhibited
peculiar motion, also, that had never
been noticed in tongue before by the
surgeons present. 1t moved directly up
and down, quickly and 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 ap-
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
tioE 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?