Walker Lake bulletin. (Hawthorne, Nev.) 1883-1926, 1893-01-18
FEELING IN AMPUTATED LIMBS.
An Explanation OF the Funny bone and
Other Strange Sensations.

Other Strange Sensations.
How often have we heard a Leg
less or an armless man say, as he
pointed down to his stump, that he
could feel that foot which he lost
though it were there now" said an
anatomst to a Washington Star re-
porter. The man told you the truth
in spite of the seeming .absurdity of
the claim. 1t arises in this way: II
that part Of divided nerve which is
still connected with the brain be slim
ulated. the same sensation is perceived
as if the stimulus were applied to all
parts in which the branches of that
nerve were distributed before they
were cut off. Every body has a perfect
illustration of this strange action in
that funny bone sensation which we
all have felt when particular stroke
on our ,lbow is given. That queer
tinglng pain which such blow pro-
duces, and which appears to have its
seat in the inner forearm and hand
and in the little and ring fingers. is
owing to the tlaments of the ulnar
nerve (Which passes behind the elbow
to the sensation being always referred
to the outside termination of that fla
ment, no matter where it may be ir-
ritated.
Now il is, of course, impossible to
experiment upon a single nervous I'LL
ament, lest the accuracy with which
the imagined seat of sensation pro-
duced by irritating bundle Of fila
ments accords with their distribution
leaves no doubt of the accuracy of the
following odd truths: The nearer to
the brain that the stimulus of irrita-
ton is applied the more extended is
the bodily sensations; hence, in diseases
of the spinal cord pain is often felt in
all the parts supplied with nerves COM
ing off from the cord below the diseas-
ed portion. and the pain of dividing
nerve is felt over all the parts of which
its branches are distributed. This is
the circumstance which give rise to all
the apparently queer ideas which our
friends who have lost limb entertain
as to their still possessing it. Often
so strong is this deusion that they
will insist on seeing or touching the
vacant space before being satisfied
that it is mere fancy of their own.
For example, the constant cry of pa
tient who has just had his leg cut off
and the doctors are dressing the stump
above the knee, Stop squeezing my
kneer You hurt my toesn and the
like.
"rhe reason is that when those fila
ments of his nerves in his stump which
are destined for the knee or the foot
below are touched in dressing the am
putation, the knee itself or the foot is
apparently severely handled to the
mind of the patient, and he suffers in
that firm sensation. So deceptive are
these sensations that years and years
after the loss of limb, and even for
the rest of their lives, men OCCASION
ally endeavor to perform some act
with the stump which they were ac-
customed to do with that part of their
body which they lost. We don't have
to lose an arm or leg to know some
have felt the singing sensation of
foot being asleep when the ischiatic
nerve has been pressed upon. and
much of that peculiar pain called tic
doloureux is due to the trunk of some
nerve being a. .Sed, ana the pain Is
referred to all the parts to which its
tilaments are distributed
"All men and animals that are we'll
fed and sheltered have the same per-
feet, delicate, nervous organization,
and the nervous force is merely cor
relative with the forces engaged in the
nutrition of the body. We find light
and heat necessary to the production
of those materials from which the
nervous syseem is formed. These are
correlative with the chemical forces
brought into action in forming the
compounds of our food. such as sugar,
starch and protein. When we do not
properly assimilate our food and from
the effects of sudden shocks. then we
pass INTO that condition known as
nervous prostration, and the prostra-
ton is complete, indeed.