The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-02-21
A HOLE IN HIS HEAD.
low an Obscure Citizen of Vermont
Pnra Sr,adn On II Nn mana

low an Obscure Citizen OF Vermont
Became Suddenly Famous.
Putiaad tVf.l Special in NeU York World
The recently reported account of the
death of q man IN Newark IN. j. hos
pital. who had lived a number Of years with
nearly two inches of knife blade penetrat-
ING his brain, calls to mind an interesting
case which existed in Vermont. The case
was so remarkable, in fact, that it was not
credited until either actually observed or
sworn 70 by eminent physicians The name
Of the person who attracted so much atten-
non was Phineas G. Gage. Mr.. Gage be-
came famous by having, unintentionaIIy. a
tsmpinR bar shot through bis brain and
living sixteen years thereafter in excellent
health.
The accident occurred at Csvendisb. VT.
Sept IS, 1S4S, while blasting was going on
in a cut in the rocks through which a
division or the central Vermont railroad
now passes. Phineas Gage, aged 25 years.
was foreman OF a gang OF men who were
employed in blasting. Gage had never had
days illness from childhood, aud was. as
far as could be determined, perfectly
healthy.
At the time Of the accident he was charp-
ing drill hole for blasting and sat upon a
shelf of rock just above, but q little
70 the right Of the hole as he
faced it. The powder and fuse
were in position. and he was in the
act of tamping 1t in. He turned his head
for an instant to look at his men at work be-
hind him. His iron struck fire on the edge
Of the hole, On explosion followed and the
tamping bar, three feet seven inches long.
One-quarter OF an inch in diameter aud
weighing 13l pounds. was projected up
ward obliquely in the line Of its axis, passed
completely through his head and high into
the air. falling several rods behind him,
and was afterward picked up by one Of the
men covered with blood and particles Of
brain.
Mr.. Gage was thrown upon his back by
the force of the blow, and his extremities
moved convulsively a few times, but he
spoke IN a few minutes. His men carried
him to the road, short distance away, and
he rode home in an OK cart. sitting up with
little help. When he arrived at his desti-
nation he got out Of the cart himself with a
little assistance, and an hour afterward
walked upstairs with slight aid and lay
down upon the bed, when his wound was
dressed. he was conscious, but very weak
from loss of blood.
The examination of the wound showed
that the iron entered the left side of the face
by the pointed enc, Immediately anterior to
the angle Of the lower jaw, passed obliquely
upward and obliquely back ward, emerging
10 the median line back Of the frontal bone
and forced upward and outward. The hole
had much the shape OF an inverted funnel.
The frontal bone was badly fractured, leav-
ing an irregular oblong opening in the skull
2 inches one way and 81 the other, through
which the pulsRtions of the brain were dis
tinctly seen and felt.
The wound was dressed, and the man
showed no apparent signs of serious injury,
excepting curious agitation of the legs
which were alternately retrscted and ex-
tended. Then begun battle, the natural
consequence Of sucn an accident against the
strong constitution of healthy man. No
one thought it possible that he could re-
cover, but after a few days he began to i'm
prove, and on the fifty-sixth day from the
accident the patient was up and walking
about the house and piazza. The sixty
fourth day he cought cold and serious con-
sequences were for time feared, but be re-
covered. Ten days afterward he was taken
in carriage to Lebanon, n. H., a distance
Of thirty miles or more.
Mr. Gage passed the winter months In
Lebanon, but returned to Cavandish the
following April. He was then 10 good
health aud flesh, but his mind was weak
and childish and the sight of the left eye
was entirely lost. He visited South Ameri-
ca, passing some time in Valparaiso. Then
he went to San Francisco and died there of
epilepsy, May 81, 1861, nearly sixteen years
after the accident. The skull and iron are
now in the museum of the medical depart
ment of Harvard University,