St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1893-05-13
HAD A eio HOLE IN HIS HEAD.
now an Obscure Cittsen N verm0at Do.
came suddenly Famous.

HAD A BIC HOLE IN HIS HEAD
HOW an Obscure Citisen NJ Vermont Do
| came suddenly Famous.
The recently reported account Of the
death of a man in a Newark n. j.
hospital who had lived q number ol
years with nearly two inches Of knife
blade penetrating his brains calls Il
mind an interesting case which existed
/ in Vermont, says Rutland cOrrespon'
dent. The case was so remarkable, In
fact, that il was not credited until
either actually observed or sworn to
BY eminent physicians. The name OF
! the person who attracted 40 much At
tention was Phineas C. Gage. Mr.. Gage
became famous by having. unintentiOn-
ely. tamping bar shot through his
brain and living sixteen years thereaf-
ter in excellent health.
The accident occurred at Cavendish,
VT. September Is. lS4S, while blasting
was going on in a cut in the rocks
! through which q division of the Cen.
trail Vermont railroad now passes
Phineas Gage. aged twenty-five years.
was foreman of q gang of men who
were employed in blasting. Gage had
never had q days illness since child
hood, and was, rs far n could be de-
termined, perfectly healthy.
At the time of the accident he WAS
charging drill hole for blasting and
sat upon shelf of rock just above but
little to the right Of the hole Is he
faced it. The powder and fuse were
in position, and he was in the
act of tamping it in. lie turned
his head for an instant to look At
his men at work behind. His iron
struck fire on the edge Of the hole
an explosion followed and the tampinR
bar, three feet and seven inches long,
one-quarter of an inch in diameter. and
weighing thirteen and n quarter
pounds, was projected upward oblique-
~ 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 par.
ticles of brain.
MIR. Gage was thrown upon his back
by the force of the blow and his ex.
trcmities moved convulsively . few
times, but he spoke in 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
destination he got out of the
cart hi,hself with q little as
sistance, and an hour afte.ward 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 examina ton of the wound showed
that the iron entered the left side OF
the face by the pointed end, immedi-
ately anterior to the angle Of the lower
jaw, passed Obliqucly upward and OBJ
liquely backward, emerging in the
median line back Of the frontal bone.
The bones were broken in small frag.
ments and forced upward and outward.
The hole had much the shape Of an in
verted funnel. The frontal bone WAS
badly fractured. leaving an irregular
oblong opening in the skull two inches
one way and three and half the
other, through which the pulsations
Of the brain were distinctly seen and
felt
The wound was dressed and the man
showed no apparant signs of serious in
jury, excepting curious agitation Of
the legs, which were alternately re-
tracted and extended. Then began
a battle, the natural consequence
Of such an accident, against the strong
of a healthy man. No ono
thought it possible that he could recov.
er, but after few days he began to
improve. and on the tifty-sixth day
from the accident the patient WAS up
and walking about the house and pi-
azza The sixty-fourth day he caught
cold. and serious consequences were for
4 time feared. but he recovered. Ten
days afterward he was taken in q car
rage to Lebanon. n. L., distance Of |
thirty miles or more.
Mr.. Gage passed the winter months
in Lebanon, but returned to Cavendish |
The following April. He was then in |
rood health and flesh. but his mind |
was weak and childish, and the sight |
If the left eye was entirely lost He
7isited South America, passing some /
inc in Valparaiso. Then he went to
san Francisco. and died there of epi-
epsy May 81. 1864, nearly sixteen years
lfter the accident. The skull and iron
ire now in the museum of the medical
department. of Harvard university.-N.
I. World.