The morning news., 1894-11-02
LIVING WITHOUT A HEAD.
The Strange Case ST Hen Owned by
Mr. Scott of Colorado.

From the Denver Republican.
That operation commonly known as
getting it where the chicken got the AK"
will henceforth be divested of half it's ter
cors. Saturday morning last a chicken
got the ak on a ranch near Littleton.
out despite this still lives, eats and ap-
pears to think in the lowly way that
chickens are wont to think. The head
.ess fowl has created a scientific Juror in
Denver medical circles, and yesterday
Or. E. R. Axtell had the bird on exhibit
tion before the medical class of the Den
yer University and made il the subject Of
d lecture.
1t was Mrs. J. A. Scott, a Littleton
ranchman's WIFE, who created the ornith-
ologlcal phenomenon. She usually has
IoWl for Saturdays S dinner, and a nice,
black pullet was elected for sacifice by
her last Saturday. 1t has become pro
verbal that when woman throws stones
at a hen she always misses the mark so
that Mrs. Scotts unhandiness in using
an ak upon hen is not a matter for
surprise. That lady did not make much
of a success at decapitating the black pull
let.
She followed the recepe for making hare
soup by first catching her hen. Then she
took it into the yard, laid its neck upon
log of wood, and chopped away with the
ak She thought her ann was true for
the head dropped down at one Side of the
log and the carcass at the other, with
blood squirting from both. Just at this
Juncture little Tommy Scott called NAM
MAJ! from the doorstep. and, leaving the
apparently dead fowl, Mrs. Scott went to
attend to the wants of her offspring. Ten
minutes later she returned to the yard
for the purpose of plucking the black pull
lei. What she = Of
it out of her head.
There was the head of the bird living
inert by the block, but the body, looking
far from dead, was calmly strutting
around the yard, much to the amazement
of Mrs. Scott. After watching the head
less hen for while the good housewife
concluded that there was something un-
canny about its conduct. In fact she
decided it was the ghost of a pullet she
beheld, and fearful about touching it,
she proceeded to ''sho" the headess thing
in the direction of the cellar. The hens
trunk appeared to be fully cognizant of
the "shooing" and ran down the cellar
steps just as hen with a head on its
shoulders would do. Having got it started
tairly on its way to the basement, Mrs
Scott shut the trap door and sat on her
doorstep to wait in fear and trembling for
her husbands return to dinner. When he
came she told him Of her extraordinary
him where its spook was incarcerated.
Scott, who is a practical matter-of-
course sort of man, went down and
rescued the headless hen from its prison
He found that his wife had not chopped
off the entire head. One ear and a slight
portion of the back of the head was left
He stopped the flow of blood by sprink-
ling -four over the wound and then pro-
Coeded to feed the hen. This proved a
novel operation. When the ranchman
dropped water into the open threat of the
hen the bird ducked its neck forward, as
though about to peck, and swallowed the
water with apparently sensible gustO. lie
then moistened some bread in milk and
let it d4wn the gaping oesphagus of tho
pullet, W tn the same pc king and swal-
lowing result. The hen appeared to know
that it was being fed and seemed 10 en-
Joy the food.
Iy Saturday evening the wound made
by the axe had begun to heal, and s OFT
put his renal kabie pullet to roost. After
a few minutes the stump of neck was
tucked care uly Under the hen wing
she jerked up one claw in apt roved hen
fashion, and went quietly to sleep. Sun
day Scott fed his rara avis on milk. MOST
corn meal, and moist bread, the operation
being most successful. That night IL
slept again, and yesterday he brought 81
to Dr. A. a. Clough, of Denver. as his
wife, who still believed cit to be a goblin
objected TO having the hen kept around
any longer.
Dr. Clyugh says he never before heard
of a hen living without a head, and he
packed the Scott miracle off TO DR.. Axtell
also. A headiess hen was new 10 DR.. AK
tell also, and he deemed the miracle
worthy OF a special physiological lecture
before the students Of the Denver Uni
versity For an hour the bird was on eX-
hibition in the university lecture room
An examination showed that the entire
cerebrum had been cut away, together
with the head and neck. as far as the pos
terror wall Of the pbarynx. The masti-
eating apparatus was completely gone,
but the swallowing machinery stili re-
mainod. BY looking down the hole IN the
hens neck IL could be seen that the crop
was allied comfortably with food The hon
showed no SYMPTOMS OF fever, and from
al Indicators, would live N food was
given IT, When a o.se was made DC poised
is neck IN a listening attitude, ana
showed every siFn o. intelligence. Tile
ccrebeilum. or portion 0f the brain which
controls muscular action. stll remained
but the scat of thought existed no longer
Tue doctors are puzzled by the case.