Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1894-02-10
Todd LAPSE OF MEMORY.
CASE OF A FARMER WHO THINKS
WITH ONE BRAIN HEMISPHERE.
Operation Of Trephining Performed
on thu Skull Results In . Queer
state OF Affairs.

has originated Mt heokuk,
~ Iowa, which is giving physi-
clans something to study
about. Il is what some surgeons call
Jacksonisr epilepsy. The patient Is ?.
4 T%hrnbull, a farmer residing at Pack
wood, Iowa. When he came to keokuk
be stated that he was thirtv-one years
| old, and that when be Was only ten
years old his brother n~cridrntsll'
truck him or The nacE Of the head
rith FIJI AK, f~racturing the skull above
the right ear. He avs lie did not
suffer much from the wound until the
fsll Of 1891. Then be began to notice
a numbness in, the little finger Of the
Lett hand. This numbness extendedto
the other fingers As time wore on, and
dually his hand would experience
.pasns of contraction. Fe lost con
troll or the muscles 70 Tho extent 81
psral,sie. Finally his enrlre arm, the
left side Of his neck and face, and his
left leg became involved, and IN Sep
tember, 1892, began a series OF terrible
epileptic fits. These became SO fire.
qucnt and depressing that lately Turn
buii EMU uiIlisSll III tic DItdSt, put liz
ball struck 8 RIB, doing no serious
harm.
Turnbull had a wife and four chill
drcn, and on account Of his infirmity
81 abused his family that his wife
secured a divorce. He WAS operated
upon by surgeons at a hospital there
Thursday and has SO far recovered IA
-, rIIata cana rary- INC ftInus The
operation consisted In removing the
skull i'll the vicinity Of the old wound,
which was nothing but a scar. This
Wa trcphlneds and a section of bone
taken out. The bone was found 20 be
much thiekened in front of the crt
made by the ax twenty-one years ago
and was spongy at the stde. The
membranes Of the brain werc unusually
edherent. After the operation Turn.
bn,l came out from under the in.
%incnce OF a~nmsthetics, and, opening
his eyes as one who had been sound
asleep, asked Of the attendant, a Sister
o. Mercy, in the hospital:
Where am ~
When told that he was in a hospital
his arnazement was something sur
prising. lie wanted to know how he
got there, why he was there, and in
reply to the explanations of the at
.~yulant seemed more dumbfoundcd
t.qn ever. Then one of the operating
physirians recalled the story that
Turnbull hal told of his accident
when n child, and Of all he lad said
concerning his ailment just previous
Is the operation. Turnbull looked at
the physician n moment III blank
amaZelnent and then exclaimed:
why, | never saw you before Ill
my life
DO you remember all those epilep-
tic fits asked the surgeon.
81 never had but two replied
Tllrnbull, land they were III Septem-
bar, 1892. Have tou told my wife Of
this?" asked Turnbull.
He did not know that his wife had
secured n divorce, and realizing that
tact the surgeon made an e~yasive
answer.
MY God, is she dead!"scxclaimed
the poor man. When assured that his
wife was alive he exclaimed: But
something might have happened worse
than death
Turnbull has returned to his home
IN Packwood, but he cannot remember
4 single thing that he's happened since
September. 1892. He thought Har-
rison wasstill President, had not heard
of Clevelanfs election, nor of Boies's
%leteai He has learned for the first
time that times are hard, rs he spoke
! money being plenty and prices for
farm products high. The Worlds
rair and lis glories are a myth to him.
Physicians eNplain the theory of this
phenomenon on the statement that
some people use n hemisphere. of the
brain 10 the exclusion OF the other.
md II some injury occurs to II the
other hemisphere is brought into ser
slco and old impressions are cffaced.
There Is no doubt that Turnbull will
be restored cured to his wife and
| fa1,yY ff1,,,,o T,-.-