Bennington semi-weekly banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 1894-1902, 1894-07-06
NO SILVER IN HEADS.
EXPLODING A POPULAR BELIEF con-
CORNING TREPHlNlNG.

Are Substituted For Pieces of the Skull.
A We'll KnCvn Hospital Surgeon Says II
Ia All Mistake.
A large majority of people who are not
familiar with the science of surgery and
a few doctors whose business it is to know
better imagine that many people are walk
ing the streets carrying pieces of silver
from the size Of dime to a trade dollar
under their scalps. Some people really
think that they themselves have silver
plates in their heads.
This silver plate story Is tradition that
has been exploded thousand times, yet
1t is popular, and whenever the common
operation of trephining is performed the
public accepts as matter of course the
theory that the patient has had portion
of his skull removed and silver plate
substituted for the bone. Investigation
goes no further, and forever afterward the
man is referred to as the fellow with a sill
yer plate in his head, and narratives of the
wonderful operation by which it was plac-
cd there, and why it was necessary, are in
vented and told over and over again to
credulous audiences by acquaintance OF
the man who has been so miraculously
saved by the skill Of certain surgeons.
The operation Of trephining, or remov-
ing portion Of the skull, is now consid-
cred simple and is common operation in
the large hospitals. 1t Is an absolutely
necessary operation in many instances and
is indicated always where there Is fraG-
ture of the cranial bones unless the base
of the skull be also fractured. The opera
ton is also indicated in cases Of abscess
and tumors of the brain and epilepsy, and
1t is frequently done in cases where the
skull is small and there is pressure on the
brain, and in cases of idiots and where
there is a pressure on the water centers.
Often as much as from four to six square
inches of the skull are removed, but tour
of physicians offices failed to develop a
single case where silver had been substi-
tuted for bono.
DR.. Heine Marks, superintendent of the
City hospital, has performed many opera
tions of this character and is considered
high authority on head operations. In
speaking of the popular mistake about poo
pie wearing silver plates in their heads Dr.
Marks said:
Il can say positively that no man is
wearing a silver plate as substitute foI
cranial bone. Such thing is not only
unscientiflc, but unnecessary. Besides
silver is foreign body and would not con-
meet with bone without pressure, which
would produce diseases of the centers over
which it was located. If, for instance the
silver was over the motor area, paralysis
would probably be the result. Another
reason for not using this foreign body is
that it would certainly cause inflamma-
tory conditions which would necessarily
prevent the operation from being success
full"
Dr. Marks said that where the base Of
the skull had not been injured, there being
no necessarily fatal complications, the OPP
Grafton of trephining was hardly ever at
tended by fatal or even bad results. He
cited the cases Of little Annie and Mamie
Finn of Chouteau avenue, who were hit
on their heads with fatiron by their IA
ther. Both of these children sustained Sc
rious fractures and were operated upon.
They were unconscious when tho physician
reached them, and many thought that
they had been killed, but within a week
they were up and apparently well. These
children were 8 and IL years old, and new
bone has formed over the places which
were exposed. New bone, however, will
not grow on an adult, but the periostal,
which is next to the skull, becomes hard
and affords sufficient protection.
In cases of fractures of this kind there
Is almost invariably clot Of blood under
the injured spot, and this clot must be re-
moved If the life of the patient is to be
saved, but in modern surgery IL is no trick
at all to accomplish this. Patients who
submit to this operation generally recover
within from three to five days, and it is
often difficult for the nurses to keep them
in bed after the first day.
Dr. Marks gave a description Of the op-
Grafton Of trephining, which, shorn of its
medical terms, is us follows:
after shaving the head Of the patient
and washing everything with antiseptic
solutions an incision is made down to the
bone through the periostal. The scalp is
then drawn back and the periostal raised
by means Of dry diSsector. Then the
trephine, cylindrical saw with handle
like a gimlet and little center pin, is
used to saw a round button, or several but
tons, out Of the skull. When these open
| ings have been made, chisel and mallet,
which are the latest instruments for this
work, or pair of bone forceps are used to
mako the opening the desired size. Then
antiseptics are applied, the periostal drawn
over the dura mater and the suture of the
skin made, and the operation Is over with
three to five days of antiseptic gauzes,
dressings and bandages, and in nearly ev-
cry case the patient is well. In a few
weeks he has a hard covering over his
brain and need never suffer inconvenience
from having undergone the operation, and
he certainly will not have silver plate in
his head.
DR.. Marks is Of the opinion that people
who say that they have silver over their
brains are honest about 1t and tells OF
two men who said that he had put silver
in their heads. The men came to the hos
pital with fractures, and DR.. Marks re-
moved pieces Of bone from their skulls.
Some months later they returned to that
institution, suffering from other ailments,
and the doctor caught them telling other
patients that no had put silver plates in
their heads. He explained to them that
he had done nothing of the kind, but they
put their fingers on the hard places where
bone had been removed and insisted that
1t was silver and that the superintendent
was joking with them. They left the hos
| pital believing that their heads were part
| ly silver.-St. Louis Republic.
| She Played Spirit.
1