Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1894-02-22
A NEWSPAPER YARN.
DECEIVED MEDICAL AUTHORITIES ALL
OVER THE WORLD.
A Mental Homicide tho Subject-In Spite
of Its Absurdity 1t Was Widely Copied,
Discussed, Denounced and Honestly
Credited-A Ric Hoax.

Discussed, Denounced and Honestly
! Cr.dited--A Big HOAX.
1t has been a favorite pastime of mine
for years to study popular fallacies and to
make calculations as to the percentage of
acceptances thereof by people of everyday
common sense. 1t is as astonishing as it
is interesting when you come to figure it
out how a statement, plausibly put and
| leavened with just enough fact to give it
| life, will be swallowed without question
| by men who should refuse to accept bald
assertions as fact by the very logic of their
! positions l mean by this that bit of in
genious sophistry should not convince
logcian. A problem false in it's PROPOSE
ton should not confuse mathcmatician
and, to come to the concrete and more
practical the description of surgical
/ operation that never did and never could
take place ought not to deceive an anat-
omist and surgeon. Let me illustrate this
point first.
| cannot recall the precise date, but it
was i'll the latter part OF 1881 or early in
1882 that q New York newspaper con
tanned an article describing n most re
nlarkable operation in cranial surgery,
which, it YVES alleged, had been performed
by Philadelphia physician upon his man
servant. The operation was not one of ne
cessity nor of cXpcdience-it was made
simply to satisfy the operator by ocular
demonstration that the functions of the
motor and sensorv centers were independ-
ent, or more specifically speaking, that
the motor could eX list and act without the
presence Of the entire sensory system. To
demonstrates this orr governmental friend
induced his faithful servitor to surrender
few ounces of his brains He was placed
uuder ether and after q fan of scaln had
been thrown bacl- q circular ipcision ,vas
made i'm the RIGHT and left narietal region
of the skull Tho nieces of hone c1lt ont Inv
the trcnhine ware nIoced in an antisentic
liouor = SURGICAL snoon was introducad
fret into ono co,itv and then into t}a
otber md tho o,,orotor ron,ovad from, e,cb
sido obou+ or, o,,,,,a of brai, from, +boco,
volutiors ,ybioI, lie researcb.e ,ad hin, IN
| belia,,a ,,,,.o,,,,d tI,, se,t of cerobroI oc
tivitv rho bor,, lids were ren1oced ovar
eacb circular onening the scsln fans nnt
borl, and tba noti,nf ,.ns ready fo'. bod
,vbare ba ra,,oirad for acvoral dovs aDn,r
entIv ohliyiono TO his ourroundings All
tho ir,.o1,,nt,,,,. f,,,c+io,,s ,f tho bod,, ,,ro
ceoded ~ before and when tba man had
euf,icien+1,, reco,cr.d from, ,,bveic.I sboct
he was mt on hi. foot
ua conId NOT maintain bis eoui1ibrinn,
in . Stationery ,,,eti,ra h,,t ,,ban s+or4od
waIl,ino ,yo,id cnrtinue the motion of
leos and feet until he hrouyht nm against
nm obstruction I'm, hindarnI fort her ,,ro,,.
rees rho nbvsician concro+uIatnd lin
Golf IN tho nicet,, Of his mr.surnn,en+. mr.,
calculations but nc tir,o wont on no ,,o1
i1,d tL.t while Inc had committod M crin,.
for u.hirh tL, s,,t,,to hooLs ,,ro,,idod =
pep,Itv ba ,,.e ,,o,o,+ba 70 all irtopts
and nnrpoeas n ,,,,rdernr To bod NOT ax
t;rgnishnd tl,a er,rl, wa cali 1ifn INIT bo
nd deutrorod IN. e,o or If tho farm
might ba en1,,or.d IN. had cou,nitteJ
mental bor,fci,ln Tho storv went on +o
fell how fine victiru WINS eventually nlocod
in nm a.vlun, for the insane where hewas
REGARDED ns a conpenital idiot and so en-
| tered on fine hooks of the institution His
master If was s,id brood.d ia sucb an
ex+ept tbo+ ho o,apt,olIv dind of ra,,,o,s,,
leaving bebind him, q history of tho ,,,or.
tion and its ,neInncboIv result and from,
/, This postbuu,ous nonpr tbe story ,voawrit
ten
1t 81 bapnenad that | was an intin,ota
friend of theuuthorof the Queer warn and
he was onvious to learn whether the scion
,ifc wo,IL ,yo,,ld ,,iva avnn a cont.n,rt,,-
ous deuuucintiun toit. With that nurnoso
in vieyv ha marie d tho orticlo in * or %
nonore These he mailed 70 varions med.
ical iourna1ennd scientific societies both in
Furone and Americo I'll confess sunrise
wben some tl,roe, weeks later sa,vo I'd
, ;nhur.b nariodic.1 tal,o nm tbp s,lhiact
occant il a. =, t,ct and criticiso tho pb,si
cian in the s.varost terms for haviuu dared
to triAr with the human broin when there
vas M nocas.itv ann where there could be
hIt ono reo,,1t
The rrsvn.t annrobension was enter
toined for any mrdicol sucietv that would
nrrmit its mrmherahin roll to he dispraced
vim th. n,,,,a Of ,r1 nr.ctitioner who i'm
-. mistolen devotion 10 science could for
act tbat La ,ros man and the men,bor of
; orofas.ion ,,hosa' ,,iseion ,v,s NOT to do
stro,, Inf r. mia mn NOT to add to tbe
weight Of human woo but total,e from if
no cIinch tha or.,urant II was shown that
on orarat;nn an ana of tho lower animate
,ouid hova ,aau ~ .o,al v,lue to deter
nina the exnct ..,t If certain cerebral
functions no though n,,doon a human he.