The Emmett index. [volume] (Emmett, Idaho) 1893-1925, 1894-08-18
A NEWSPAPER YARN.
DECEIVED MEDICAL AUTHORITIES ALL
OVER THE WORLD.

of Its Absurdity 1t Was Widely Copied,
Discussed, Denounced and Honestly
Cr-dited--A Big Hoax.
IL has been favorite pastime of mine
Tor years 20 study popular fallacies and to
make calculations as to the percentage Of
icceptances thereof by people OF everyday
common sense. II IL as astonishing as il
Is interesting when you come TO figure il
out how statement, plausibly put and
leavened with Just enough fact TO give Il
life will be swallowed without question
by men who should refuse TO accept bald
assertions as fact by the very logic Of their
positions mean by this that bit Of in
genious sophistry should not convince a
logician. A problem false in its PROPOSE
ton should not confuse n mathematician,
and, to come to the concrete and more
practical, the description Of n 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 IL
was In the latter part of 1881 or early in
1882 that New York newspaper con-
tanned an article describing most re-
markable operation in cranial surgery,
which, IL was alleged, had been performed
by Philadelphia physician upon his man
servant. The operation was not one of ne
cessity nor OF expedicnce-it was made
simply to satisfy the operator by ocular
demonstration that the functions Of the
motor and sensory centers were independ-
ent, or, more specifically speaking, that
the motor could exist and act without the
presence Of the entire sensory system. To
danonafrafa fbfa ottr axparfp,aptoI frfopd
induced his faithful servitor to surrender
few ounces of his brains He was placed
under ether, and after n flap of scalp had
been thrown back n circular ncision was
made in the right and left parietal region
OF the skull. The pieces of bone cut out by
the trephine were placed in an antiseptic
liquor, surgical spoon was introduced,
first into one cavity and then into the
other, and the operator removed from each
side about an ounce of brain from the con
volutions which his researches led him to
believe governed the seat of cerebral ac-
tiyity. The bony lids were replaced over
each circular opening, the scalp flaps nut
back, and the patient was ready for bed,
where he remained fc- several days appar-
emily Obliyious to his surroundings. All
the Involuntary functions of the body pro
ceeded az before, and when the man had
sufficiently recovered from physical shock
he was put ON his feet.
He could not maintain his equilibrium
In stationary posture, but when started
walking would continue the motion of
legs and feet until he brought up against
an obstruction that hindered farther prog
ress. The physician congratulated him
self ON the nicely Of his measurements and
calculations, but as time went on he real
lied that while he had committed no crine
for which the statute books provided a
penalty he was nevertheless, to all intents
and purposes, murderer. He had not ex-
tinguished the spark we call life, but he
had destroyed the ego, or, if the term
might be employed, he had committed
mental homicide. The story went on 70
tell how the victim was eventually placed
| in an asylum for the insane, where he was
regarded as congenital idiot and so en-
tered ON the books of the institution. His
master, IL was said, brooded to such an
extent that he eventually died of remorse,
leaving behind him history of the opera
tion and its melancholy result, and from
this posthumous paper the story was writ
ten.
It so happened that was an intimate
friend Of the author of the queer yarn, and
he was anxious to learn whether the scien-
tific world would give even a contemptu-
Gus denunciation to it, With that purpose
in view he marked the article in 10 or 90
papers. These he mailed to various med
zeal journals and scientific societies both in
Europe and America. I'll confess surprise
when some three weeks later saw an Ed
inburgh periodical take up the subject,
accept IL rs a fact and critcise the physi-
clan in the severest terms for having dared
TO tritle with the human brain when there
was no necessity and where there could be
but one result.
The gravest apprehension was enter
tanned for any medical society that would
permit its mem bership roll to be disgraced
with the name of any practitioner who in
a mistaken devotion to science could for
get that he was n man and the memb her of
a profession whose mission was not to de
stroy, but to build up. not to add to the
weight of human woe, but to take from il.
To clinch the argument was shown that
an operation on one of the lower animals
would have been of equal value to deter
mine the exact seat of certain cerebral
functions as though made on a human be
ing
One or two western newspapers repro
duced the article without comment, and a
Melbourne weekly, copying from one of
these, said in a footnote that IL was an
'audacious act that none but Yankee sur
geon, regardless of criticism or results.
would undertake." In none of these pub
LEGATIONS was there any challenge of the
veracity of the statement per Sc. As a
matter of fact, the only basis of truth for
the publication was the fact that n med
ical student, who had strong prediction
for the study of nervous diseases, had
evolved theory that condition like that
described might be produced by such an
operation. He did not place his thoughts
in the assumptive future, but in the as
sumptive past, and his written record
made it appear that surgeon had actual
ly found a man fool enough TO permit him
self TO be deprived OF his senses completely
without reward and without hope OF re
covery.
/ From this the story was woven. with
such ingenuity as TO completely cloak the
vital point-viz, that in 10000 men il
would be impossible to find one, even IL
weary of life, who would be willing to un-
dergo such n transition even for previous
! reward OF temporal comforts. This partic-
ular fallacy is one that would possibly be
maintained by the thoughtful more than
by the thoughtless.-N York Mail and
Express.
Couldn't Fool Him.