Virginia free press. (Charlestown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1832-1916, 1895-10-23
4 Biind Surgeon Performs Delicate aud
Dangerous Operations lCith Skill

When DIR. James R. Cooke, of lSS Hunt
ingtOn avneue, WAS two wears old both OF
his eyes were ruined by a blunderng doctor,
who administered & wrong medicine, Bos-
ton correspondent of the Hartford Times
writes that paper. Since then he has been
totally blind. He is now thirty two years
OF age and he is consulted in difficult cases
by the most eminent of the regular physi
clans of Boston. He has performed recently
two very difficult and delicate surgical oper
ations, and in both cases the patients are
doing well. He locates disease by his sen
stive touch, and ne tells the color of goods
in the same way, singular as it may appear.
A lady who bad eight or ten samples of
dress goods each about three inches square.
handed them to Dr. Cooke the other day,
and he at once told accurately the color and
even the shade of color of each, aud selected
the samples OF the best quality. When
handed several national bank and govern
= ment currency bills, he at once told the de-
nimnaton of each and the color, whether
green or black He tells the complexion Of
person by touching the skin. 1t is diff
cult to believe that blind man coula do
this, but he is seen to do it, and accurately
too.
DR.. Cooke went among Buffalo Bills In
dians the other day aud designated their
character by their voices, spoken in the In
dian dialect. He has three diplomas from
colleges Of this and foreign countries, and
four certificates of commendation from insti
tutions where he has taken special courses
of study. He went through a course Of
study under the famous DR.. Weir Mitchell
Before Dr. Cooke was twenty one years of
age he was employed by large tobacco
house to select the raw tobacco for them
DO never failed in getting the best quality
and the most desirable color-ail by the
touch. From this source he earned over
50 600 which paid his expenses at the uni
Yersity in Tennessee, where he stood at the
head of his class From the Tennessee Uni
versity he entered a medical school, where
he was "to the fore all through the class.
He has taken special studies in i've other
institutions, part of ihem in Europe. To at
tain all thet This remarkable man has &C.
complished 10 the higher classics and pro-
iessional studies of the colleges required q
large and firmly knit brain, perseverance
and selfreliance to an unsual degree.
The two women patients that he operated
upon lately are both doing we'll In one
case large tumor was removed the other
was a still more difficult and delicate case.
/ When lifting out the tumor DR.. Cooke found
that he had twenty four forceps holding
veins and arteries He tied The blood YES.
sells quickly and removed the soreeps. He
takes up and ties severed arteries in difficult
cases more rapidly than any of the clear
seeing surgeons He has no idea of the ap
pearauce of the moon and planets and stars,
nor of the sun and night and day are all
the same to him, except that the stiffness Of
the night does not escape his attention. He
is hard worker and uufiagging student.
He has a typewriter to whom he dictates
His wife writes medcsl prescriptions in
Latin