The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-12-06

the epileptic suddenly stabbed him to
the heart with a pair of scissors which
he had concealed i'm his sleeve. When
the seizure passed and the young man
realized what he had done. he was
hOrror-stricken and beside himself
with grief.
Not all ~epileptics are homicidal, but
II is not possible TO tell when they may
become so. There is no hope of their
cure by medical or by moral treat
ment. as there is in some forms of in
sanity. The therapeutic value of NOR
al influences, N especially of music,
as suggested by Plato. is being applied
with system in France, and not with
out promise, but excluded from its
benefits, or rather from its curative
power. is the epileptic. Yet, however
marked the violence of the paroxysms,
IL Is cruel to consign e~pileptics TO the
ordinary asylums where the chronic
insane are congregated. 1t IS exactly
like shutting up q sane man among
lunatics. 1t surely promotes melancholy
and expedites the progress of the dis
ease. as anything depressing must in
the case of any disorder. 1t is neces-
sary they should be guarded after they
reach a certain point, since 1t may hap
pen that not even their dearest friends
are secure against q sudden attack,
although there are usually premon.-
tory symptoms which those about them
learn to read. The establishment Of
colonies of epileptics In Ohio and New
Jersey is one of the most humane and
admirable of recent benevolent enter
prises.
ION advantage in the grouping OF
epileptics will be the opportunity for
the better study of cases fit for cadi-
cal treatment by the surgeon. 1t VIII
enable surgeons to devote themselves
a. AlE- 49,, 90 1faaana In
the ordinary hospital for the insane,
medical and moral treatment have
been combined. but there has been al
most no attention paid to the surgical
Indications. II is only as the vlvi-sec-
tor has called attention to the meaning
of many of the phenomena of insanity
that any use has been made of the
pla' signs. IL is now some years
since DIR. Terrier, n of the most act
i've and prominent of the English vivi-
sectors who AVE worked in the direc-
tion of brain localization, asserted that
there are already signs that we are
within measurable distance of the sue
cessful treatment by surgery of some
of the most distressing and otherwise
hopeless forms Of intercranial disease.
which will vie with the splendid
achievements of abdominal surgery
The report. 10 years ago.. of MIR. Hors-
lev, an English surgeon on three cas-
es OF epilepsy radically cured by the
removal of the diseased portion of the
brain, marked the beginning of a new
era in brain surgery. In N case the
exact location Of the diseased part OF
the brain was determined by the fact
that the patients fits began with The
muscles OF the left thumb. DIR. Fer
rier's experiments on m nave
shown in what part OF the brain was
the seat of the control of these mus
cles. At about the same time DIR.
Hughes Bennett of London had found
the exact location OF a small tumor
on the surface of the brain because I
involved the muscles of the hand. This
4 diagnosis also was based on DIR. Fer
riers experiments. which have since
beer carried further by others.
MOT long ago there was brought to
the city hospital In 81. Louis. Win
which ! was connected. a mar suffer-
ing. IL was said. from the effects OF a
blow on the head. such as Collier Is
said to have experienced, but OF whic1
there was not the least apparent race
IL was found that the muscles on the
back Of the forearm were paralyzed
As in the cases mentioned. the part