The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-11-28

himself with grief
Not all epilepucs are homicidal but It
is not possible TO tell when they may be-
come so. There is no hope OF their cure
by medical or by moral treatment, as
there is in some forms of insanity The
therapeutic value of moral influence and
especially of music, as suggested by Plato,
Is being applied with system in France
and not without promise; but excluded
from It's benefits, or rather from its cura-
tive power, is the epileptic Yet however
marked the violence of the proxysms, It
Is cruel to consgn epilepdcs TO the ordi-
nary asylums where the chronic insane
are congregated. 1t Is exactly like shut
ting up a sane man among lunatics. 1t
surely promotes melancholy and expedites
the progress of the disease, as anything
depressing must In the case of the disor-
der 1t Is necessary they should be guard
Ell after they reach a certain point since
It may happen that not even their dearest
friends are secure against a sudden at
tack, although there are usually premon-
itory symptoms which those about them
learn to read. The establishment of col
onies of epileptics in Ohio and New Jer-
sey is one of the most humane and admir-
able OF recent benevolent enterprises.
zone advantage in the grouping of cpl
leptlcs Will be the opportunity for the bet
ter study of cases liz for radical treatment
by the surgeon. II will enable surgeons
to devote themselves exclusively to this
form of disease. In the ordinary hospital
for the insane medical and moral treat
ment have been combined, but there has
been almost no attention paid to the sur
gical indications. 1t is only as the vivi-
sector has called attention TO the meaning
OF many of the phenomena of insanity that
any use has been made Of the piainest
signs. 1t Is now some years since DR..
Terrier, one of the most active and prom
inent of the English vivsectors who have
worked in the direction Of brain localiza-
tons, asserted that there are already
signs that we are within measurable dis
lance of the successful treatment by sur
gerry 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, ten years ago, of Mr.. Horsey. an
English surgeon, on three cases 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 one case the exact location Of the dis
eased part of the brain was determined
by the fact that the patients fits began
with the muscles Of the left thumb. Dr.
Terriers experiments on animals had
shown in what part of the brain was the
seat of the control Of these muscles. AT
about the same time DR.. Hughes Ben
nett of London had found the exact loca-
ton OF small tumor on the surface OF
the brain because IL involved the muscles
Of the hand, This diagnosis also was bas-
ed on DR.. Terriers experiments, which
have since been carried further by 9TH
ers.
mot long ago there was brought to the
City hospital In st. Louis. with which |
was connected man suffering, II is said
from the effects Of a blow on the head
such as Collier is said to have experienced
but of which there was not the least APP
parent trace. It was found that the mus
Giles on the back of the forearm were par
alyzed. AS in the case mentioned the
part of the brain that controls those mus
cles was known. on removing disk of
the skull a small abscess was found and
emptied, and the patient recovered fully
The relation OF this TO epilepsy is OBJ
vious. Sometimes the seat of the trouble
in the brain Is discovered by a muscular
indication, the diseased tissue Is cut away
and a complete and permanent cure Is
effected. The limit of brain localzaton
has not been reached, but the time will
surely come when the seat of disorder IN
nearly every case may be known.
1T Is not surprising that DR.. Sem, af-
ter his experience in abdominal surgery
should predict the ultimate disappearance
oI the Dn4EltidU. VI course, ms assertion
is not to be taken exactly that In a quar-
ter Of century there will be no physi-
clans but only surgeons and nurses but
II Is true that surgery is constantly draw
ing patients away from the physician, who
can never hope for anything positive. His
treatment must always be empirical and
he Is never abe to say that his drugs have
been Of any avail. Along with the aban-
donment Of the old dogmatism and sue
been an increasing reliance on the cura-
tive. not merely palliative knife The
sanitarian, the nurse and the surgeon are
surely relieving the distinctly medical man
Of much Of his work. There Is not q prac-
ttioner who does not often find himself
as hopeless as the veriest quack. He is
thankful If he can keep from doing posi-
tive harm in a world where sick people
insist on having medicines under the de-
fusion that a drug can enter the system
and prowl around until It finds and throt-
ties the disease. which the patient regards
as an entity and not a condition.
THE war has brought to the public at
tentlon about all that is 10 be said Of the
safety of modern surgery-the freedom
from the formerly fatal sequences of the
knife. AsePtic or andsepdc surgery, the
prevention of poisoning by specific germs,
makes it possible to open the abdominal
cavity anu AiiE bhhli Will uDinAHR ike the
former danger This danger was never
from the cutting away Of tissues, but from
the shock and the poisoning that so often
followed the operation. II is now possible
10 cut away a cancerous part of the stom-
ach, 40 take out sections Of the intestines
or tie up any number of perforations such
as a gunshot makes. TO remove the spleen
and parts Of the kidneys, and 10 cut out
sections Of the brain, with fair chance
of recovery and the perfect cure of the
disease.
There is not unreasonable hope that
surgery may effect the cure Of germ dis
cases. for the successful treatment Of
which no toxin has yet been obtained. A
couple Of years ago DR.. Marks of the st.
Louis City Hospital made experiments that
led him 10 be ieve Asiatlc cholera can be
cured by a surgeon, even in the stage Of
collapse. His idea Is to open the abdomi-
nal cavity and food the intestines with
on antsepuc solution capable of destroy
ing the bacill without Injury TO the pa