The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1899-09-26
(FrOm the New Orleans Times. Democrat. }

(From the New Orleans Times. Democrat }
THE term cork leg Is misnomsr. I"
said = man who used to be in the arti-
fioial limb business. "There never was
any such thing, anda.leg actually made
Ct cork would DO as unwieidly rs a saw
log. The up-to-dste artificial limb Ia q
very thin shell Of weeping willow.
covered with rawhide, and some OF them
that come clear up to the hip have been
built as light as three pounds.
"It Is a singular fact that a frat-class
leg, which is supposed to have life Of
about five years. win be more than paid
for In the saving Of shoes. OF course, the
false foot wears shot. Just the same az
the real one, but for some reason that has
never been fully explained. It isn't as
hard on leather. A fiesh-and- blood leg
win wear out four shoes while Its me-
chanical mate is wearing out one, due
perhaps to the foot-gear never being re-
moved at night and the lack of elasticity
In the thread. The best customer Of the
makers is the government, which pays
for new artificial limb once every i've
IOoAa AoE RoHoAtuCfe kAHAnlcu IN war; lU0
price fixed by law is SIS, but scores Of old
soldiers simply draw the money and make
the same leg do for as long as fifteen years
at q stretch. Artificial arms are made
very successfully nowadays. ana certain
amount Of action Is secured In the hand,
even when the stump reaches only a few
inches from the shoulder With one Of
the styles. for example. man oan lift
his hat and replace 1t on his head with q
surprisingly natural movement. The
mechanism by which the false hand Ia
made to open and close is controlled by u
strap, which reaches to the opposite
shoulder. slight shrug does the work,
and little practice renders 1t ilnperoept.
ibie.
There has been wonderful improve
emit In limb making during the last ten
years. and properly constructed arti-
ficial leg cannot be detected by the casual
observer. The chief difficulty with the
old sty le WAS It's tendency TO swing out
ward IN an arc of circle at every step.
That has been entirely overcome. Some
years ago, when l was In the business at
Chicago, / fitted cut man who had lost
both legs and both Inns In a Dakota bliz-
| card. When I first saw him he was sim-
ply helpless trunk lying on o cot in the
hospital. aud his deplorable condition
had reduced him to a state OF despair bor-
dering on insanity. I took great deal
OF interest in the case, and fiatter my
self that did n fairly good job. When /
got through with him he was able to get
up without assistance, walk about, feed
himself, and do q hundred and one little
things that changed life from q mere
blank to something really endurable.
When he found himself emannipatsd from
total helplessnsss he improved menta lily
and now 1 dare say he wants to live as
long as any body.
Zone Of the great obstacles to success
full limh-htting Is the oarelessness of sur
geons in performing amputations. An
operation may be entirely successful from
a surgical standpoint yet leave a stump
upon which false leg can never be
! worn with comfort ! know of q num-
| Der of cases In which q reamputation has
been submitted to for the express pu .
| pose of correcting such difficulties. Every
medical college course ought to include
at least one lecture with practical demon.
STATIONS by q thoroughly scientific maker
Of artificial limbs. It should be Of ines
timabie value to the students in after
practice.