The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-04-20
THE FIRST WOODEN LEG.
1t Was of Bronze, Wood and Iron
ana Walked About 300 b. c.
From the London Mail.


From the London Mail
1t is not. of course, every one with
wooden leg who is proud of it. Indeed, the
number of wooden-legged people who keep
the fact as much to themselves as they
can is out of all proportion to the number
who have no objection to publicity.
Consequently it is a matter of some DIFF
ficulty to ascertain who the wooden-legged
people are in order to make what one
might perhaps cali an interesting selec-
ton OF the making of artificial limbs by
the ancients there is not much to show,
but it may be reasonably inferred that it
was prime necessity even in the youth
of the world
The place of the first natural limb that
was lost would obviously be supplied by a
substitute Of some kind In the Ninth
book Herodotus states that the augur
Hegesstratus, who was condemned to die.
LOOK the exact measure of as much of his
loot as he could draw from the iron clog
10 winch 1t was fastened, and then cut
on all the rest. Having by this means
made his escape he put on, it is stated, "a
wooden foot"
The first wooden leg of which there Is
record is one in the museum of the Royal
college of Surgeons, London, and having
peen round in an undisturbed tomb a.
Capua, with three painted vases (red fig
ures on back ground belonging to a
rather advanced period of the decline in
art, II is assumed that this particular Ro-
man artncial leg was in use about 300
B. c.
II accurately represents the form of the
Ieg ana is made with pieces of thin bronze
fastened by bronze nails to a wooden core,
Two iron bars having holes at their free
enos are attached to the upper extremity
- 'ne bronze. When found the wooden
core had nearly all crumbled away.
moi, however, till we come down to the
early part of the present century is it DOS
slole to give the names of interesting peo-
pie whose lost limbs were replaced with
wooden legs. And lest it be thought that
1t would pain them to disclose the fact
that natural limbs were missing. let il be
aoded that they long since ceased to re-
raj. - '-''
Inc Marquis of Anglesey, who lost a leg
oy d gunshot wound at Waterloo is the
Hi9t parsonage who figures, without any
T ,'L OF the fact, with wooden
les' indeed, so far from regarding it's use
as something to be hidden. this gallant
warrior named it the "Anglesey leg
The Hon. and Rev. Fftzrov Stanbone =
wen known churchman in his day broke
ms leg IN carriage accident but with the
wooden substitute with which he was SIM
pied he found his usefulness only slightly
impeded ' sA9H"'
or Ihomas Trowbridge, a Crimeap he
TO- VINO lost both legs at the battle of In
herman lived to go about on wooden legs
so lngeniously constructed, with ARTIFICIAL
LEMONS regulating the movements of the
joints, that very LITTLE i,c-v,..f v -
felt. s4iieAee was
A young officer of Sepoys. Lieut.. Aubert
OF the Bengal army found il necessary n
auu q wooden leg to his equipment. In
pursuing man-eating tiger in the Jungle
near Dhoon he was suddenly attacked by
the brute, and, though it was almost i'm
ineulately Kicked to death by an eIenhant
the heutenants right leg was so fright
lully mauled that amputation from beIow
the knee followed.
nut perhaps the most unlikely accident
IIeNesShating the wearing of a wooden leg
was was mat which befell Capt Lidman of the
swedish army. This gallant officer was
present az review, and the ramrod of a
cannon which exploded so Injured one OF
ms legs that he had to part with il. It
was thought at one time that Gen. Carl
naldi mad lost limb, but il was not so in
lact. On one occasion, during which he
was IN action, he was hit on the foot .he
erect or which was TO destroy a large pro-
portion OF that members natural mobility.
lie was fitted with an apparatus by
Heather Bigg which enabled him 10 cross
a room without pain