Little Falls weekly transcript. (Little Falls, Morrison Co., Minn.) 1894-19??, 1900-07-24

ARTIFICIAL LIMBS
THE DEMAND FOR LEGS IS TEN TIMES
GREATER THAN FOR ARMS. Y "
Il II . Curious Fact That the Elbow
Joint Cannot ne Duplicated with
Springs and Hinges g. Artificial
Limbs Bring Long Life. ~
Although the artificial limb industry of
Chicago Ia restricted to IN annual output
Of about 1000 legs, arms, hands, feet
aud parts thereof, it is as large and as
important an industry in It's field of op-
Grafton as the most mammoth of tho
manufacturing enterprises. The average
price of limbs ranges from $50 to 500.
The art Of making artificial limbs dates
hundreds of years before the Christian
era, but modern Chicago makers are
splicing pieces and making whole limbs
for every civilized country In the world.
Only about SO people are employed In
factories, but most Of them are men Of
decided mechanical ingenuity. In addi-
ton to the most careful adjustment Of
the several parts Of the joints, accord
ing to existing devices. they are constant
" experimenting on models for still bet
ter results. That, together with superior
workmanship, is the reason why Chicago
made artificial limbs are favorites the
world over. "., 49,.
The makers do more than fill orders
or at least some Of them do. They study
the anatomy of man SO as to have bet
ter understanding Of what is required of
artificial limbs; besides. they keep them
selves we'll informed of the cause of the
demand for limbs and the percentage Of
one kind over another. The proportion
is ten legs or parts Of legs to one of
arms. Seventy per cent of the whole out
put comes from employees of railways
and per cent from passengers. Ten per
cent comes from amputations necessitat
ed By Consumption of the bone." as they
call it, 2 per cent from the army and
navy and Is per cent from miscellaneous
causes.
1t is curious fact that the elbow
joint cannot be duplicated with springs
and hinges; hence an amputation above
the elbow causes almost a total loss Of
the arm, but an artificial arm may be put
on so true to nature that it will deceive
completely until there is use for it, when
the fact is made very clear that at best
it is only ornamental. But when the am
putation is below the elbow the arm can
be spliced out, and even the fingers can
be made somewhat scrviceable.
= While it is found that combination of
leather and aluminium makes lighter
and yet stronger limb, with decidedly
better knee, ankle and toe action, than
other materials, some experts still hold
that wood is the best material under all
circumstances, and they will make no
other kind. The business of artificial
limb making is called the ''prosthetic in.
dustry" and means literally the process
of adding to the human body some arti-
fetal part in place of one that may be
wanting. One who makes such artificial
parts Is called n prothetician or pro-
thetist.
Herodotus speaks of ut least one man,
IN Alean, who procured wooden foot to
take the place Of the natural one which
he lost while escaping from Spartan
prison. Pliny tells of a man, 1877 b. G.,
who wore an artificial hand Of his own
design and construction, and 1t was SO
well done that he could use 1t to WELD q
sword in battle. There are the remains of
an artificial leg in the museum Of the
Royal College Of Surgeons In London
pura in 1858. The official catalogue
says: 1.-THE leg Is made with pieces of
thin bronze fastened by bronze nails to q
,roo5o, ooro TNv,o iror, horo hovinu
holes in their free ends. are attached to
the upper extremity of the bronze. A
quadrilateral piece of iron found near the
position of the foot is thought to have
given strength to it. The skeleton had
Its waist surrounded by belt Of sheet
bronze edged with small rivets, probably
used to fasten leather lining. The
vases found in the tomb place the period
mt about 300 years B. G."
, Since the fifteenth century artificial
limb making has been n regular industry
in nearly all countries.
! Not only many doctors, but nearly all
the laity, have notion that the amputa.
ton Of limb shortens the life of the In.
dividual, and also the greater the quanti-
ty Of the limb cut off the greater the
abridgmcnt of life. But statistics contra
dict that theory fatty. BY careful COM
parison for half century It is ascertain
ed that cutting off limbs-not all the
limbs, Of course-does not shorten life ut
nil. OF the patrons of an artificial limb
factory less than Is per cent die during
a term Of over 40 years. and nearly ev-
cry one of them died from accident or
,old age, and not one died as the direct re-
Isult of being short leg or an arm. 1t Is
claimed that there is no record Of any
one, or but very few at least who died
of pulmonary or cardiac diseases who
wore IN artificial limb, except where the
disease was contracted before the limb
was amputated. However, the amputa
ton of limbs is not recommended by pro-
ltheticians as preventive Of lung and
heart troubles.
-. Perhaps it has never occurred to many
that the great body of wearers Of artifi-
cial limbs are poor people-that Is, poor
people in contradistinction to the rich.
It is very rare that wealthy person Is
seen with an artificial limb, and the rea-
son is clear enough. It is the man who
rlyu xp;<h h;o ho n6s IN tho mill nm tho