The times., 1900-12-23
A CURIOUS INSANITY CURE.
Mental Activity Restored by Frac.
turing n Mans Skull.

Speaking of unexpected discoveries in
therapeutics' said Tennessee man The
other evening in a physicians office. i
cured a crazy man once in less time tnan
IL takes to tell it. Permanently cured
him, too. and yet my means will scarcely
be adopted generally by institutions for
the treatment OF the mentally affected.
1T happened this way: We had a col
ored boy who, at the age OF ten years
had been kicked in the head by horse
and almost killed. When he got on his
feet again, he was of his head SO to
speak, and had all kinds OF queer notions
He grew no worse as he grew older, and
while he could not be trusted with any
important tasks he was a very fair gen.
eTal utility boy about the house and
kitchen. BY the time he was twenty. he
had become IA powerful fellow, and l
used him as a kind of a man to look
after my effects and drive for me. One
day we came in late from a call and
he was acting ugly. but he had such
spells and ! took no particular notice
of II. My dinner had been kept for
me and / told Henry to go down to the
kitchen and bring it up He obeyed in
surly fashion, and Just after he had
put the things on the table and l had
begun to eat, he gave an ominous gTowl
and sprang at my throat.
II was no weakling myself but ! was
no match for the negro, sitting down, and
the fight would have gone hard with me,
but / managed to get one arm loose, and
! reached for a heavy, old-fashioned glass
salt-cellar near my plate. With this /
began humping away at the boys head
wherever / could hit 1t. and before he had
succeeded in doing me much injury l
had cracked his skull and knocked him
insensible. Other servants had come TO
the rescue in the meantime, and when
had cleared away the wreckage ! looked
like a butcher and my black boy looked
like a beef / thought ! had killed him,
but as soon as l could get my nerves
steady, and my muscles in shape again,
! set to work on him to see the extent
OF the damage.
Il found his scalp cut In score OF
places by the sharp corners of the salt
cellar and his skull fractured just over the
place where the horse had kicked him ten
years before He was still unconscious,
but alive all right, and fixing up the cuts,
! had him carried off to his bed until l
could recover somewhat before undertake
ing to repair the fracture. At o'clock
in the evening he was still unconscious.
and calling in another physician we at
once went after the break in his skull. 1t
was a case of trephlning, but not a diff
cult one and before great while We had
relieved the pressure, the patient showed
signs of Improvement, and when we left
him in the care OF a nurse he was sleep
ing naturally.
Next morning when | went to see him,
he was awake and ] was startled by the
changed expi assion of his eyes. The old
look of the mentally unbalanced person
was gone and there was in its place the
clear eve of the sound mind. | felt then
that had done something l had not
thought OF doing but / was not sure. and
sent at once for the other physician.
When he came ] simply told him to
look at the patients eyes. He did so.
and then he looked at me almost as il he
were frightened. We did not have to tell
each other anything. We knew we had
cured the boy OF his insanity. and though
he was too weak Just then to realize the
great change that had come to him. you
may be sure he did as he grew stronger,
and when he was able to get out of bed
a week later. he had as clear mind as
anybody"