Evening star., 1902-08-15
TO BRAIN
MEN RECOVER FROM EFFECTS OF
APPARENTLY FATAL WOUNDS.
Leaden Souvenirs in Heads-Would-B Be
Suicides Who Botch Their
Work.
From Tit-Bits.


The idea that the human brain is an or
gan so extremely delicate in its structure
that it cannot bear the slightest physical
hurt, sometimes appears to receive a con-
tradiction in the experience of people who
have met with peculiar injuries to the
head. The history of brain surgery presents
some remarkable facts in regard to the ex-
tent to which the thinking organ will some
times resist the effects of external injury.
1t has been shown that in some cases guam
titles of its substance may be removed with
out appreciably diminishing the normal in
telligence Of the patient; while some have
been known to carry the most extraordinary
foreign substances embedded in their skulls
for years
Finds of the most singular kind have
been made in the interior substance of the
living human brain. The strangest things
have been known to find entry there through
accident or design. In one case il was the
blade of penknife that was carried about
in the brain for half lifetime without the
patient being in the least aware Of 1t; in
another 1t was a penholder that had some
how found its way there and remained in
its living hiding place without apparently
interfering with the thinking power Of the
organ; while recently piece Of slate pen
ell was recovered from a boys brain after
1t had been hidden there for several years.
1t is. therefore, perhaps none the more
surprising that many a bullet which has
found it's billet in human brain has proved
no more than a temporary inconvenience.
A French soldier who received a bullet in
his head during the Franco-German war Of
1870 carried it there for twenty-seven years.
and was said to have felt no i'll effects till
1897, when 1t one day worked its way down.
ward into his mouth and so rid him of its
presence.
In the case of German soldier who was
shot in the head during the "Sonderbund"
war. he lived to carry the leaden souvenir
in his brain for forty-three years, and 1t
was not extracted till after his death. These
two remarkable cases, however. seem to be
beaten by another that has recently been
brought to light, the case being that of an
old soldier still living who for over half a
century has carried in his head the bullet
received during the Austrian rebellion OF
1S4S.
Would-be suicides have occasionally put
bullets into their brain to no purpose and
perhaps one of the most astounding cases
Of recent years was that dealt with at the
Richmond Hospital only year or so ago.
The patient had In vain tried to take his
life by shooting himself in the head, and
after thus placing two bullets in his brain
he was Immediately conveyed In cab to
the hospital. But he was so little affected
at the time by the presence of the bullets
in his head that he actually alighted from
the vehicle, walked along the garden path
and up the steps of the hospital, and was
then able to give an intelligent account Of
what had taken place.
Wound Three and a Half Inches Deep.
In a similar case of self-infiicted injury
that came before the doctors at Guys Hos
pital a few months later the would-be sui
eide, after firing a revolver bullet into his
head, was discovered smoking his pipe
If nothing very serious had happened. and
though the bullet had penetrated the skull
to depth Of three and half inches he
was able to walk part Of the way to the
hospital and there undress himself with
out assistance previous to undergoing ex-
animation.
The effects Of removing bullets from the
brain are sometimes as remarkable as any
of the foregoing, and perhaps in this con-
nection mention may be made of the case
of military cadet operated on by doc
tor of Vienna just recently. On removing
the bullet a small quantity of brain had
also to be taken away, the peculiar result
being that, though unaltered in any other
respect, the patient irretrivably lost all of
his good manners. for which he was noted
The eminent surgeon, therefore, suggests
that the portion of brain removed with the
bullet corresponds to what he describes as
the bump of good manners"