The commonwealth. (Scotland Neck, N.C.) 1896-1929, 1904-11-17
PAIN IN LOST LIMBS,
Physical Phenomenon Which PhYsi-
clans are Not Able to Ex-
plain Clearly.

plain Clearly.
Chicago Inter-Ocean.
Three weeks ago Glen Bachelor, o.
Indiana, lost both hands in q railway
accident. The amputated hands were
placed in q jar Of alcohol and Mr.. Bach.
elor's arms received the most careful
surgical attention. He suffered, how.
ever, two weeks from severe and pecu.
liar pains where the hands formerly
were.
Mr. Bachelor insisted that his lost
hands were crowded in such a way al
TO give him the aensation of severe
cramping pains, and when he learned
how they had been disposed Of he de
manded that they be properly buried
The hands were taken from the jar
Strengthened to natural position, were
carefully wrapped, were encased in q
box, and were buried. As soon as this
was done Mr.. Bachelor was relieved OF
the pains that had kept him In agony
Tor two weeks.
This story will be received with
smiles by the younger experts of the
medical profession, with shakes of the
head by the older surgeons, and with
ready belief by hundreds of men who
haye suffered as Mr.. Bachelor suffered.
Many a man who has suffered ampu-
tation of a leg or foot has been kept
in agony by the feeling OF some object
between the toes, by an intolerable
itching where the toe ought to be, or
by sharp rheumatic pain in the ball
of missing foot. A man who has
lost hand or an arm has heen sudden
ly seized with distressing pain in the
limb or In the finger, and has become
almost hysterical because he could not
relieye 1t by touching the hand that
was not there.
Surgeons called to treat such cases
have contended that the feeling was
simply hallucinat,on that men who
have suffered amputatlon have read
stories OF queer sensations in lost limbs
and these stories have taken such q
bold upon the Imagination that they
experience the pain attributed to the
sfor,oc fhav q vo rond
Acting on this theory, the surgeon
falls in with the belief of the man, ad-
ministers something to quiet his nerves
and, in cases where the missing
hand or missing foot is accessible,
gives directions for Its proper handling
and irterment.
However, this does not settle tho
case. In a week or a month the man
of the lest hand or lost foot has other
trying experiences, and the surgeon
tries to laugh him out OF the hallucina-
tlon. In good time the patient appa-
rently surrenders his belief as to pain
in the lost foot or hand, but in bis
heart he holds to It.. He may not talk
about 1t, but he vii insist that the
sensation in the missing foot Is 80 ex-
asperat,ng that st times 1t drives him
almost to the point OF insanity.
These are strong men who have bad
such experiences, and their theory is
that some careless treatment of the
nerves severed In amputation is re-
ponsib:e for the queer sensations. A
few surgeons have admitted that there
may be something in this theory, but
If 1t be admitted that the theory Is
correct, 1t does not explain tho sensa-
tions experienced by Mr.. Bachelor.
In this age, when the nerves OF men
and women receive more attention
from the medical profession than ever
before, 1t is not a little strange that
these so-called hallucinations as to
sensations in missing members OF the
body have not been more closely In
vestigated Are these sensations the
work of the lmaginations,. or are they
the result OF real phyeical conditions7