The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-10-20
PAIN IN LOST LIMBS.

Physical Phenomenon Which Physi-
 clans Are Unable to Explain Clearly. Chicago Inter Ocean.
 Three weeks ago Glen Bacheler, of Indiana, lost both hands in a railway accldent. The amputated hands were placed in a jar or alcohol and Mr. Bach- eiers arms received the most careful surkIcal attention. He sunered,, now ever, Tor two weeks rom severe and peculiar pans where tue Aanos former " were.
 Mr. Bacheler insisted that his lost nanus were crowded in such a way as .o give nim the sensation of severe Lranplng pains. ana Wnen be learned now Iney Aau Ueen disposed of nc ue- mandeo chat they be properly buried. me nands were taken rom the Jar, were strengthened to natural posi- ton, were carefully wrapped, were In- cased in a Dox, and were buried. As soon as thIs was lone Mir. Baeneler was relieved or the pains that mad kept nm In agony for TWO weeks.
 Fms story will be received with smiles by the younger experts of the medical profession, with snakes or the head by the older surgeons, and with ready belief by hundreds of men wno have suffered as Mr. Bacheler suffered.
 Many a man who has suffered am- putation of a leg or foot has been Kept Tn anguish by the feeling of some ob- 1ect between the toes, by an intOlerable itching where a toe ought to be, or by sharp rheumatic pain in the ball oI a missing foot. A man who has lost a hand or an arm has been seized sud denly with a distressing pain in the limb or in the finger, and has become almost hysterical because he could rot relieve 1t by touching the hand that was not thcre.
 Surgeons called to treat such cases have contended that the feeling was simply hallucination; that men who have suffered amputation have read stories of queer sensations in lost limbs, and that these stories have taken such a hold upon the imagination tLat they experience the pain attributed 70 the men whose stories they have rsSo.
 Acting on this theory, the surgeon falls in with the belief of the man, administers something to quIet ITS nerves, and. in cases where the missing hand or missing foot Is accessible, gives directions for its proper handling and interment.
 However, this 'ioes not settle the case. In a week or a month the man of the lOSL Hdnu IOSL IOOt nus JULIET trying experiences and the surgeons tries to laugh him out of the hallucina- tion. In good time the patient appa- rently surrenders his belief as to palm in the lost foot or hand. but in his own heart he holds to 1t. He may not talk about 1t, but he will insist that the sem sation in the missing foot Is so real and so exasperating that 1t at times drives him almost to the point of in- sanity.
 These are strong men who have had such experiences. and their theory is that some careless treatment of the nerves severed in amputation is re- sponsible 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 cor rect. 1t does not explain the sensations experienced by Mir. Bacheler.
 In this age. when the nerves of men and women receive more attention from the medical profession than ever before, is 1t not a little strange that these so-called hallucinations as to sen- sations in missing members Of the body have not been more closely investi. gated? Are these sensations the work of the imagination, or are they the re- suit of real physical conditions.