The daily palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1904-1905, 1904-03-16
PLlCl! PLONICA.
A Strange Disease in Which Hair
Resembles Mass of Snakes.

(Lachine (Can) Cor. New York Sum-
"Did You ever hear of the disease
known as plica polonica Even if you
have you can never form an idea of
its horror until you have seen case
of it. Indeed, unless you are a medi-
cal man. you are not likely to have
an opportunity, and if you are wise
you will never wish for one.
The speaker was a well known ply
stefan who was travelling west from
Portland, Maine, where he had placed
patient on board an ocean liner, en-
route for the European continent.
~ had read about it of, course, but
first saw a typical case of it two
months ago. he went on. "A Ii
thuanian lady of rank had mixed her.
self up In one of those half-mad plots
against the Russian government.
which fanatical patriots are continu-
ally starting.
"She was so far favored by the
authorities as to receive a hint Of the
discovery of her connection with the
confederates before arrests were
made, and she made her escape to this
country.
"Her husband, who is one of the
meek of the earth. called me up one
night and, after begging me to main
tain the deepest secrecy, conducted
me to an elegantly appointed house,
where in a half reclining posture up
on a lounge ] found my patient.
There was some demur before | was
allowed to have the lights fully
turned on SO that | might make aN
examination.
You of course remember the old
classical story of the Goreon s head
with living snakes for hair, which
turned the beholder into stone? I
can now understand where the orig
inal of that idea came from. The ex-
PLANTATION was there before me in that
beautiful boudoir
Surrounding lovely oval face
with a warm olive complexion and
strange lilac blue eyes and standing
out a good u inches from it was
tremendous mass of black hair Ev-
cry single hair was about as thick as
an ordinary manila clothes lines and
as stiff as that rope is when first
bought
"There was actually a palpitating
kind Of movement about the hairs.
which added to the dreadfulness of it. |
The likeness to mass of snakes
about the head was very real.
= don't mind owning up to hav-
ing been an exceptionally long time
III counting up the heart beats at her
wrist while I was pulling myself to-
gether and getting over the shock. / !
speedily found that every single hair
was a tube full Of viscid humor and
that there were actually pulsations
near the scalp, pulsations as marked
cess or carbuncle
The strain upon the head Of the
sufferer must be intense, though the
pain from the thousands of heated. |
suppurating hairs does not appear to
be as great as might be expected. One |
need not be very much of a surgeon
to see that when the hair ducts upon
the scalp have been nfamed and be-
come enlarged so as to allow of the i
free passage of blood and humor the I
cutting off of the hair becomes ampu- I
Hatlon of most dangerous kind. In |
Iced, local treatment of any kind is
almost an impossibility, though the
disease Is not absolutely incurable.
Ny patient was, / think. improv- T
NO under treatment, but acting upon
either hint from abroad, from some
II her revolutionary friends, or upon
| sudden resolution to consult her old
medical friend, as she told me. she
eft one day for Germany Instruc-
ions were left with her landlord to
'ell the furniture and forward the re-
,eipts to lawyer in Berlin.
m ~ 0TTr0 NRr 7rr-r n~~