The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-12-24

New York, Dec. 23.-In cellar m this city, it's presence unsuspected py the hurrying throngs that pass apoVe 1t morning, noon and night, is coiieC- tion of weird-looking statuary which' for our credit with posterity, It IS 10 pc hoped some iconoclast may snlite to pieces with his hammer before the archaeologists of the future shall stum- ble upon it. Should it survive the pas sage of an aeon or two, it might be dis covered by some deep digger and ex- hibited ~as the handiwork of some realist in sculpture, showing the curi- ously Uniformed torsos of ancient New Workers of the twentieth century. Each limbless headfess, more or less dis torted plaster body is, though, in truth, an exactly accurate representation of the flesh and blood figure of living man, or woman, or child, for the casts belong to the New York Post-Graduate Hospital, and are the models from which aluminium corsets are made to support weak or misshapen human frames and gradually counteract their defects.
 The making of these corsets is one of the functions of the hospitals ortho- depic workshop-the only workshop of it's kind in the city. The patient who is to be fitted stands with head raised by means of chin brace, and with arms lifted above his head and sup ported there in such a position that the vertabrae of the crooked spine are as widely separated and as nearly in cor rect position as possible. Then plas- ter bandage is wound round and round his body. from the armpits to below the hips, closely ,adhering to every slight variation in the surface of the / flesh.
 When the bandage has partially riA fN fnrV EnFf nf Ch slit down the front and removed. Then the opening made by the cutting apart is closed, and the. shell is set aside to dry thoroughly. The orthopedist now has a perfect mold of his patients body as it is in the most nearly normal posi- tion it is possible for 1t to assume. Of this he makes a plaster cast, and talk ing two flat sheets of aluminium ham mers them upon the cast until they ex- actly fit it. forming the two halves of corset. Hinges fasten them together at the back, eyelets for lacing are put on either side of the front opening, and the whole affair is perforated with round holes until it looks like cross between a colander and a piece of an cient armor.
 As one might imagine, the aluminium corset is expensive, ranging in price from $60 to $100, according to the amount of work which has to. be put Into it. But it lasts lifetime, and is much lighter and more sanitary and comfortable than a plaster jacket, which can be had for about one-tenth of the price, but lasts barely three months. Plaster corsets are made in much the same way as the molds for the models on which the metal con- traptions are shaped. A piece of stockinet is fastened about the body under the arms. so that it hangs to the !. age is wrapped. When the shell has hardened. the lower fringe of the stock met is turned up and stretched over the corset, to which it is sewed at the top. Then the whole thing is slit down the front, and strips of eyelets are at- tached to either side of the opening.
 Not only do these close-fttfng shells oblige the patient to carry himself as correctly as it is physically possible for him to do, but they help him keep the proper position without undue ex- ertion. As a consequence the body gradually becomes more normal; with the progress of improvement new cor sets are made from time to time to fit the slowly disappearing malformation more closely and by degrees smooth it entirely away.
 Corset making is only one of the &C., tivities of the orthopedic workshop, however. Dozens of fiat-foot plates, as we'll, are made every week-curved plates of aluminium cunningly fitted to support a broken instep arch. A mold is taken by having the patient press his foot into soft plaster of paris, and the impression he leaves is filled, in turn, with soft plaster, which, when it hard ens is perfect replica of the sole and sides of the injured member. Then a small aluminium plate, white hot from the forge fire, is hammered to fit every peculiarity of the model.
 The foot plate is simple contrivance compared with the jury mast"-a rig ging by which the head may be tempo rarily supported. It looks to the un- initiated like a great shepherds crook curving up from the back of an alumi- mum corset, while on the tip is cross piece from which straps support chin rest. Measurements for this contriv- aance must be made with special care, for if the adjustment is not correct to hairs breadth, incalculable harm may be done.
 One of the commonest difficulties the orthopedist has to deal with Is hip dis ease. When a physician sends in an