The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1906-02-27
A VERY ANCIENT ART
THe MAKING or ARTIFICIAL HEMeEfs
or THE HUMAN BODY


Christian Era-The Genius OF Pare
In the sixteenth Century.
Belzonl and others found ia an an
cient sarcophagus artificial teeth made
Of sycamore wood. set OF artificial
,coth on the bridge work system was
also found In an Etruscan skull Of
about 200 A. -. Plaster restoratiOns Of
the nose. ears and lips are clearly de-
sc.ribed I'm Susruta about 300 Is. &. but
the earliest representation OF an ariih-
riai limb Is that Of satyr who is de-
picied with a wooden leg on Greco
Roman vase iu a collection at the
Louvre In Taris Ia Greco Roman
mosaic there Is also sportsman repre-
scnted with wooden leg. Both Of
these are probably Of the pre-ChrIstian
period.
The Oldest artificial leg still IN exist
cncc was found M "a tomb ut Capua.
Italy aul is now preserved in thc mu'
scum OF the Royal college cf Surgeons,
London. where % is thus described ia
fhe catalogue.
tonrr artificial leg Tha artificial
limb accurately -au-rronfr fha form 0,
tho leg n is made with pieces co.. thin
bronze. fastened Hy bronze nails ,I
wooden core. Two iron bars, having
holes at their f-ra ends, are attached q
tho upper extremity Of the bronze. Il
qu07r.lItoral "'~"" ~ iron found near
Clio r.-''... t.. faHr Is thought O.
is,e Give. ..-....l ID To- There is no
trace Of t.r e1r'. all .lo wooden core
had near,y cismDl,1 away Tic slSele-
Ton bad .ts waist sUrTounlcl Ivy belt
~ sheet bronze edged with small rivcts,
probably uf~1 20 fls'cu leather lining.
Three painted vasc1 CreI figures on a
black grOJulJ lay 80 tie feet ~ the
skeleton. The vases belong to II rather
advanced period iu tho decline OF art
(about 800 years Is o..
We learn from Hcrodotus that an
Elean captured by Spartans and con
fined in stocks as torture preliminary
10 the lnhictiOn Of death amputatcd his
own Imprisoned foot. escaped and later
procured wooden foot. Pliny records
that Scrgius, 167 B. g., wore an nrti-
ncial hand and fought with IT, A well
authenticated prosthesls Nas the iron
hand made In 1904 for G stz Won Ber-
Iichlngen. a knight Of Nuremberg 1t
was a clumsy structure but an lngcn-
ious one. BY means OF buttons and To-
vers II accomplished certain finger move
ments. Half q century later Ambrose
Pare described an Iron prosthesls that
had been devised for q Huguenot cap
tain whose arm had been lost In the
Siege Of Fontenoy.
IL was at that time-viz, In the six
tccnth century when new impetus
was given 20 surgery by the genius OF
varc- that efforts were made TO sup
ply substitutes for missing legs that
would be more than mere supports. II
- not unreasonable 20 suppose that
Pare's application OF the lignturc to
Amputations Ia place OF boiling oil, de
crcnsirg the agOnlcs Of the operation
and increasing the number of recover
les, had much TO 10 with the interest
given 10 the manufacture OF artificial
limbs
Pare himself devised an apparatus
with knee joint which. while usually
fixed. could be moved by means Of a
thong running to the hip. Leather and
Instead OF iron. The prostheses were
made by mechanics OF all sorts but a
few OF them acquired celebrity by their
skin. notably Lorraln, a French lock
smith whose work was largely direct
I'd by the great Pare. Father Scbas-
tlan. n CarmClite monk, later produced
OF sheet tin a clumsy arm which by
means OF sundry springs was capable
Of certain articulations. Balliff, a me
chanlc also made movable arms, pat
termed largely after those VI Father
Sebastian. 1t is recorded that the
Duke Christian Won Braun schweig wore
an artificial hand Ia 1922 Peter Lowe
In his "psc1urses of the Whole Art OF
Chlrurgery," 1884. shows several forms
of artificial legs that were used in the
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries,
and many others are found IN the
works of Ambrose Pare. These legs
were made of wood and attached 10y
straps.
In the works OF AMBROSE Pare ther,
Is "A chapter dealing with the means
and manner TO repair or supply natura
or accidental defects or wants in mans
body" He describes the use OF artlh
Clal eyes and also artificial noses. II,
mentions method for making an arti
Hclal tongue TO help those who cannot
speak by reason OF its loss and alsC
gives a drawing OF this instrument and
full description of how il should bC
fixed In the mouth. He also gives an
account Of making an artificial palate
from plate OF gold or silver, which, ht
states. should be little bigger than the
cavity itself
Falclnclli. a surgeon OF Florence In
1910. mentions the use Of artificial
eyes OF silver and OF gold ana of crys
tai painted in various colors" aud alsC
artificial ears made OF the same metals