The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1906-03-30
A VERY ANCIENT ART
The MAKING OF ARTIFICIAL MEMBERS
or THE HUMAN BODY.
wooden Lee. Have been Pound That
Probasls mate Back 10 the Pre-
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In the sixteenth Century.
Beizoni and others found in an ar;
Client sareophagus artificial teeth made
OF sycamore wood. a set Of artificial.
teeth on the bridge work system was
also found In an Etruscan skull OF
about 200 A. d. Plaster restorations of
the nose, ears and lips are clearly de-
seribed II susruta about 500 BIC. But
the earliest representation OF an artii.
cial limb Is that of satyr who is de-
picted with wooden leg on a Greco
Roman vase in a collection at the
Louvre in Paris.s In q dGreco-R Roman
mosaic there rs also sportsman repre-
scented with q wooden leg. Both Of
these are probably Of the pre- Christian
period. -.-,.
!, The oldest artificial leg still in exist
ence was found in a tomb at canua,
Italy and Il now preserved in the mui
scum of the Royal College Of Surgeons.
London, where 1t is thus described in
the catalogue:
,Roniah artificial leg The artificial
limb accurately represents the form Of
the leg. tits made with pieces Of thin
bronze, fastened by bronze nails to a
wooden core. Two iron bars. having
holes at their free ends, are attached TO
the upper extremity of the bronze. "A
quadrilateral piece of iron found near
the portion OF the foot Is thought to
have given strength to It. There is no
trace OF the foot. and the wooden core
Ind nearly crumbied away The skcle-
ton had Its waist surrounded by'a belt
Of sheet bronze edged with small rivets,
probably, used to fasten leather lining.
Three painted vases (red figures on a
black ground) lay at the feet Of the
skeleton. The vases belong to rather
advanced period in the decline Of art
tabout 800 years B. O.. 'r eu3
We learn from ,Herodotus that an
Elean captured by Spartans and con-
fined in stocks as a torture preliminary
to the induction OF death amputated his
own Imprisoned foot. escaped and later
procured a wooden foot Piiny records
that Serglus. 1877 b. c., wore an arti-
fetal hand and fought with 1t. A well
authenticated prosthesis was the iron
hand made In 1904 for Goetz Won Ber-
lichingen, knight of Nuremberg. 1t
was a clumsy structure. but an ingep.
ious one BY means OF buttons and le-
vers II accomplished certain fingermove,
ments. Half a century later Ambrose
Fare described an iron prosthesis that
had been devised for Huguenot cap
ltain whose arm had been lost in the
siege Of Fontenoy. s,.s'. it
1t was at that time-viz, in the six.
teenth century, when a new impetus
was given TO surgery by the genius OF
Pare that efforts We're made TO sup
j ply substitutes for missing legs that
would be more than mere supports. 1t
Is not unreasonable to suppose that
Pare's application OF the llgature to
amputations in place of boiling oil, de.
creasing the agopies of the. operation
and increasing the number of recover
les, had much to do with the interest
given to the manufacture OF artificial
limbs. &
Pare himself devised an apparatus
with Knee joint which, while usually
axed. could be moved by means of a
thong running to the hip. Leather and
paper and glue were soon employed
instead of iron. The prostheses were
made by mechanics OF all sorts, but a
few Of them acquired celebrity by their
skill, notably Lorrain, French lock-
smith whose work was largely direct
ed by the great Pare. Father Sebass
tan. q Carmellte monk, later produced
of sheet tin clumsy arm which by
means of sundry springs was capable
OF certain articulations. Bailiff, me
chanic, also made movable arms, pat
termed largely after those of Father
Sebastian. 1t is recorded that the
Duke Christian Won BraunschweIg wore
an artificial hand in 1922. Peter Lowe
In his 'lisceursesy of the Whole Art OF
Chhurgery," 1854 shows several forms
of artificial legs that were used in the
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
and many others are found In the
Efwcrks of Ambrose Pare. These legs
were made Of wood and attached by
straps.
In the works of Ambroise Pare there
is a chapter dealing with 1.-THE means
and manner to repair or supply natural
or accidental defects or wants in mans
body He describes the use of artifi.
cial eyes and also artificial noses. He
mentions a method for making an arti-
hcial tongue to help those who cannot
speak by reason of its loss and also
gives a drawing of this instrument and
a fun description Of how it Should be-
liked In the mouth. He also gives an
account of making an artificial palate
from a plate of gold or silver, which, he
states, should be little bigger than the
cavity itself. r
Falcinelli, d surgeon Of Florence in
1649, mentions the use of artificial
eyes Of silver aud of gold and of crys-
tai painted in various colors'' and also
artificial ears made of the same metals.
which were painted the color or flesh
and fixed by means of strings to the
head or sewed into the skin by means
of gold or silver wire. Silver noses.
etc, were made even earlier than that.
The Dutch surgeon verdsn (1G96
constructed an artificial leg consisting
OF wooden foot and hollow copper
cylinder lined with chamois and
strengthened with steel spiints. There
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