The Evening statesman. [volume] (Walla Walla, Wash.) 1903-1910, 1906-05-07
A VERY ANCIENT ART

A. VERY ANCIENT ART
fHe MAKING OF ARTIFICIAL MEMBERS
OF THE HUMAN BODY.
Wooden Legs Have Been Foond TAas
Probably Date Back to the Pre-
CArssAaaa Era-1As Genius Of Pare
In tAss 0Hx&seaEA Century.
Belzoni and others found In an an
sient sareophagus ARTIFICIAL teeth made
Of sycemosa wood. A set Of ARTIFICIAL
teeth ON the bridge work system was
also found In an DEuscan skuU OF
about 200 A. d. Plaster restorattons OF
the nose, ears and nps are clearly de-
scribed in Susxuta about 800 B. c. But
the earliest representation OF an aTon-
caal limb IL that Of a satyr who - de-
pdcted with q wooden leg ON Greco
Roman vase In q collection at the
Louvre in Paris. In q Greco Roman
mosaic there u also sportsman repre-
scented with wooden leg. Both OF
these are probably Of the pre- Chrstan
period.
The Oldest artificial leg still In exist
once was found IN q tomb at Capua,
Italy, and Il now preserved in the mu-
scum Of the Royal College Of Surgeons.
London. where Il h thus described In
the catalogue:
Roman artificial leg. The aTtifcial
kmb accurately represents the form Of
the leg. It IL made with pieces Of thin
bronze, fastened by bronze nails to
wooden core. Two iron bars. having
holes 1t their free ends, are attached to
the upper extremity Of the bronze. A
quadrilateral piece Of iron found near
the portion Of the foot y thought to
have given strength to It. There IL no
trace Of the foot and the wooden core
had nearly crumbled away. The ske'e-
ton had its waist surrounded by belt
of sheet bronze edged with small rivets,
probably used to fasten leather lining
Three painted vases (red Agures on
black ground) lay at the feet OF tho
skeleton. The vases belong to a rather
advanced period in the decline OF art
about 800 years B. c..
We learn from Herodoeus that an
Elean captured by Spartaas and con-
fined in stocks as . torture preliminary
to the infictior Of death aInputated his
own imprisoned foot, escaped and later
procured wooden foot. Ptiny records
that Sergius, 1877 B. c., wore an arti-
ficial hand and fought witk It. A well
authenticated prosthesis was" the iron
hand made In 1904 for Gostz Won Ber-
lichingen, q knight Of Nuremberg. 1t
was q clumsy structure, bat an ingen-
ious one: BY means Of buttons and le-
vers It accomplished certain finger move
ments. Half a century latnr Ambrose
Pare described an iron prosthesis that
had been devised for a Huyuenot cap
tain whose arm had been lost In the
siege Of Fontenoy.
It was at that time-viZ, In the six
teenth century, when q new impetus
was given to surgery by the genius Of
Pare-that efforts were mede to sup
ply substitutes for missing legs that
would be more than mere supports. It
is not unreasonable to suppose that
Pare's application of the iigature to
amputations in place Of boiling oil, de-
creasing the agonies Of the operation
and increasing the number Ct recover
les, had much to do with the interest
given to the manufacture Of artificial
limbs.
Pare himself devised an apparatus
will, knee joint which, while usually
fixed, 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 q
few Of them acquired celebrity by their
skill, notably Lorrain, French lock-
smith whose work was largely direct
ed by the great Pare. Father Sebas-
tan, a Carmelite monk, later produced
of sheet tin a clumsy arm which by
means Of sundry springs WIS capable
of certain articulat1ons. Bailiff, me-
chanic, also made movable arms, pat
termed largely after those Of Father
Sebastian. It is recorded that the
Duke Christian Won Braunschweig wore
an artificial hand In 1922. Peter Lowe
In bis "Dfscourses of the Whole Art Of
Chirurgery," 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 by
straps.
In the works of Ambrose 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-
fetal tongue to help those who cannot
speak by reason Of its loss and also
gives a drawing Of this instrument and
full description Of how it should be
fixed in the mouth. He also gives an
account of making an artificial palate
from a Dlate of gold or silver which he