Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1907-05-07
THINGS A MAN CAN ENDURE.
Injuries That Fail to Stop the Human
Machine.

Machine.
To the layman it often seems
strange that large and vigorous ami
NAL like man is so easily destroyed
by apparently puny agencies. Half a
dozen disease germs, each no more
than 1-5,O0Oth of an inch in length
enter the veins of healthy, muscular
man-and in ten days he is dead.
few drops of prussic acid are
placed on the tongue of another man
and in five minutes he, too, is dead
A minute pin prick is made in the
heart wall of still another man-an6
he dies in ten seconds.
But as a matter Of fact the real won.
der is not that man dies so easily, but
that he resists death so efficiently
The human machine Is by long odds
the most perfect mechaicism thai
ever appeared on earth. 1t can stand
injuries that would make any man
made machine fall to pieces, and II
may be hacked, mutilated and clogged
in a perfectly amazing manner with
out perceptibly reducing it's useful.
ness.
Indeed at appears at times to trans
cend and overcome the laws Of nature
No conceivable injury short Of abso-
lutte disintegration Is instantly fatal
and there are very few injuries that
necessarily and inevitably mean death
either at once or in the course OF
measurable time.
For instance, consider the case OF
the human brain. 1t is the popular
| opinion that major injuries to this or
gan mean immediate and certain
death. A man who desires to commit
suicide and wants to make sure Of II
| commonly places a pistol to his head
and blows out his brains. And yet
such injuries to the brain substance
no matter how terrible they may be-
seldom cause instantaneous dissolu-
ton, and in very considerable num-
| ber of cases fail to cause death at all
Every hospital surgeon is familiar
with the fact that men who have shot
themselves in the head. commonly live
| at least an hour or two. The shock OF
the bullet striking the brain often pro-
duces instant Inconsistencies but this
Inconsistencies does not differ mate
rally from that caused by a blow or
| the angle Of the jaw in the prize ring
In a word, the would-be suicide is
knocked out, but not dead.
II he does die later 1t is usually a
matter Of a good many minutes. His
shattered brain continues to discharge
| part Of its functions and his heart
struggles on. When he gives up the
ghost it. is commonly as a result OF
secondary disturbances.
| Only when this bullet destroys those
parts of the brain which control his
involuntary functions does he die with
anything resembling suddenness. AnG
sometimes even then he doesn't die
at all.
The case Of Phineas P. Gage, a rail.
road man, is a classic in the annals o1
1
gagged in blasting and at the time o.
his accident was tamping powder in
to a hole in the side Of huge mass o.
rock. The tamping rod was a piece
of iron an inch and a quarter in di
ameter and weighed more than thir
teen pounds. The powder exploded
prematurely and shot this iron cleal
through the poor fellows head.
1t struck him on the left cheek i'm
mediately under the cheek bone, ant
passed up through his brain, behint
his left eye and out Of the top Of hi
head. In a word there was a ragged
wound through his brain at least tw'
inches in diameter and nearly six inch
es long. But instead Of killing th'
man instantly, the injury merely stun
ned him.
| He was carried to shelter nearly {
mile away, and then without assis
tance walked up long flight Of stairs
to bed-talking to those about hin
all the while. Several hours later :
surgeon arrived and found him rest
ling easily and absolutely clear IL
mind.
His splintered skull was trimmed
the wound through his brain wa!
cleansed as much as possible, and {
mild sedative was administered. In
month he was at work again, and saw
IN loft axyt
he suffered no permanent injury. HI
was just as strong as ever and his mu
tilated brain managed his voluntar!
and involuntary functions just as wei
as before.
| Strange as it may seem, such case!
are far from uncommon. During thu
Spanish-American war an American
Volunteer officer was shot in the eyt
and the bullet passed clear through
his brain, coming out at the back o.
the skull and making an immense ant
Jagged wound.
He received first aid treatment II
the field and was later brought to th'
United States on a hospital ship. HI
made a complete recovery and suffer
ed no permanent injury other thar
the loss of his eye and certain awk
wardness in certain movements.
| Again, there is a famous case Of
man who lost a section Of his braiI
five inches long and yet lived TO
years. A multitude Of such example,
are to be discovered in the files of tn,
medical journals.
Injuries to or complete loss of othe
organs besides the brain not uncom
monty fail to result in death. AS ev
cry one knows, it is possible for mai
to live for years with but one lung
It is also possible to live with one kid
ney. 1t is possible, again, to live with
out a dozen other organs, just as
is possible to live without eyes, nose
ears, teeth, legs and arms.
| A century or more ago a certain
French soldier had his whole lowe
| Jaw shot off in battle and yet he sur
vived to a hale and green old age. An
other soldier lost what was substan