The daily morning journal and courier., 1907-05-06
SOME OF THE THINGS THAT A MAN GAN ENDURE
 Injuries That Quite Fail to Stop the Human Machine.
 EFFECTS OF PoIsoNs.
 Death Not Necessarily Pro- Duced by Loss of One or More Organs.
EFFECTS OF PoIsoNs.

dozen disease germs, can no more than 1-5,OOOth of an inch in length, en- ter the veins of healthy. muscular man-and in ten days he is dead.
 A few drops of prussia 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-and he dies in ten seconds.
 But as matter of fact. the real wonder is not that man dies so easily, but that he resists death so efficiently. The human machine is by long odds the most perfect mechanism that ever apeared on earth. It can stand injur- ies that would make any man, made machine fall to piecse, and it may be hacked, mutilated and clogged in a perfectly amazing manner without per- ceptibly reducing its usefulness.
 Indeed, it appears at times to tran scend and overcome the very laws of nature. No conceivable injury short of absolute 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. It is the popular opn- ion that major injuries to this organ mean immediate and certain death. A man who desires to commit suicide and wants to make sure of 1t common l ly places pistol to his head and blows out his brains. And yet such injuries to the brain substance, no matter how terrible they may be, sell dom cause instantaneous dissolution. and in a very considerable number 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 unconsciousnes but this unconsciousness does not differ mate- rially from that caused by blow on the angle of the jaw in the prize ring. h word, the would-be suicide is l knocked out, but not dead
 If he does die later it 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 his bullet destroys those parts of the brain which control his involuntary functions does he die with anything resembling suddenness. And 1 sometimes even then he doesn't die at all
 The case of Phineas P. Gage, a rail road man, is classic in the annals of l American medicine. Gage was engag- ed in blasting and at the time of his accident was tamping powder into a hole in the side of huge mass of rock The tamping rod was piece of iron an inch and a quarter in diameter and 1 weighed more than thirteen pounds The powder exploded prematurely and shot this iron clear through the poor fellows head
 It struck him on the left cheek inn mediately under the cheek bone, and passed up through his brain, behind his left eye and out the top of his head. In word, there was a ragged wound through his brain at least two inches in diameter and nearly six inches long. But instead of killing the man instantly, this injury merely stunned him.
 He was carried to shelter nearly a mile away, and then without assist ance walked up long flight of stairs to bed-talking to those about him all the while Several hours later a sur geon arrived and found him resting easily and absolutely clear in mind.
 His splintered skull was trimmed the wound through his brain was cleansed as much as possible, and a mild sedative was administered. In a month he was at work again, and sav- ing that he was blind in his left eye he suffered no permanent injury. He was just as strong as ever and his mutilated brain managed his volun- tary and involuntary functions just as well as before.
 Strange as it may seem, such cases are far from uncommon. During the Spanish-Americah war an American volunteer officer was shot in the eye and the bullet passed clear through his brain, coming out at the back of the skull and making an immense and jagged wound.
 He received first aid treatment in the field and later was brought to the United States on a hospital ship. He made a complete recovery and suffered no permanent injury other than the loss of his eye and certain awk- wardness in certain movements.
 Again there is a famous case of a man who lost a section of his brain five inches long and yet lived fol years. A multitude of other such ex- amples are to be discovered in the files of the medical journals.
 Injuries to or complete loss of other organs besides the brain not uncom- lmonly fail to result in death. As ev- cry one knows, it is possible for a man to live for years with but one lung. It is also possible, again, to live without a stomach, without a larynx or with out half dozen other organs just as it is possible to live without eyes nose, ears, teeth, legs and arms.
 A century or more ago a certain French soldier had his whole lower jaw shot off in battle and yet he sur