The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1909-12-22


they tell this story to illustrate The
power that the amputated limb stil
keeps over the rest of the body after
it has been severed. The physicians
and nurses had taken charge of q
burly laborer after one of his legs
had been removed at the knee by the
regular surgical staff. AS soon as he
came out of the influence of the
anesthetic he began to complain of
sensation of burning in the missing
limb.
:. It.. was supposed to be one Of the
peculiar Authorizations that are some
times noticed in such cases, and but
little attention was paid to it, al
though the pain seemed to grow more
and more intense. Later in the day
one of the nurses happened to notice
that after the limb had been severed
and thrown aside in some manner a
bottle of acid had been spilled over
it, burning the flesh and discoloring
it badly Just why the man should
have felt all the sensations that he
would have felt If the acid had been
spilled before the nerves were sew
cred the surgical staff has mover been
able to explain Cold-blooded medi-
cal science does not attempt to offer
solution, says the ST, Louis RepuB-
lie,
+" The instance seems to belong more
nearly to the realm of the occult. 1t
is a well-known fact that the man
who loses a leg or an arm never loses
the feeling that the arm or the leg is
still a part of the body. He may
have lost it in battle, in a railroad
wreck or as means of preserving
life after becoming infected with
some form of blood poisoning, but
the missing limb haunts him the rest
of his days. In an absent-minded
moment or in moment of great eX-
citement the feeling that the limb is
still there is apt TO betray him into
danger or to his death.
Only about5 per cent. of those who
suffer amputation lose all sense OF
feeling in the part taken away
There. is something tragical, almost
CHASTITY, in the idea OF a phantom
limb haunting a man through his
days and betraying him in some un-
guarded moment into some effort
whose failure will suddenly remind
him Of his loss.
A few months ago confederate
veteran who left an arm at Fort
Donelson was standing on d street
corner in North ST. Lcuis waiting for
a car A little girl of four or five
years playing about on the walk and
in the street happened to run in front
of the swiftly moving trolley car.
The distance was too short for the
motorman to hope to stop. The gray
haired veteran dashed for the street
and attempted to seize the child just
as the fender was brushing her dress.
But the hand that should have
swung her to cafety was lost years
ago back of where the field hospital
stood at Donelson. The ghostly
member had betrayed him, and the
child was taken from the wheels
nlangled and dying.
In another Instance q gallant off,
Ger who had lost an erm at Shiloh
was riding a FESTIVE and fractions
horse. Annoyed by the caperings of
the animal he attempted to Use LIS
lost hand to grasp the reins, while lie
struck the horse with the other A
terrible fall WAS the result - ,-e
maddened beast sprRng sideways to
escape the punishment.
L III experimenting with cases of
this character It has been found that
if an electric current is applied to
the nerves at the stump of leg or
the arm the irritation is carried to
the brain and referred to ali the !
4er,ons ?f the the lost lost limb. On gre
occasion a mans shoulder was thus
electrified three inches above the
point where the arm had been taken
off. He had been unconscious of the
limb for years; it had ceased to
haunt him, but as the electric cur
rent ran through his body the man,
who had been entirely ignorant OF
it's possible effects, started up,
shouting: "The hand the hand'
and trying to grasp the phantom
member with the living grasp of the
second fingers. To him no resurrec-
ton of the dead could have been
more startling
AS a mattel Of fact, pain is not in
any organ or in any part of the body,