Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1916-08-17
Magic Of the Knife
BY Frederic ]. Haskin

Washington, D. c., Aug. IA few
months ago, plate printer employed
in the Bureau OF Engraving and Print.
ling at Washington. hurt his thumb.
The injury appeared slight and he ne
! elected to have 1t attended to until
q bone felon formed. which greatly
interfered with his work When he
finally did seek medical attention, 1t
looked as II the entire thumb would
| have to be amputated. Instead, how
| ever, at the suggestion OF his physi.
clan, he entered the Polytechnic hos
pital in Philadelphia, where his thumb
F, was restored by unique method.
iUnscientifcally speaking. a piece OF
flesh was removed from the right side
,, of his abdomen and moulded into q
new thumb, which for all practical
purposes is as good rs the old one.
+, 70 be sure, there are a few things
! to be desired so far as the sculpture
is concerned, and the digit lacks q
certain natural fexibility. but the i'm
, portant fact remains that the printer
has thumb with which to resume
! his work ~
| With surgery in this high state Of
! perfection, joyriding and the handling
of high explosives begin to lose their
, terrors for us, and to suggest the
possible means OF changing certain
characteristics that tend to mar our
/ beauty. Many people are constantly
irritated by the shape Of, their noses.
for instance. and II. these could be
mashed into pulp and then sculptor.
ed by the plastic surgeon at the ex.
| pense Of generous slice Of double
chin, the accident insurance compan-
i les would be compelled to 90 out OF
business. In order to protect these
last brisk and up-to-date business con.
Germs from bankruptcy, however, 1t
should be stated that the substituted
ANATOMY is not always beautiful and
during the process of manufacture Is
something of a nuisance.
Thus the plate printer who was
given a new thumb was to the I'm.
medical mind the victim of some
! what narrowing experience. First
they cleansed his thumb thoroughly,
then they made an incision in his
abdomen near the appendix and at
tached the end of his thumb to the
flesh with several stitches. Here 1t
stayed for several days until 1t had
grown fast to his body, after which
it was separated by the knife and the
skin moulded into the thumb contour
The cavity left in the abdomen was
then taken care OF by another skin
grating operation. In the case OF face
wounds. however, this method Is. Of
course, impossible. since unfortunately
nature made no adequate provision for
grating the face on to anything, but
the neck. IN
| Plastic surgery has been practiced
more or less indifferently throughout
out the ages. One occasionally reads
of some learned Italian of the six
teenth century who was exceptionally
slzillful in building out cheeks, and
moses, and many remarkable tales
have come from the beauty parlors.
But plastic surgery today is saving
the lives of half the wounded of Eur
ope. Owing to the great amount Of
trench fighting which is taking place
in this war, the majority of the wounds
are head wounds, and the surgeons OF
Europe are daily performing surgical
feats in face construction that are lit
tie less than miracles. sy.sti
Moreover, somei of the greatest of
these surgeons are Americans. so that
! II the war ceases we have big bunch
of medical talent coming back to us.
! The American Ambulance Hospital at
! Neuilly France. Is known throughout
Europe for its EXPERT. surgery and for
the lowest morality rate of any hos
pital in any war 1t is housed in large
French school buildings which, are
just completed at the beginning Of the
war, and is under the authority Of the
| French government, but 1t is financed
and run by Americans. T.. The most dif-
fcult surgery cases are handled here.
1t has one of the most remarkable
dental departments In the world;
opera singers and portrait painters for
orderlies. and a certain very famous
woman protrait painter in charge Of
the hospital supplies, who Is using
/ her talents in the invention Of me-
chanical appliances for the surgeons
/ in making their operations. rs
! The surgeons themselves have ceased
to be surprised at their own ingenuity
in reconstructing what is commonly
termed in the war zone cannon fod-
der" One man was brought into the
hospital not long ago with hardly any
face left at ALL His cheek had been
! shattered by piece OF shrapnel four
inches long and two inches wide,
which in passing had fractured one
jaw, dislocated his teeth and planted