The New York herald., 1921-03-30
TOO I'LL TO STAND,
HE LIFTS A BULLET
OFF FELON'S BRAIN
DR.. w. L. Chapman Wheeled
Into Sing Sing Operating
Room in Effort to Save
LeOnd0Wski.
USES FINGER IN PROBE
Pushes Along Roof Of Skull
Flattened Pellet for
Years Buried Deep
in Tissues.
PRESSURE MADE MAN MAD
Second Piece of Lead in the
Skull Also Was Located,
But Could Not Be
Removed.
PRESSURE MADE MAN MAD

DR.. William L. Chapman Of 552 Lin
coin place, Brooklyn, made an incision
in the skull of Roman Leondowski in
the hospital in Sing Sing Prison yes
terday afternoon and then, with his
forefinger, he loosened from the brain
tissue a bullet, fattened and jagged,
that had been inside the mans head
for almost four years. and moved 1T
along the roof of the skull and out
through the opening made by the sur
geon's knife. 1t Is too early to tell
If the operation was complete sue
cess, but DIR. Chapman and the sur
geons who assisted him believe it was
If so, it is expected that suicidal and
homicidal tendencies from which Leon
dowski has been suffering will be re-
moved, and the man will be released
from prison after being confined for
almost two years after the expiration
of his sentence.
DR.. Chapman himself has been iii
for some time and under ordinary cir
cumstances would not have performed
the operation. But he had been so in
terested in the case and the possibili-
ties involved that although he was not
able to stand he went to Sing Sing
and removed the bullet.
Rare Surgical Feat.
The surgeon was taken to the prison
In an automobile and wheeled in an In
vslid's chair into the operating room.
There he was placed on a stool, and
from the stool he performed the oper-
alton The physicians who assisted him
included DR.. Harold Morris and DR..
X. n. Barnes of the Swedish Hospital:
Or. John R. Ross, superintendent of the
Dannemora State Hospital for the In
sane, and his assistant, DR.. Theodore D.
Reed DR.. w. l.. Chapman, Jr.; DR..
Amos Squire and Or. Abraham Kosseff
of the Sing Sing medical staff and Or.
George Simrell of Brooklyn.
Several of the surgeons who assisted
and watched DIR. Chapman as he probed
for the bullet deeply imbedded in the
tissue of the brain said last night that
the operation was one of the most re-
naarkable feats of brain surgery they
ever had witnessed. The bullet was in
tire motor area of the brain. and to-
gether with another in the visual area
below the right ear was fired into
Leondowskps head by man in Schenec-
tsdy some years ago.
The bullet in the visual area of the
,cnvicts brain was NOT removed, al
though DIR. Chapman trephined the skull
at that point and probed It. lie dis
covered 1t was not possible to remove
Il without leaving SCARED tissue behino'
which would permanently have dis
trrbed Leondowskfs mental balance.
DIR. Chapman and other brain special
,sts who have examined Leondowski and
who studied the X-ray photographs
showing the bullets do not believe the
one In the visual area was responsible IN
any way for the mans mental condition.
which involved epilepsy, hallucinauons
and fits OF suicidal and homicidal de-
rression They do believe. however, that
these conditions were caused by the bul-
let imbedded In the tissue OF the motor
area. and the operation was to remove
1, IL one. Its removal took twenty-five
minutes. The entire Noperation from the
neginning of tho incision to the closing
OF the wound required thirty-hve MN
utes. and the surgeons believe tnat IN
that time DR. Chapman Transformed
I.eondowsld from a madman TO man
of normal mental powers.
Operation Is Described.
The manner In which DR. Chapman
worked was explained by Dr. Reeo.
I,eondowslxi was given an an@sthetic
and then DR. Chapman trephined the
skull and removed n section about az
large as a. silver dollar. Then he OPP
ened the dura. or covering of the brain.
and ran his fingers into the tissue. Lo-
eating the bullet about two inches from
glw,,Il n InOgpnnd AZ with
his finger and slowly worked IL back
ward so II travelled distance of some
three inches to the inner wall OF the
skull. The he slid II upward and along
the wall OF the skull to the incision
he had made Then with his forceps
he plucked 1t out. II was rough edged
flattened and about half an inch long
No brain tissue whatever was destroNto
during the operation and there was ~
bleeding. In the opinion of the surgeon3
the skull of Leondowski must be re-
narkably hard for the ball TO have
been so finttened from passage through
the bone. They were greatly puzzled.
too. because the man was able to live
with two bullets in his brain.
The surgeons said yesterday that OPP
erations on the skull to relieve pressure
on the brain are many and occasionally
are successful as a cure for insanity.
But this Is the first time of which they
have knowledge that n bullet was re-
moved from a mans brain to restore II
TO normal functioning. The exceptional
difficulty In Leondowski's case lay In
the fact that the bullets had been In
his skull for SO long a time. and the
one In the visual area behind the ear
was covered with a growth of tissue.
Warden Lewis T.. Lawes OF Sing Sing
said last night that Leondowsh would
be kept there until he is able TO travel.
He will then be returned to Dannemora
where he Will be watched until his
mental condition has been determined.
rf he becomes normal he will be re-
lea scd