Iron County news. [volume] (Hurley, Wis.) 1913-1950, 1924-03-29

| to see Ned in the hospital. He found
the old man prOpped up In bed, reading
the Bible, which he was able to do as
well as ever. Ned knew him at once
and nodded and gurgled.
"Well Ned, how are you feeling?"
inquired Wlnton, sitting down by the
bedside.
Burns understood perfectly, but the
| food of meaningless syllables that
poured from his throat conveyed no
sense whatever. II was evident that
Burns was desperately anxious to tell
something, and that he felt his position
keenly.
Winton saw, too, that the old man
was not quite certain whether his re-
marks conveyed AIRY meaning or not,
and he looked at him so hopefully
when he had finished speaking that
WintOn could hardly bear to let him
| realize the truth. But Burns did
realize II, and two tears trickled down
his cheeks upon the open book.
WintOn produced sheet Of paper
and a pencil, and handed them to Ned,
who resting the Bible on his knee, be-
gan to scribble with this as a backing
for the sheet.
He handed the result to Winton, but
hopelessly, for he could read that he
had written nonsense. II consisted Of
a number OF words and syllables,
strung together, but without the small
est intelligent significance. Suddenly
Ned snatched away the paper and tore
1t into pieces and flung himself back
modify upon his pillow.
The doctor, a young graduate from
Edinburgh, had seen the incident. He
| drew Winton away.
'His minds clear" said Winton.
GAS clear as yours or mine"
"And he understands what is said to
aim"
Every word
whats the trouble thenY
"The speech and writing centers IN
the brain are affected" answered the
doctor 1--WE have them marked out
very accurately, you know. l expected
| this before Burns recovered conscious
ness, as soon as saw the location Of
the wound"
'Bone pressing on them?"
"No. If there were | should have
operated. The blow on the head rup-
tured an artery, and the rush of blood
destroyed some of the brain tissues"
'Will he get well?"
'You see" he explained, "eyery ac-
Quired human faculty has its area in
the brain. Not the moral character, as
the laity are apt to think. man
isn't truthful, or brave, or generous
because he has bumps, as the
| phrenologists suppose. But what we
learn in life is stored up and repro
| duced when needed In certain definite
quarters In rare cases one of these
storehouses may be destroyed, say by
blow strong enough to rupture the
brain tissue without destroying the
vital centers. Thea the corresponding
faculty is unable to express itself.
NOW the speech center is one Of the
most interesting of all, because it is
the most important, and we have it
mapped out exactly. Every human
being speaks by means of little tract
| called Broca's convolutIon. There's a
/ reading center and a writing center, a
musicreading center, anticipating
| center-probably and 81 on. It's just
| like putting a series of telephones into
street of houses. There's even
French center and a German center
and a Hottentot center, formed In the
brain OF the linguist. And If you
smash one particular telephone, Of
course nothing can come through.
/ Burns has had his speaking and
writing centers smashed. In the case
of very young person there would be
hope Of recovery, because we use only
/ half of our brains. Most OF us use the
/ left half. A child, whose left speak
/ ing center had been destroyed. could
construct a new center IN the I'M
used right half OF its brain. That's
/ because its brain is so plastic. But
| that can hardly be done after thirty.
4 and practically never after reaching
middle life. Why. you know yourself
/ that 1t Is impossible for a middle-aged
person to pick up a new language as
a child can. Well. Burns must be
sixty. His case is hopeless. though he
VIII be as well as ever physically in
/ q little while"
That seemed to be the case. Burns
was recovering rapidly. but there was
I no sign Of any return Of the faculty of
/ speech. Winton was greatly worried
about the old man; he went constantly
to the hospital. and sent him all sorts
/ Of dainties. But he seldom stayed
/ long at Neds bedside. The pathetic
/ lock in his eyes. the constant effort to
convey some meaning. and the Bible
passages, of which Wiuton could make
neither head nor tail. were too dis
| tressing.
! Ii hid now become Inevitable that
wlnton should approach Judge Davis
on the subject of loan. He braced
/ himself to the invldous task and went
/ to the judges Office.
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