Imagination Aids Surgery

1895

How a Woman Was Cured of Lameness Which Did Not Exist.

"Imagination is not to be sneezed at," said a prominent surgeon the other day as his eyes followed the brisk movements of a middle aged woman who was passing.

"Three years ago," said he, "that woman came to one of the hospitals of the city and engaged a private room. She drove to the institution in a carriage and was carried to her bed on a stretcher. she insisted that one of her ankles was helpless, and that she could not walk. The house surgeon made an examination and could not discover that she had the slightest ailment. The next day the head surgeon looked over her carefully and came to the same conclusion. What is more, being a somewhat brusque and outspoken person, he said as much to her. At this she was very indignant and insisted upon keeping her bed. No amount of persuasion could induce her to make any effort to walk, and she insisted that her ankle was helpless and so sensitive that the slightest touch of her foot to the ground caused her the most acute pain.

"Finding all efforts to persuade her to do anything for herself fruitless, the surgical staff held a consultation and determined to humor her. Consequently the following day the woman was told that she was suffering from a serious ailment, and preparations for an operation were made with a great parade of nurses, instruments and the like. The patient was then placed under the influence of an anesthetic, and a slight incision was made over the ankle joint. This was merely superficial, although it was several inches in length. It was immediately sewed up, carefully bandaged and the patient removed to her bed, where she found herself when she recovered consciousness. After this she was subjected to the same care that would be given to the most serious cases for two weeks. The wound was dressed daily, the patient was enjoined to remain in one position, and her diet was carefully prescribed. At the end of this time the bandages were removed, the stitches taken out, and a few days later the woman walked out of the hospital as well as you see her today. There had never been the slightest thing the matter with her, but she thought there was, and the pretended operation satisfied her." — Rochester Democrat.

Dangerous Picks

1895

"Stop chewing toothpicks, young man, if you value your life," said a physician to one of his patients. "You unconsciously swallow little shreds of the wood, which are not digestible, and which become compact in the stomach. Finally you are annoyed by a hacking cough and the spitting of blood, and you do not know what is the matter with you. You imagine you have consumption or some similar affliction when it is only the foreign substance in your stomach that makes the strongest protest against your carelessness or ignorance in allowing it to accumulate there. Stop chewing wooden toothpicks and swallowing quack nostrums, and by taking ordinary care of yourself you will live out the alloted threescore and ten years." — Exchange.


His Natural Error

"What do you think of the new woman, Mr. Marley?"
"I detest the bold, shrieking creature, Miss Stubbs. How much sweeter and more lovable is the gentle and retiring old woman like you, whose" —
"Sir!"
"Whose — eh? Oh, Lord!" — New York Recorder.

Crippled By Fall on Ice

1919

Fractured Bone Can Never Heal, Say Physicians.

DENVER, Colorado — Joe H. Ruffner, widely known mining man, secretary of the Sons of Colorado, will be crippled for life as a result of falling off a patch of ice, according to the report of a physician who made an X-ray examination.

Ruffner is 49 years old. The fall resulted in a fracture of the femur bone of the hip, of such character that it can never heal, according to the examining surgeon.

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Jan. 3, 1920, p. 12.

Insane Man Clings to His Blind Wife

1919

WILL BE RELEASED FROM ASYLUM TO JOIN HER.

Love Keeps Sightless Girl and Mad Husband Together Despite Obstacles Imposed.

NEW ORLEANS, La. — Lying in the Home for Homeless Women, a blind woman smiles. She smiles the smile of expectant motherhood.

In the City Hospital for Mental Diseases, a man smiles. His smile is that of a man about to be freed of the charge of insanity and allowed to return to his blind wife.

Dr. Earl Joseph Vollentine, graduate of Tulane College of Dentistry, will not be returned to the Southwestern Insane Asylum in Texas, if Charles H. Patterson, secretary of the Charity Organization, can prevent it.

Dr. Vollentine, says Secretary Patterson, will be released from the City Hospital for Mental Diseases in time to be near his blind wife when their expected child arrives. Instead of allowing Dr. Vollentine to be returned to the insane asylum in Texas, it is Secretary Patterson's plan to start the little family on their way to Vivian, La., where the husband has been assured work.

Not Dangerously Insane.

In the opinion of Dr. Henry Daspit, of the City Hospital for Mental Diseases, the young husband is not dangerously insane. He is merely the victim of nervous attacks said to have been brought on by overstudy.

And then there is the charge of his blind wife that her husband was sent to a Texas insane asylum by his rich father because the youth dared to marry her.

The story of the blind wife and the alleged mentally deficient husband verges on the dramatic — even melodramatic.

The girl was blinded when a child. One eye was lost when she fell on a pair of scissors. The other was shot out accidentally by the wad from a blank pistol. She was sent to the Blind Institute in Austin, Texas, by her father, of moderate circumstances.

It was while she was visiting her sister in Yoakum, Texas, that the young doctor first saw the helpless blind girl. First it was sympathy. Then it was love.

Marriage Was Annulled.

They were married. Then, says Mrs. Vollentine, her husband's father interfered and had the youth sent to the Southwestern Asylum in Texas, saying that he could be cured of his nervousness in about a month. The marriage was annulled.

The blind child wife waited. Her husband was not released. She grew impatient. So did he. He escaped. They journeyed to Vivian, La., and were remarried.

The husband obtained employment as a boilermaker. They saved money. Then the search for the cure of the wife's blindness began. They came to New Orleans to consult specialists. They applied to Secretary Patterson, of the Charity Organization, for help.

Making no attempt to conceal anything from Secretary Patterson, the young husband informed him that he had escaped from the Texas Insane Asylum.

Ask Return to Asylum.

Learning of the young wife's condition, Secretary Patterson had her sent to the Home for Homeless Women. He communicated with the Texas authorities, who requested that Doctor Vollentine be held until a representative of the asylum arrive to return him.

When informed by Dr. Daspit that young Vollentine's mental deficiency is of a minor nature, Mr. Patterson determined not to allow the young husband to be returned to Texas without a fight.

"If Vollentine refuses to accompany the Texas authorities back to the asylum," said Mr. Patterson, "I do not think they can take him forcibly."

Charges Father Opposes Her.

"My husband is so sympathetic toward the afflicted. It was when I lost the sight of my second eye thru an unfortunate accident that he was drawn toward me. He read in the papers how I completely lost my sight and told my sister he would like to know me.

"He was so kind and attentive that I loved him. We married — and then his father interfered. They tore him from me; sent him to an insane asylum and left me helpless. My husband was determined. He escaped. As our marriage had been annulled, we remarried and made our way to Vivian, Where my husband was employed.

"When we saved a little money my husband insisted that we go to New Orleans so my eyes could be treated. We came and then came our present trouble. But thank God there seems to be a silver lining to our dark cloud. He will be released. Our baby will be born and then we will go back to Vivian and happiness."

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Jan. 3, 1920, p. 11.

Note: Dr. Daspit's name in the first instance (in the original newspaper printing) was spelled "Despit." But the correct spelling is Daspit. He's referred to in books at Google Books, and was working at the City Hospital for Mental Diseases just as in this article.

Spitting Blood Not Sign of Consumption

1919

Most Tuberculosis Patients Never Have This Symptom.

There is no need to become alarmed if one spits blood. It is not, as so many think, a sure sign of consumption, for the overwhelming majority of tuberculosis patients never have this symptom, and the blood may come from the larynx, pharynx, teeth, stomach or even the small intestines.

Dr. H. Rabinowitsch of New York points out in the Medical Journal that when we consider the great size of the arteries that enter the lung and their minute ramifications on the surface of the delicate air cells we should not wonder if blood is sometimes coughed up from the lungs. Severe coughing or straining may easily break a small branch of one of these arteries.

Dr. Rabinowitsch says the hemorrhage itself is of slight moment. If it comes from aneurism, death is almost instantaneous; if it comes from a congested area and is limited, it is in some ways beneficial by relieving the congested area. It has another good effect — making a recalcitrant patient obey the doctor's orders.



Nail Illustrates Progress.

A common nail is an excellent illustration of the difference between old and new methods. Formerly the metal was cut into strips and then forged into shape with hammers. Today they are made of steel and are lighter and stronger. Strips are cut with steam shears and fed into automatic nail machines.

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Jan. 3, 1920, p. 9.

Children and Sweet Stuffs

1901

It is necessary to make some kind of stand against the physical demoralization of the rising generation by the inordinate consumption of cheap confectionery.

Mrs. Creighton, the wife of the late bishop of London, has urged again and again the necessity for checking the wholesale consumption of sweet stuff by the children of the poorer classes, and it is admitted by the doctors in poor neighborhoods that it is to the continual eating of lollipops that the wretched digestions, frequent gastric troubles and enfeebled stamina of those who are to form the future backbone of the nation are due.

What the public house is to the father, the sweet stuff shop has become to the child.


Dancing as Exercise

Dancing has lost some of its vogue, but physicians have come to its rescue and are proscribing it as a useful exercise. It is said that dyspeptic and anemic patients, both men and women, have been advised to waltz at a moderate tempo at least 30 minutes a day.

Insurance Against Surgical Operations

1902

In England people of moderate means are beginning to insure themselves against surgical operations. The plan is that subscribers who pay an annual fee shall be entitled either to free admittance to a hospital or nursing at home and a free operation or to a fixed sum paid down to defray the cost of an operation if one becomes necessary.

In England, as here, the cost of surgical repairs to the human body has become oppressively great to persons who just manage to pay their way. People who are obviously poor get a great deal of excellent surgical and medical treatment in hospitals and elsewhere for nothing, but for the next class above them a serious illness — especially if it involves an operation — is almost ruinous. It would seem as if the time was near when societies for insurance against specialists might be profitably organized in the larger American cities.

The specialist has come to be a very important — indeed, an indispensable — institution, especially to families in which there are children. The office of the family doctor has now become simplified to the task of coming in and telling the patient which specialist to go to. It is not that specialists charge too much, for their honorable services are above price. It is that landlord, butcher, baker, grocer, milkman, coalman, dentist, and trained nurse do not leave you money enough to pay them appropriately.

To subscribe a considerable sum annually and have all the repairs and desirable improvements made in one's family without further disbursement would be a comparatively simple way out of a troublesome predicament. — Harper's Weekly.

Nuxated Iron (Antique Advertisement, 1920*)

What Kind of Blood Have You?

Thin, Pale and Watery - Keeping You Weak, Nervous and Run-Down—Or Rich, Red, Healthy Blood With Plenty of Iron In It To Give You Strength, Energy, Power and Endurance

Physician Says Iron is Red Blood Food

Explains How Nuxated Iron — Master Strength Builder of The Blood — Helps Give Renewed Vim and Energy to Men and Puts Roses Into The Cheeks of Women.

If you tire easily, if you look pale, haggard and worn, if you feel generally weak, nervous and run-down it would probably astonish you to look at a drop of your own blood under a powerful microscope and compare it with a drop of pure, healthy blood—rich in iron. Actual blood tests show that a tremendously large number of people who are weak and ill lack iron in their blood and that they are ill for no other reason than lack of iron. Iron deficiency paralyzes healthy, energetic action, pulls down the whole organism and weakens the entire system.

There are thousands whose bodies are ageing and breaking down at a time when they should be enjoying that perfect bodily health which cries defiance to disease simply because they are not awake to the condition of their blood. By allowing it to remain thin, pale and watery they are not giving the natural life forces of the body a chance to do their work. Yet others go through life apparently possessing, year after year, the elasticity, the strength and the energy of earlier days. Through their bodies courses the energy and power that comes from plenty of red blood—filled with strength-giving iron. Iron is red blood food and physicians explain below why they prescribe organic iron — Nuxated Iron to build up the red blood corpuscles and give increased power and endurance.

Commenting on the use of Nuxated Iron as a tonic, strength and blood-builder by over three million people annually, Dr. James Francis Sullivan, formerly physician of Bellevue Hospital (Outdoor Dept.), New York and the Westchester County Hospital, said: "Modern methods of cooking and the rapid pace at which people of this century live has made such an alarming increase in iron deficiency in the blood of American men and women that I have often marveled at the large number of people who lack iron in the blood — and who never suspect the cause of their weak, nervous, run-down state. Lack of iron in the blood not only makes a man a physical weakling, nervous, irritable, easily fatigued, but it utterly robs him of that virile force, that stamina and strength of will which are so necessary to success and power — in every walk of life. It may also transform a beautiful, sweet-tempered woman into one who is cross, nervous and irritable. I have strongly emphasized the great necessity of physicians making blood examinations of their weak, anaemic, rundown patients. Thousands of persons go on year after year suffering from physical weakness and a highly nervous condition due to lack of sufficient iron in their blood corpuscles without ever realizing the real cause of the trouble. But in my opinion - you can't make these strong, vigorous, successful, sturdy iron men by feeding them on metallic iron. The old forms of metallic iron must go through a digestive process to transform them into organic iron — Nuxated Iron — before they are ready to be taken up and assimilated by the human system. Notwithstanding all that has been said and written on this subject by well-known physicians, thousands of people still insist in dosing themselves with metallic iron simply, I suppose, because it costs a few cents less. I strongly advise readers in all cases to get a physician's prescription for organic iron — Nuxated Iron — or if you don't want to go to this trouble then purchase only Nuxated Iron in its original packages and see that this particular name (Nuxated Iron) appears on the package. If you have taken preparations such as Nux and Iron and other similar iron products and failed to get results, remember that such products are an entirely different thing from Nuxated Iron.

Dr. H. B. Vail, formerly Physician in the Baltimore Hospital, and a Medical Examiner, says: "Throughout my experience on Hospital Staffs and as a Medical Examiner, I have been astonished at the number of patients who have vainly doctored for various diseases, when in reality their delicate, run-down state was simply the result of lack of iron in the blood. Time and again I have prescribed organic iron — Nuxated Iron — and surprised patients at the rapidity with which the weakness and general debility was replaced by a renewed feeling of strength and vitality. I took Nuxated Iron myself to build me up after a serious case of nervous exhaustion. The effects were apparent after a few days and within three weeks it had virtually revitalized my whole system and put me in a superb physical condition."

Dr. T. Alphonsus Wallace, a physician of many years' experience in this country and abroad, says: "I do not make a practice of recommending advertised medicinal products, but I have found Nuxated Iron so potent in nervous, run-down conditions, that I believe all should know it. The men and women of today need more iron in their blood than was the case twenty or thirty years ago. This because of the demineralized diet which now is served daily in thousands of homes and also because of the demand for greater resistance necessary to offset the greater number of health hazards to be met at every turn."

MANUFACTURER'S NOTE: Nuxated Iron which is prescribed and recommended above by physicians is not a secret remedy, but one which is well known to druggists everywhere. Unlike the older inorganic iron products it is easily assimilated and does not injure the teeth, make them black, nor upset the stomach. The manufacturers guarantee successful and entirely satisfactory results to every purchaser or they will refund your money. It is dispensed by all good druggists.

*Note: This advertisement is void, being from 1920 and of historical interest only.

Insects Carry Disease

1917

Our knowledge of the connection of insects with diseases is a very modern acquisition. In his presidential address to the Washington Academy of Sciences, Dr. L. O. Howard noted that standard medical works of a score of years ago made no mention of the subject, but recent literature records 226 different disease germs as known to have been carried by insects to man or animals, 87 organisms as known to be parasitic in insects but not known to be transmitted, and 282 species of insects as discovered causes or carriers of diseases of man or animals.

The transportation by wind of the body-louse, the carrier of typhus fever, is among late discoveries to which many writers have given attention. Tick paralysis is another novel subject, the disease occurring in Australia, Africa and North America, and 13 cases have been reported by a single Oregon physician.

Progressive paralysis of motor but not sensory nerves follows the attachment of the tick. The disease is not infectious, and it has not been decided whether it is due to a specific organism or to nerve shock. Infantile paralysis is believed to be one of the diseases not carried by insects.

Omaha Greatly Excited by Medicine Man

1910

"The Great Cooper" Stirs Up City to Remarkable Degree

Omaha, Nebraska, January 26. — This city is at present in the midst of an excitement beyond anything that it has experienced in recent years. Old and young, rich and poor, all seem to have become beside themselves over an individual who was a stranger to Omaha up to two weeks ago.

The man who has created all this turmoil is L. T. Cooper, President of the Cooper Medicine Co., of Dayton, Ohio, who is at present introducing his preparations in this city for the first time.

Cooper is a man about thirty years of age and has acquired a fortune within the past two years by the sale of some preparations of which he is the owner.

Reports from eastern cities that preceded the young man here were of the most startling nature, many of the leading dailies going so far as to state that he had nightly cured in public places rheumatism of years' standing with one of his preparations. The physicians of the East contradicted this statement, claiming the thing to be impossible, but the facts seemed to bear out the statement that Cooper actually did so.

In consequence people flocked to him by thousands and his preparations sold like wildfire.

Many of these stories were regarded as fictitious in Omaha and until Cooper actually reached this city little attention was paid to them. Hardly had the young man arrived, however, when he began giving demonstrations, as he calls them, in public, and daily met people afflicted with rheumatism, and with a single application of one of his preparations actually made them walk without the aid of either canes or crutches.

In addition to this work Cooper advanced the theory that stomach trouble is the foundation of nine out of ten diseases and claimed to have a preparation that would restore the stomach to working order and thus get rid of such troubles as catarrh and affections of the kidneys and liver, in about two weeks' time.

This statement seems to have been borne out by the remarkable results obtained through the use of his preparation, and now all Omaha is apparently mad over the young man.

How long the tremendous interest in Cooper will last is hard to estimate. At present there seems to be no sign of a let-up. Reputable physicians claim it to be a fad that will die out as soon as Cooper leaves.

In justice to him, however, it must be said that he seems to have accomplished a great deal for the sick of this city with his preparations.

Most Men Write Poor English

1905

An observant student of daily history as recorded in the newspapers takes now a kindlier view of errors in "newspaper English" than before the recent excitement concerning the vice crusade had arisen.

"I have heard all sorts of excuses about the occasional bad English one sees in newspapers, the hurry with which it is written, and that kind of thing," he says; "but I never gave the arguments much thought until I read the correspondence brought forth from men not hurried and of undoubted education, by the recent discussion. Some of the notes which have thus passed have been practically unintelligible in just these spots where a clear and ambiguous meaning was most vital to the point involved. These epistles must certainly have been studied by their writers — at least there must have been time for such study — but they read as though they were dashed off in a moment. In addition to actual errors, some of them fail utterly to establish their arguments because of the forceful way in which they are expressed."


Eat Meatless Meals

A prosperous physician was lunching at his club the other day at a table adjoining that at which sat one of his patients, says the Chicago Inter Ocean. He ordered English plum pudding as a finish to his meal, and remarked as he attacked it, that he would not eat it except at a noon meal, when he knew he would get no bad results from its richness.

The lady thought it a good time to secure information without the customary fee, and asked a few questions on food. "The habit of placing the heaviest meal of the day at its close is responsible for a deal of digestive trouble, with its train of disease," he said. "It may be old fashioned to dine at noon, but it is healthful, and that counts for everything. It is a practice among many physicians to have a midday dinner and a supper in which no meat figures, but stewed fruit is a feature."

Makes Nose From Soup Bone

1915

Girl's Facial Deformity Corrected by Modern Surgery

PHILADELPHIA, Pa., Dec. 16. — An artificial nose which compares favorably with the natural variety, has been made from a soup bone by the surgeons of the Samaritan Hospital.

A few years ago a girl baby was born without a nose and her parents took her out but little in public owing to the attention that the deformity attracted. Surgeons at the hospital decided that the girl could have a nose like other persons.

Dr. W. W. Babcock carved a nose along Greek lines from a beef soup bone. An incision was made in the nasal flesh and the bone securely fastened in position. Then the flesh was stretched so it covered the bone, nostrils were punched in the flesh, and the child is now able to breathe freely thru the artificial member.



Make Nose Out of Man's Rib

Iowan's Nasal Organ Is Restored by an Unique Operation

SIOUX CITY, Iowa, Dec. 16. — Chester Davenport, son of former Sheriff W. C. Davenport of Sioux City, has had a new nose made from a piece of his ninth rib, and the dual operation, which has just been performed, promises to be successful. A three inch section of his rib was removed and used to form a new nasal arch, taking the place of the nose bone that was removed three years ago.

Davenport lost the original nasal bone as a result of injuries suffered in a football game. His nose was broken and an abscess formed, necessitating the removal of the whole nasal bone.

Still in the Kindergarten

1905

Those Who Can Be Interested in Nothing That Is Not a "Game"

After an intelligent and watchful mother had sent her children to a famous kindergarten for several months she withdrew them because she found that they were being ruined by "getting the attitude of regarding everything as a game" — that is, instead of learning through games how to go about the serious business of life, they were learning to approach everything in the careless, make-believe spirit of play.

There is a hint in this for our colleges. There is a hint in it for all those who do puzzles, and play chess, and ride to hounds, and fool with rings and bars to develop their minds and bodies. The world is cursed with tens of thousands of human beings who have the best natural advantages, but can get up the steam of enthusiasm only for some "game" that is useless in its aim, and no more useful in its method, than its corresponding reality would be.

It is as certain as cause and effect that he who takes play seriously will take serious things playfully. — Saturday Evening Post.


Sour Expression Caused Divorce

Carrie Fields has been granted a divorce from Dr. L. S. Fields at Sanborn, Iowa, because the husband did not like her make of pancakes and ridiculed them. She testified that the expression upon the doctor's face when eating the cakes was such it might work permanent injury to her health.

Saying He Never Felt Better, Died

1905

The death of W. H. Rockhill, ex-clerk of the courts of this county, here verifies in a way the thesis of Goethe that no man can survive a happy moment.

He had been feeling ill and went to the office of his physician to tell the doctor that he was improving in health and that he never felt better for many days.

The words had no more than escaped his lips than he keeled over and died of heart disease. — Lebanon correspondence, Cincinnati Enquirer.


Effects of Prosperity

In the six years of the country's greatest prosperity, from 1897 to 1903, average prices of breadstuffs advanced 65 per cent, meats 23.1 per cent, dairy and garden products 50.1 per cent, and clothing 24.1. All these were products of the farmer and stockman who profited more than any other class of the community by these advances. The miner benefited 42.1 per cent by that advance in the average price of metals. The only decrease in the average prices of commodities in that period was in railway freight rates which decreased from .798 per ton-mile in 1897 to .763 in 1903, a loss of 4.4 per cent. The report of the Interstate Commerce Commission shows that the average increase in the pay of railroad employees in the period was trifle above 8.5 per cent.

Blue Glass at Spring Startles Ohio Doctor

1915

Fears Vanish When Radium is Found in Water

Benjamin Marshall of Paw Paw, Mich., is spending his leisure time in reading automobile catalogs and pricing Persian rugs.

The reason he engages in this pastime is because radium has been discovered in his back yard, according to a doctor from Ohio, who claims to know something about the stuff that sells for thousands of dollars per amount as big as a pinhead.

Two years ago Marshall and his mother came here and purchased a fruit farm on the outskirts of this village. On the property is a spring of sparkling clear water. Prior to their coming here, Mrs. Marshall was a chronic dyspeptic, subsisting only on the simplest of diets.

Helps Mother's Appetite

They had been here only a short time when Marshall noticed his mother's appetite had increased astonishingly and that she could eat anything with keen relish.

A glass was always left at the spring and always turned a light blue after slight use. One day when the Ohio doctor was visiting the Marshalls he noticed the blue glass and said:

"Marshall, you don't drink this water, do you?"

"Yes, we're really intemperate with it."

"And doesn't it make you sick?"

"I don't look seriously ill, do I?" asked Marshall, with a chuckle, as he exhibited his tongue.

Does a Little Probing

Then the doctor did some investigating and declared that the water contained radium.

"I thought it was cobalt at first," he said, "but if it were cobalt it would make you sick."

The doctor took several samples of the water back with him to test, and Marshall took to reading auto catalogs and pricing Persian rugs.

Gone Are Days of Flim-Flammers

1915

"Very Simple, Dear Friends. Doesn't Hurt a Bit."

Nowadays in country towns there are those who occasionally take a desperate chance at impromptu crimes, robberies, holdup or sneak thief jobs, but the day of the professional flim-flammer who set out deliberately to bamboozle the people — and invariably did — is gone. The people of the rural communities have grown too "wise." They recognize a four-flusher the moment he hits the town and his "line of stuff" simply doesn't go.

And how the professional Doctor Bunkmores long for "the good old days!"

Take the old-timers who worked the medicine game. They carried a full outfit, including orchestra, band and specialty performers, to attract and hold the attention of the population of the localities they worked. These good people, uninitiated into the workings of this highly specialized graft game, would stand gaping while Doctor Bunkmore would explain how his particular "cure all" was discovered by a missionary in some far-off land, who noticed the natives were never sick, and that they lived to a ripe old age without any pains or aches.

Doctor Bunkmore would dwell upon the wonderful effect of his "Liveo" plant — the basis of his remedy — and how the natives in the far-off lands derived great benefit from eating it.

"Ladies and gentlemen," he would say, "I have here a remedy that will make you feel like an entirely new person. No longer will you need to suffer — no matter what your ailment. My good friends, the greatest trouble I experience is to induce a trial by the afflicted."

Then he'd ask for volunteers to demonstrate the curative effect of his medicine. He would urge those who suffered from toothache to pay special attention.

"I want you to come up to the platform," he would say in his most persuasive tones, "and see how easily and quickly I can save you further annoyance with your teeth. You can have your molars removed without pain by the mere rubbing of the gums with this 'miracle.'"

And then he'd arrange his chair and instruments.

"Come right up! Don't be a doubter!"

The cry of the doctor could be heard at a great distance for his voice had been trained to address large assemblages. Then a couple of supposed outsiders who traveled with Doctor Bunkmore all the time would step up, one with his jaw bandaged and claiming he had four teeth that several dentists had refused to remove, fearing to break his jaw and cause lockjaw.

With an air of confidence, the doctor would seat him and apply the remedy to the gums prior to an examination; whereupon the patient's legs would cease waving as from relief of pain.

While the operator inserted an instrument into the man's mouth, the audience would watch with breathless interest.

Old Doc Bunkmore Yanks Out the Offending Molars

Doctor Bunkmore would get a hold with his instrument of a tooth which he had slipped in while making his diagnosis. He would give a slight twist and pull and presto! out would come the tooth. After showing the offending molar to the crowd, the "doctor" would drop it into a tin pan so that all might hear it strike, and repeat the operation until three or four were extracted.

The patient, who had acted as tho asleep, would be asked to stand. Then he would open his eyes as tho awakened from a pleasant dream.

Doctor Bunkmore began to appear to the audience as a wonderful person and expressions of amazement could be heard on all sides. Then patient No. 2, another hired worker of the flim-flammers, would do his stunt equally as well.

And then came the big rush!

Often there'd be as many as fifty men — real, live ones, willing to pay cold cash — ready and anxious to go thru the "painless" operation of having their teeth removed by the great Doctor Bunkmore.

While the band would play so as to drown the squeal of the native as the "doctor" yanked out a tooth, the other victims-to-be would crowd and push ahead for their opportunity to have "Liveo" rubbed across their teeth before the simple — emphasis on the simple — operation was performed. The poor chump would have no chance to move for the doctor would stand straddling his knees as tho they were in a vice, while two husky attendants would hold down his arms and shoulders. No matter how much he squeaked, the slam, bang, bang, ta-rah-rah, of the band would out-noise him. When the teeth were out, one of the assistants would pat him on the back and say: "Ah, you're a game fellow, all right. You've got plenty of nerve." The patient would seek to cover up his yellow streak. He'd slip into the crowd without a murmur. Often he'd deliberately lie that the operation "didn't hurt a bit."

Doctor Bunkmore, having demonstrated the beneficial effects of his "Liveo" would start to place it on sale at $1 a bottle. How cheap! Cheap at twice the price. The bottles of "Liveo" would go like a house afire.

The story is told that one of such "doctors," whose home was in Illinois, who sent barrel after barrel of teeth home to gravel his walk and driveway.

An old-time circus man, speaking of this flim-flamming game, spun this yarn the other day:

"I was once spending the cold months in a Florida city years ago, and from reason of having owned a concession the season just passed was living on easy street. I was particularly impressed with the number of afflicted and crippled people, white and black.

"I had been there about three weeks when advance notice was posted of the coming of a 'classical concert and colossal band,' which was billed for the following week.

"Well, the following Monday the concert company blew into town like a circus. They owned a large waterproof tent seating about 2,000 people, carried a large number of musicians as well as performers, and distributed handbills announced that, commencing at 7:30 p.m. Monday, and every evening during the week, a free concert would be given on the ground.

"Monday night the tent was filled with working people and not a single speech from the doctor or even an intimation of the object of the visit.

"Tuesday evening the crowd was increased by half, and during the intermission between orchestra and vaudeville parts of the program the doctor arose and quietly announced that he proposed selling an absolute instantaneous cure for any swelling or trouble resulting in lameness or nonuse of limbs, as well as rheumatism or kindred ailments, informing them that not one bottle would be sold until acceptable proof had been given, and asked any present to bring a suffering friend, no matter how badly afflicted, the following night, for he desired proving his assertions by relatives and others who lived in the city, whom they knew, and in whom they had confidence.

:A victim was being led toward the stage by two friends. As he drew near I recognized him as 'Uncle Joel' who sold papers in front of the post office and who I understood was a preacher.

"I had seen him daily, seated in his chair with his crutches by his side and legs tied up in a bow knot, from reason, as he said, 'sitic rhum'tism' that had troubled him for 'fo-teen years.'

"He was gently lifted to one of the half dozen cots that had been placed on the elevation.

"Then the doctor pointed to the Col. Wilder negro and another man who from reason of his condition had been laying on the ground, and they were assisted up, groaning, swearing and praying in turn.

"The Wilder patient gave his name as Rufus Johnson, and said he had been hurt by a falling tree striking his back 'six years gone.'

"They were a queer bunch, each with his crutches and bandages, and the audience seemed to hold its breath in suspense as to what would come next, as the doctor quietly ordered his attendants to strip Rufus from the waist up.

"After his old coat and shirt had been removed, one of the attendants held a brilliant light while the doctor diagnosed the case, and that part of the crowd in his rear gasped when they saw the scars on his back.

"One of the assistants handed the doctor a bottle, from the contents of which he saturated a cloth and began applying to the back bones, then forced the patient to lean over in his chair with his head down, while he laid a strip of cotton along the vertebra and soaked it with the remedy, cautioning Rufus not to move, informing the audience that paralysis of the lower limbs was caused by pressure on the spinal cord and that it might require some time to secure results.

"The doctor then requested absolute silence as he turned to Rufus, felt his pulse gently, turned down the top of the cotton which plastered his back, and noted the result of the application; then motioned for his first assistant, who came over and took a peep, nodded his head and smilingly shook the doctor's hand, and it looked to me as tho the doctor dropped his worry mask.

"Turning to the negro he ordered him to raise his right foot. The man groaned and made effort, but failed.

"Turning suddenly, and in a commanding voice, he said: 'Stand up!'

"Rufus stood up with his mouth open and felt his legs, first the right, then the left; a peculiar look passed over his face as he carefully pinched his lower limbs.

"His walk improved with every step until he suddenly stopped and said, 'Gimme them crutches!' and when they were handed him he threw them off the platform to the ground, saying, 'Good-by, old sticks, we's pahted, and I'se gwine to walk widout you after this.'

"The audience began to sit up and take notice, and when one of the men who had been carried in on a cot sprang from his bed and jumped up and shouted a half dozen times and dropped on his knees to give thanks, then joining the four who were now walking around in excitement, it was then the crowd broke loose like crazy people. Then hundreds crowded up and demanded to purchase the medicine. Hundreds of bottles were sold at $2 per bottle, or two bottles for $3. I bought a bottle, tho I had to put up a hard fight to get to the platform.

"That night the doctor and his crowd left the city to fill an engagement somewhere, and early the next morning I packed my grip and went to New Orleans to dig up the best chemist money could induce to analyze the stuff.

"I paid $150 to be informed that the analysis showed only a few cheap ingredients, all harmless, and without curative properties.

"I learned later that the doctor had in his employ a dozen 'high-class' white men and about twenty picked negroes, whom he had carefully trained and divided into two or three companies, one of which would be sent to a city about three weeks in advance of his entry.

"The whites were furnished with plenty of money, stopped at the best hotels, and, as good mixers, under pretext of tourist or speculator, made friends with the best people. All were under strict instruction not to associate with one another; the negroes to always claim residence in the county, hobble on crutches in public, and each, under assignment of the white boss, asked to carefully cultivate the acquaintance of certain business or professional men, so that the latter would afterward recommend them for cure when called upon by the doctor's assistants.

"The company carried a good artist, who, prior to the public appearance of the patients, would paint scars, cancers and knots true to life on the person of the 'patient.' He could also shade a leg or arm to look large or small, and, naturally, when the doctor applied the remedy, under cover of the cotton, he would rub away the painting."

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Dec. 18, 1915, p. 12.

This Man Had Courage — Sold His Skin for Grafting

1896

Half a dozen men were relating experiences of college days when a young physician said that in cases where students were obliged to eke out their expenses in a professional career by every possible means there often occurred pitiful examples of their courage.

"Suppose, for example," said he, "a case of skin grafting comes to the clinic, any student who will give up his skin is paid five dollars for each bit. I remember one instance in particular, that of a hard working young man who gave ten bits of flesh to graft a new face on a badly burned baby. As the flesh must be healthy and fresh nothing can be used to deaden the pain and it is cut from the inside of the upper arm, the most sensitive part. Slices the size of a silver dime are taken and laid quivering on the wounded part where a new skin is to be grown. This fellow stood there several days and allowed the surgeon to slice off pieces from both arms, each piece bringing the amount stipulate, which paid for extra books, clothing or food, and the poor fellow minded neither the pain at the time of the operation nor the lameness with which he was afflicted for weeks after, neither did he fear the risk of blood poisoning or other difficulties which might ensue.

"He had the satisfaction, however, of seeing a baby face resume its healthy form and his examinations were passed with brilliancy. He is to-day a man well known and honored in the profession." — New York Herald.

The Deadly Grape Seed

1896

The grape seed, having been relieved of the charge of causing appendicitis, seems to have taken a new tack and is trying to do its mischievous work in another fashion.

An official of a New Jersey county is in a critical condition from the effects, it is said, of a grape seed. He ate some grapes and took great care not to swallow the seeds, but by some accident managed to inhale one, which lodged in the upper portion of his lungs. Himself a physician, he realized the necessity for care and rest, and supposed he had given the seed ample time to become encysted, which however was not the case.

There are a number of cases on record where small articles of various sorts have been drawn into the lungs with the breath. In several instances irritation had begun that ended in death. Sometimes, though, the article becomes coated with exudations from the surrounding surface and is gradually covered up, forming a lump that one may carry through the remainder of life without serious injury. Postmortem examinations have disclosed several of these cysts which had nothing to do with the death of the subject. — New York Ledger.

Bombonnel — One of the Ugliest Men in Dijon

1900

Bombonnel, the panther-slayer, was a name at one time known all over France; later, the mighty huntsman's fame in the chase was overshadowed by that which he acquired in the Franco-Prussian War as a leader of sharpshooters. Miss Betham-Edwards, who knew him well, gives, in her recent "Anglo-French Reminiscences," many entertaining glimpses of this remarkable man.

It is as a mighty hunter that the world outside of France finds him chiefly interesting; and the more so as it was he who suggested the "Tartarin of Tarascon" of Alphonse Daudet, and figured in many respects as the model of that delightfully comic hero, who has brightened the study of French to so many aspiring students.

It is only fair to add, that if Tartarin was a talker, first and foremost, and a man of adventures with scarcely more than a peg to hang his narratives upon, Monsieur Bombonnel was a great talker, indeed, but had great things to tell.

Bombonnel's panther-hunting took place in Algeria. He had slain more than fifty of these beasts. One nearly slew him, for he met it in a hand-to-claw encounter, and emerged from the conflict victorious, but frightfully mangled.

He had received five wounds on the left hand, eight in the left arm, four in the head, ten in the face, four in the mouth, and besides these his nose was broken, he had lost several teeth, and one cheek was clawed to shreds. It was at first supposed that he would die; then that he would be disfigured to monstrosity. But fortunately, although in a remote place, without anaesthetics or proper nursing available, Doctor Bodichon, a famous surgeon, was at hand to patch him up.

"I can in great measure restore your physiognomy; at any rate, I can give you features that will be human," said the physician, after examining his hurts. "But I warn you beforehand, the suffering will be horrible."

"Doctor," was the reply, "do your best. I can answer for myself. My heart is sound."

So was his courage. He endured like an Indian, and emerged from the ordeal a battered and ugly man, it is true, but of a countenance not monstrous nor repulsive. Such disfigurement as did not disgust his friends did not trouble him at all.

He was walking one day with Monsieur B., a man of unfortunately harsh features, when the pair were startled to hear a street boy sing out:

"There go Bombonnel and Monsieur B., the two ugliest men in Dijon!"

"Not so loud, my little friend. Let folks find it out for themselves," said the amiable Monsieur B., while Bombonnel burst out laughing, and was always delighted afterward to relate the incident.

Ugly or not, Bombonnel became very popular, and was much feted by fine ladies and distinguished people.

"Whenever I am now in Algeria," he related, quite in the "Tartarin" manner, "a cover is always laid for me at the governor's table. But I invariably come away hungry as when I took my place! Great folks invite me not to feast, but to tell stories. It is, 'Now, Monsieur Bombonnel, for the lion of the Corso,' or, 'Now, Monsieur Bombonnel, for the lion of Batna,' and so on, and so on, all the while. What would you have? Fame is not to be had for nothing." — Youth's Companion.

Life-Destroying and Life-Saving

1900

An eminent physician lately called attention to the important part wars have taken in hospital development. He declared that the Crimean War developed the trained nurse and the training-school. In the American Civil War, medical men learned that small hospitals, and even hospital tents, are better than large enclosed structures for the sick and wounded. To the knowledge thus gained is due the pavilion tent.

It was war, also, it is asserted, that led, not to the discovery, but to the introduction, of antiseptic surgery. Medical science will profit by the conflict now in progress in South Africa. Through disease and wounds there treated, benefit will come to the civilized world.

Thus out of a great evil may come a great good; for war compels resort to every expedient to save the lives of one's own soldiers, no less than to destroy the lives of those in the hostile army.

Moreover, the experience gained in the effort to save life is at the service of the world. There is nothing provincial or selfish in genuine surgical or medical skill. Its work and triumphs are for all men. Quackery conceals information which may help the race, except as it disposes of the knowledge for cash; but the surgeons and the physicians of approved attainment and experience feel that their mission is limited only by the bounds of possible service to their kind. In war, in peace, under favorable or perilous conditions, appreciated or criticised, the good physician, the conscientious operator, does his duty, and is discontented only when his service is less complete than his professional ideal. — Youth's Companion.