Science. Brain Surgery.

Waikato Times, Volume XXV, Issue 2051, 29 August 1885, Page 6 (Supplement)

Science. Brain Surgery.

RejurkatujK Cah« that is Likely to AfliTATK THB ASTI-VmSftCTIOSISTS. WnrTiX tha Blabop of Oxford and Profoior Ikmkin were on somewhat ifltaagilrio grounds dtttmnolng vivlseotien at Oxford Uit Taoday afUrnoon, th«r« tat at eae ef the wi«dow« of the hospital for epilepiy and par al jilt, is Rcgent'i Park, ia an Invalid chair, »ropa«d op with pillows, pal* and careworn, tat with a hopefnl imilt on hit fan, a maa wh» Mall ha*n ipokan a really pertineat werd apen tat ■nbjiet, and told tht right nrmad »t«lat« and gnat art eritle that ha ewel hit lift arid hit wife and children their rueue fro* bereavement and ptnory to lome ef these experiment! of litlng animali whlih they •• roundly eondftmned. The eaie ef thin maa hat bien watched with interne interest by the me Heal profession, for it it of a anifue description, and inanguratei a nev era ia cerebral surgery ; and now that it has been brought to a •neeessful iisne, it leemi desirable that a brief outline of it should ba placed before the general pnblio, beeauie it illaitratei t ividly the benefit! that phyiiolegieal exploration! may confer en mankind, show* how speedily awful fruit may be gathered from re•earohei undertaken in the putinit of knowledge, and with no immediate practical aim, ana reveal* impressively the preeittaa and veraelty of modern medfeal leieneei. Thii eaie, then — this impreiiive end illustrative ease— ie that of a man who, whea admitted to the hospital for epilepiy and paralysis, preiented a gronp of aymptomfl that pointed to tumour of the brain— a distressing and hitherto fatal malady, for the diagnosis or recognition of which we are indebted to bediide experience and port mortem examination But, while clinical and pathological OBnerrations have supplied us with knowledge whioh enables nt to detect the exiitenee ef tamoari of the brain, they have not afforded as aay cine to the situatioa of these Morbid g rowthi in the brain mass, and it was not nntil Irofeisor Ferrier had, by hia experiments oa aaimali, demonstrated the loealiiatioa of censory and motor funetlom in the cerebral hemispheres, that the position of anj diseased pieeess by which they might be invaded could be definitely determined. By the light of these experiments it ii now possible in many ia■taneei to map out the leat of eertata path*logical changes in these hemispheres with as mnoh nioety and certainty ac if the skull and iti oovarings and its linings had beeometraaiparent, so that the surface of the braia was exposed to direct impeetion. And thus, in the ease to whioh I am referring, Dr. Hughes Bennett, nnder whose care the patient was, guided by Ferricr'e experiments, skilfally interpreted the palsies and convulsive movements which the man exhibited, and dedaaed from them that a small tumor was lodged at one particular point ia hii " dome ef thought," and wai silently and relentlessly eating Its way into surrounding textures. Not mere surely do the fidgeting* of the eleetrie needle intimate their origia and convey a meaning to the telegraph clerk thaa did the twitehings of this man's muscles aaneunee to Dr. Hut hca Bennett that * tumour ef limited dimensions wai emeoneed at a particular point ef a particular fold or convolution of the brain— the aeoendiog frontal convolution on the right side. Very brilliant diagnosis this, it may be remarked, and nothing more. A conclusion has been arrived at whioh, should it prove correct, will gratify professional pride ; bat aa it cannot be confirmed or refuted aatil the poor patient is ao longer interested in the matter, and cannot be made the bias ef aay active interference, no great advantage has been made after all, and vivlseetien has yielded only aom* barren knowledge. Until quite recently criticism ef this kind woald have been justifiable in a sense, but aow it is happily no longer possible, for another series of experiments on living animals, undertaken by Professors Ferrier aad Teo, have proved that through our power ef localising brain lesions we may open a gateway for their removal or relief. The old notloa that the braia is an inviolable organ with noli m« Hnftrt for its motto, a mysterious and secluded oracle of Qod that simply falls down and dies when its fane ii desecrated by intrusion— has been dissipated by these experiments, and wa aow know that under punctilious antiseptic precaution* the brain, ia the lower animals at any rate, may be submitted to various operatic procedures without risk to life or fear ef permanent injury. Emboldened by this knewledge, Dr. Hughca Bennett devised a war ef helping his patient, whose disease he had diagnosed with such remarkable exactitude, and gave him one chance, if he had the coar* age to embrace it, of saving hii health and recovering his health. The patient had the position in which he stood faithfully explained to him. He wa* told that he labored under a malady which medicines were powerless to touch, and tkat if left unassisted, he mast die in a few month* at latest, after prolonged sufferings similar to those which had already brought him to the verge of exhaustion, and which eonld be only partially alleviated by drugs, but that ene outlet of escape, narrow and dangerous, but still an outlet, was open to him ia aa operation of a formidable nature, and never before performed on a haman being, nnder which he might, perhaps, sink and die, bat from which be might, perhaps, obtain complete relief. The man, who had faith in hia doctor, and ne fine ipun scruples about availing himself ef the results of viviseotional discoveries, eagerly chose the operation. On the 95th ultima, accordingly. Dr. Qodlee, surgeon te University College Hospital, in the midst of an earnest and anxious band of medioal to en, made an opening in the scalp, skull, and brain membranes of this man at the point whsre Dr. Hughes Bennett had placed his divining finger, the point corresponding with the convolution where he declared the peeeant body to be, and whore sure enough it was disoovored. In the substance of the brain, exaotly where Dr. Hughes Bennett had predicted, a tumor the size of a walnut was found — a tumor whioh Mr. Oodlce removed without difficulty. The man ia now convalescent, having never had a bad symptom, aad full of gratitude for the relief afforded him. He haa been snatched from the grave aad from much suffering, and there ia a good prospect that ha will be restored to a life of comfort and vsefulness. In that oase he will be a living moaument of the value of vivisection. The medical profession will dcolare with one voice that he owes his life to Farrier's experiments, without which it would have been impossible t* localise his malady or attempt its removal, and that his oase opens up new and far reaching vistas of hopefulnesa in brain aurgcry. Many meo and women will htneeforth, there is reason to anticipate, be saved from prolonged torture and death by a kind of treatment that has. been made praotiaable by the sacrifice, under anesthetics, of a few rabbits and monkeye.—London Timtx.