The journal. (Hamilton, Ga.) 1887-1889, October 21, 1887, Image 3

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THE “RAILWAY BRAIN.” A Case Much Resembling “ Railway Spine’*«—Question for Neurologists. At a recent meeting of the Society of Physicians of the <! barite hospital in Ber lin, Thomsen exhibited a patient whose case he described as one of ‘‘railway brain,” a neurosis resembling in many respects the condition already well known under the name of “railway spine.” A healthy railway employe, aged 30, with out history of alcoholism or of any pre disposing neurotic condition, by the sud den motion of his train was thiown \io* lently against the side of a car, striking his head. He sustained no wound, and at the time of injury consciousness was preserved. Some hours afterward, how ever, he was suddenly seized with syncope, with mental terror, lost all sense of loca tion, could not recognize the simplest familiar object, and described what he saw erroneously; his one objective symp tom was absolute anaesthesia of the entire body. On the fourth day after his in jury he had violent headaches, a pulse rate of 44, and, in addition to the cutaneous anses thesia, loss of olfactory and taste sensa¬ tions, with difficult healing. On the fifth day the psychic symptoms suddenly ceased, he could remember nothing which had happened, and had no explanation for his condition. The patient subsequently became very melancholy, complaining of insomnia, headache, spinal pain, weariness and failure of appetite; no sensations of terror or disordered dreams were present. The objective symptoms remaining were well marked cranial and spinal hyperesthesia; failure to distinguish between white and colors; loss of smell and taste and im paired hearing; numbness and at times paresis and spasms of the region sup plied by the facial nerve were also pres¬ ent. He w as discharged from the hos¬ pital as improved, but two months after¬ ward his condition was unchanged: he was unable to work on account of head¬ ache and weakness. Thomsen’s diagnosis was “railway brain,” a condition of pro¬ found disturbance of cerebral functions from shock. The increase in mechanical appliances and the immense extension of railways afford abundant opportunities for obser¬ vation of nervous shock, both in its fatal and milder forms. While postmortem demonstration of hemorrhage and struc¬ tural lesions explains the course of these cases when fatal, it is evident that we must rely upon the continued observation of surviving patients to determine the development of lesions which will illus¬ trate the pathology of this condition. The possibility of the production 4 of de¬ generative changes in nervous matter and cerebral conditions causing perma¬ nent mental impairment is an interesting question for neurologists, and. in its medico-legal aspects, for the corporation whose property may cause such injuries to their patrons and employes.—Medical News. \ * Life of the Lowly In Barcelona. some exceptions the ladies stiU -ear the poetic Andalusian hwidgear, Aeir glossy treses piled h IK h, the black lace covering them drooping in front in a point. The Barcelona shop gal or scam stress, however, instead of the mantilla, prefers a crimson or deep yellow sfik ker chief, that suits to perfection^ lier dark skin, jetty locks and glorious orbs. Prob ibly their eyes become trained by the bonstant contemplation of vivid colors in lountain and skv, Selection for even in such slight natters as the of a flower to lace in the liair, or tlie choice of a stock incr to match the petticoat, the Spanish lass never errs on tho score of harmony. Hie peasant, too, is no less romantic than artistic. In dres^. deportment and physiognomy, in fact from head to foot, his an*aratice is characteristic. His woolen cap is in reafity shaped like the leg of » stocking—happily he does not stiffen or distend it to its full length capacity, the effect would be too gro tesque for even his inborn gravity; the lavish superfluity he draws forward, and, folding it in a scroll over the forehead, it not only shades the eyes, but is most be coming. It is generally red and thus not altogether unlike the Phrygian cap; old men, however, often choose a dark brown, purple, or gray color. His short jacket is of black or blue velveteen, with clusters of tiny silver filagree buttons; he wears knee breeches, knitted hose, and round Iris waist a red sash no less than five yards in length. To put this on he lets 'it trail on the ground, and winds himself into it by turning round and round. In the folds of this scarf he car ries a claspknife of singular shape, pre sumably of Moorish origin and peculiar to Catalonia. The blade is from five to seven inches in length, and, laying it flat in the right hand palm, with the point touching the tip of the two forefingers, the “muchacho” knows how to throw it with deadly accuracy. A pair of sandals, light and suitable for the climate, com plete his equipment and no doubt con¬ tribute greatly to the marvelous feats of peed and endurance for which he is re¬ markable.—Gentleman’s Magazine. Balloons in High Altitudes. The recent attempt made by some French aeronauts to reach a great height above the earth has not been productive of any particular scientific results. T.ho balloon in winch the ascent was made reached an altitude of over 20,000 feet without the occupants of the car ex periencing any ill effects, except a ten dency to faintness on the part of one of them. When about twelve years ago a similar attempt was made, and the height of 25,000 feet was reached, it was with fatal . , . results to three out of the four * aero nauts. The success of the piesent ex periment is explained by the allegation that the difficulties due to the rarefac tion of the atmosphere only begin at an altitude of 23,000 or 24,000 feet. This view seems supported by the fact that in the Himalayas and the Andes heights of about 20,000 feet have been on several occasions reached without any incon venience. In such cases, liovvever, the ascent has alwavs been gradual. The ill effects experienced in balloons are pos siblv due to the suddenness of the change. T/mdnn Snectator * To Stop Bleeding of the Nose. If applying cold water to the neck and face has no effect, dissolve a little alum in a basin of water and inject a sniff of it up the nostrils; hold the head back and do not attempt to blow the nose.--Herald of Health. The Sardine Crop * ft Failure. Another , pronounced failure. , .. crop » a domestic canning of .ai dnies, oi heiinig, amounted last year to PA000 cases or 000,000 boxes. So far this year the pack been almost a failure, on account of the ure of the small fish to run m shore. criminate fishing durin B the spawning and killing off the old ones in winter, made a seal city ill oui natcls,on le ^i^Tp™ . IVy,^“,.1*.. proving ° flsherics of France are also a thisyeal .. Some home dealers are said to making up the (h-ficiency by using ^ oU ........ of.,live reed oil, as in and Portugal, and by catching large herring, cutting them up >" proper lengths and branding them as sardines.-Newport , , 0 p 0 Rtal Cardtt The Paris Figaro demands , the suppre».n>i/ of tbe open postal cards on the plea that they ^ fm l uo " t y used—or a use r;n ier for tbe perpetn. aon of “ nw [yi" 0 i” culuP ' llt ®’ to ll ^ , se de ig,U 1 r« Remove Ink .Stains. y or the removal c." ink stains from skin, b«^,t oxakc acid ftAnuuviij is probably the simi>lest c «--• t .tains of i,-n ink. A m vtu.-e of equal part, ox.be and cif-nr oft i v -h»i letter, a^ic ^ to h. n: * rea y “ ll » wit«• taixttiit of alcohol *u*u act-iic acid. STORIES OF CHILDREN. One Youngster W o have a nice canopy top to cover our carriage. Other Youngster —That’s nothin’, we have a chattel mortgage on ours that will more than cover it, pa says. Tid Bits. A Main street mother was whipping her boy yesterday, and as she applied the rod she shouted, “Will you behave?” “Yes,” blub bered the throbbdpg boy, “I will if you will.” —New Ijondon Day. U | ti jotii.gly-Tomn.y, when are you going to marry? Tommy, 8 j-ears old and v*cry susceptible_Well, I don’t think I’ll ever marry. 1 love so many little girls, if I mar Hed one all the rest would be jealous.—The Epoch. Qld gent i OIU eu (putting a few question*) Now, boys—ah—cau you tell me what com mandnieut Adam broke when he took the forbidden fruit I Small scholar (like a shot) —Please, sir, th’ warn’t no commandments then, sir!—Boston Beacon, Little 2-year-old Robert at tbe hrtikfust table tbe other day heard his father and mother exchange the coniDliments of tbe morning with their guests until he > could stand it no longer, and interrupted them with: “Pupa, let me tell mv >to.y now. I want some lm,li.”-<Joiicor.l (N. H.) Monitor. “Where did you get a*l those buttons?’ asked a lady of a little boy who bad a thou „<f “ ore OK *,, „ y °" ."plied tbe ladv, * • but what has that . to do with it!*’ “Everything,” said the boy; “because he Las t h e sorting of the collection basket.”— Epoch, A little girl wishing to make her father a present was very ranch at fault to knew what ^uy f 0r purpose. After puzzling her ^rain considerably *■ d getting uliat sug gestions she could from the other members of the family, she finally went to her mother in despair and said: “Only think, mamma, 1 don’t know what to get papa for a Christum* present; ho don’t smoke, nor drink, nor notb ing.”—Eastern Argus, Something About Mineral Waters. “It is easy to gull the public,” said a young man who tends the fountain in d down town cigar store. “The people who drink mineral waters under the impression that they will do them as much benefit us if they visited the springs little know that nearly all of the stuff is made up in University place. Borne of the foreign waters are genuine, but the domestic brands aae merely Croton water cleaned with marble dust ami impregnated with alkalies. It doesn’t pay to bring water from the springs so long as the public are ratistled with a counterfeit article. People know very little aliout mineral waters, and when the boss started the fountain the manufacturer came down “ ‘As and B ave l;im just S starting omo tip. iu the business, you are „ r _ Bhmk> , Mid be<wooM My clmt ,.„ u w ,ji fl n d it neceswiry to get only two kinds of min0Iill „ ater There „ re mp, ,'but „„ the foun {of sjx djfferent ,p,.i llB8 1 will at h , hrM (mceta to eocl , o( ., ie tw0 , ipholtt go us to save you trouble anu expense. You call t , lu ^ s ,| your Corner, with what erer u , ty cull (QT< nn( , no onp „ |U , vw Ik , , |ie Jf y ou ghould hap|ien to run out of miners water at any time, you mo, just giro p ,,„!.r?t t] w , WtUmTleK mineral waters do no cood t f'omThet nimiVcordial? InthlsthOTtUffer wdotivk * b y fo obsh people Ime' get and intefhe habit that of ° Thore fashions in drug. a. well osin |s( , Tho q , lhllne fever of a few yeftrs ago h slowly dyill g out . Bromide of potassium, chloral, and absinthe are uow mostly in favor, and when once a man be comes a slave to these it is but an easy stap0 to cocaine and opium. Otir counter trade is eonfitwd almoat entirely to men, but I think wouien a ,^ the worst drug fiend*, because they buy tbe stuff in buik ami keep sipping at it all day at home. The women who take through their veins by injection «>oube come nnyital and physical wrecks, am gen °*’ a *‘ rK y 1611 •” ’ ' - , J™‘* ^ teti Jeemsto ]e The nastier the Uiaugl.t”!!* it m1L”-N«w York Evening The fin miner Hotel Hand. “Do you call this a bond of pick'd muse clans?'* said a liotel manager to the leader * u summer hand. “Ach, dot vosso; I bit » om mineselkf,” replied the band innate -Well, then, }ou picked them before tluy were ripe.”—Christian Union. Only That and Nothing More. Only a sweet lionquet. Set w.th exquisite grace; Only a choice nosegay. And a passing pretty face; Only a dainty curl. And a murmuring, lingering hum; Only a Pittsburg girl Chewing a roll of gum. —National Weekly. Literal. Elderly L'uly (as cars toll station)—I; this my train? Now Baggage Master—If you’re one of them m got in o«* the ground fitter in tae la stock deni, you may have nil interest in it, inarm; otherwise it belongs to the railroad.— Tid Bits, Then It In Different. Wbat fun it is o-boating, With pretty girl t a-flouting Upon th. tranquil bo».m of ti» Wro, tat.-, lab : Jnd wbl"e mshowiu*:',. 4 Ob, I tow we all of us begiu to quake, quake, quake! —0 tarispteWA Enterprise, Bangles in Mounting. Young Ditninwck—Did yon enter Ita.gl atM.*.y«. V.l.*»howf Mis* Huktekoper—Oh, no, indeed! You know, since poor grandpa’s death, wo hau> of « s —Puck, The Only Tiling She Fears. The girl now In tho hammock sits, Her f How clone bc'si4 • her, And naught ran tcaro her from that plaet-, Anil from that young man’s firm embrace, Exctpt a “horrid spider.'’ - Cbtti le town Enterprise. 1‘eogreiMing Flnoly. CiJ/izen (to l»u»ebali nmnugeij—How is the third Umeman’s hand ge tting on? Manager (bojiefuily)—Nicely. lie think s that by i tbe end of ibo w oe* ho will be able to draw salary.—Tid Bits, A rira. He slew ma and pa In a cold blooded way, But on trial, Ids honor to soften, He »4ed iu a childlike and hrauccnf way, * >on 1 lm rd, judge, upon a I*** orphan.” * ge * They Want Everything. Tbrre on* some men so pnMiigal In wealth they no < r edvnueo; E’en when tin y have two <!<> :« they think They act'd a pair of pent.;. Wiu»him*ton C. itic. ami Minall Audiences. A large audience has the ad vantage of enthusiasm; a small audience has the ad¬ vantage of impressibility. A largo an dience gives more to tbe speaker. Hen* it is that, while the winter gatherings i church or Sunday ccb.ool are more attrac¬ tive, the midsummer /groups in tho san fields are more receptive. Tho nearer congregation comes to being the oi speaker to tbe one hearer the larger tl hope of a personal message being recti v os personal by him who listens to it.— PbiUulelpliia Sunday School Times. First Cost of Hair Dye. A recent analysis of a popular hair “jrenewer” shows that it was made < sixty grains of sugar of lead, sixty graii of sulphur, a little glycerine and wate with a drop or two of perfume. The sul ¬ phur gradually combines with the lead, forming a brown or black sulphide < V lead, action which that slowly the darkens purchaser the hair-sky persi in may < in its use. Cost three and a half cents p bottle; retail price, $1.—Chicago Time Microscopic air and liquid bubbles exi t in many crystals of minerals, no less tlu>.. 4,000,000 having been estimated to haw a place in a cube of quartz one-twent; fifth erf an Mick square.—Arkansaw Tmv*