POPULAR MISCELLANY 



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struments used in the operation have been re- 

 covered from the prehistoric remains in differ- 

 ent countries, the chronological dates of which 

 range from the earliest neolithic age to his- 

 toric times. Hippocrates was not a stranger 

 to these processes, but performed them in 

 cases of accidents to the skull, and even of 

 headache. The Montenegrins submit to the 

 operation ; and it has been suggested as prob- 

 able that in both instances the procedure is 

 simply a custom surviving from primeval 

 ages. A paper reviewing this subject, by 

 Dr. Eobert Munro, records a strange blend- 

 ing of medicine and theology in the earlier 

 periods of this treatment, for he shows that 

 during the neolithic period the operation 

 was performed on children afflicted with cer- 

 tain internal maladies, and that the skulls 

 of those who survived the treatment were 

 considered possessed of special mystical qual- 

 ities. When such persons died, fragments 

 were often cut from their skulls and used as 

 amulets ; and pieces cut from the margin of 

 the cicatrized opening were preferred. The 

 process in prehistoric times was practiced 

 chiefly on children, partly, probably, because 

 it could be more easily accomplished upon 

 them, and possibly, also, as an early precau- 

 tion against certain supernatural and demo- 

 niac evils. The Chaldean magic, according 

 to Lenormant, mentioned " the wicked de- 

 mon which seizes the body, which disturbs 

 the body," and taught that " the disease of 

 the forehead proceeds from the infernal re- 

 gions ; it is come from the dwelling of the 

 lord of the abyss." We have a right to sup- 

 pose, in view of these evidences, as Broca 

 has suggested, that many of the convulsions 

 peculiar to children were regarded as the re- 

 sult of demoniacal possession. It would be 

 natural, then, to try to assist the escape of 

 the imprisoned spirit by boring a hole in the 

 skull by which it was confined. The belief 

 in the medicinal efficacy of cranial bones per- 

 sisted till the beginning of the last century ; 

 and such bones have been worn in recent 

 years by aged Italians as charms against epi- 

 lepsy and other nervous diseases. When 

 once the dogma was promulgated that sanc- 

 tity and a perforated skull were correlated, 

 fond relatives might bore the heads of the 

 departed to facilitate the exodus of any ma- 

 lignant influence still lingering within, and 

 to insure them, by the venerated aperture. 



a satisfactory position in their new existence. 

 For similar reasons the bone was buried 

 with the deceased, and sometimes it was 

 even placed within his skull. Dr. Munro, 

 while accepting Broca's view and amplifying 

 upon it, suggests further that the post-mor- 

 tem trepanning may have been such a pious 

 endeavor to carry sacramental benefit beyond 

 the grave as induced the early Christians to 

 be baptized for the dead, and that it points 

 to a belief in the supernatural and in the ex- 

 istence of a future state. 



Prof. Hnxley and the late Sir Audrew 

 Clark. Prof. Huxley has furnished the Lon- 

 don Lancet with the following reminiscence 

 of his first meeting and subsequent acquaint- 

 ance with Sir Andrew Clark, the eminent 

 English physician, who has recently died : " I 

 was appointed assistant surgeon to H. M. S. 

 Victory at Portsmouth in March, 1846, and 

 was, in the ordinary course, detailed for duty 

 at Haslar Hospital until such time as the 

 Admiralty might be pleased to order me to 

 join a seagoing ship. Some time after I 

 think two or three months a young Scotch- 

 man joined our mess. He was very slender, 

 of somewhat stooping carriage, and with that 

 florid delicacy of complexion which common- 

 ly marks the poitrinaire. Most of us were 

 tolerably vigorous young men, and we thought 

 that our new colleague, Andrew Clark, had 

 a good deal less prospect of standing the life 

 that was probably in store for him than we 

 had. In fact, he looked just the sort of man 

 to die of consumption before the age of 

 thirty-five. Now it so happened that three 

 out of the small company of assistant sur- 

 geons at Haslar during the five months of 

 my residence Alexander Armstrong, John 

 Watt Reid, and myself were destined to 

 prove our competency to go through a fair 

 share of hard work, official and other; and 

 it would have very much surprised us to hear 

 that Clark was not only to work harder, but 

 to go on working for years after we had been 

 put upon our respective shelves as retired 

 veterans. I doubt if a good deal more wis- 

 dom and experience than any of us possessed 

 would have divined in our very quiet, and 

 even retiring, young messmate the prodigious 

 store of mental and physical energy upon 

 which he was able to draw in later life ; and 

 I venture to be certain that, of all careers 



