Show r r1n1JIrr Jlru N tAN = t-AN OPERATION THAT HAD AN UN FORTUNATE FOR-TUNATE EFFECT A Boys Bump Acquisitiveness Grew Abnormally Ab-normally After He Was Trephined Bu tlio Surgeon Stood All the Blame and Corrected the Error Do you think criminality is a disease dis-ease asked the drummer of the hotel clerk Course not II said tho clerk It ian i-an acquired habit and there vouldn1 be any criminals if children were trained train-ed right II Thats what you think but sit down there where you will be comfortable comfort-able and Ill tell you something It was after midnight and as tho clerk hadnt anything else to do he accepted ac-cepted the invitation and sat down Not a great while ago went on the drummer I was in an eastern city and it happened that I had a package of samples stolen by a boy on the street I caught him in the act and a policeman police-man being on the spot for a wonder I turned the thief over to him and agreed to appear against the boy just to teach him a lesson The next morning I was in the police court on time and there I was met by a physician who told me something which led mo to leave the case to him When the boy was called the physician appeared with him and desired to make a statement to the court It was granted and he said II May it please the court I want to assume responsibility for this offense and for a number of others of a similar character which I understand the accused ac-cused has committed within the past year II Your honor ho said until something some-thing more than a year ago this boy was ns correct a boy as any I ever knew Of good parentage and excellent training there is no reason why ho should not have been so Two years ago he sustained sus-tained severe accideut by being thrown from a bicycle in which his skull was fractured directly on that pot which phrenologists have designated as the bump of acquisitiveness I was called in to treat tlo case and upon examination tion discovered that tho only thing toe to-e dono was to remove a part of tho skull and trephine the fracture This I did exposing a considerable area of tho brain The trepliiuiisg however was quite successful and I had the pleasure in a few weeks of seeing my patient once more on his feet and to nil intents and purposes as well as ever or very likely to be soon At this time and until un-til several months later nothing mi usual was noticed about the boy but after several months it was observed that he began to purloin small things about the house He was not suspected J at first but one day his mother caught him in the act and he was punished I may add that at this time he was perhaps per-haps 13 years old His parents were greatly grieved over this discovery and afterward kept a close watch on him The habit however seemed to be growing grow-ing on him and all their efforts to check it were in vain They even went so far as to have their pastor talk to him but that did no good One day they were painfully shocked by his arrest ar-rest for a theft of trifling character The matter was settled as quietly as possible and it was hoped that this would be a lesson to him It made absolutely ab-solutely no difference and the boy went from bad to worse What he has stolen no one can tell for he is as cunning asa as-a ins in his work as a rule nor is it known what he does with his stealings IKUSS he has hidden them somewhere T > days ago tho case came directly to nay notice by a theft from my own house I had heard of course of what the boy had been doing but it did not occur to me to think I had anything to do with it II 4 The parents camo to me when the theft occurred at my house and in tho talk about their boy the suggestion struck me that perhaps I could offer an explanation I said nothing to them but sent for the boy and made an examination exam-ination of the trephined fracture and discovered that while I had saved the I boys life I had also given his bump of acquisitiveness an opportunity to develop devel-op abnormally and that it was growing greater every day I did not reach this conclusion definitely until a day or two ago and this is the first opportunity I have had to make an explanation of what to those who knew the boy previously pre-viously is a remarkable case of moral retrogression Having made this explanation ex-planation I wish to assume the responsibility respon-sibility for the boys acts and as the prosecuting witness is willing not to appear against my patient I would ask to have him discharged His parents have agreed to let me perform another operation on him and I feel assured I that I can render him a service which i will make an honest man of him As I ho now is he will continue to grow worse and there is nothing before him except a prison for steal he will until his offense becomes such that he will go to the penitentiary where his opportunities opportu-nities may be minimized but his desire to steal will continue to grow Well concluded tho drummer this sort of thing knocked out the court and everybody else but the prisoner prison-er was turned over to the physician as his patient and ho took him away with him to iv hospital where ho said the operation op-eration was to bo performed at once That was a year ago Today I met tho physician on the street here and tho first thing I asked him about was the boy He smiled all over and told me that ever since tho operation the boy had been steadily improving and for two months pest he had stolen nothing although the temptation was constantly put in his way by his orders I think he said as wo parted that the boy is entirly cured and hereafter here-after when I have any trephining to do I shall keep an eye on the bumps and not make a patient either better or worse than nature intended Detroit Free Press |