Gussenbauer gives an account of a juggler who turned
his head to bow an acknowledgment of applause while swallowing a
sword; he thus brought his upper incisors against the sword,
which broke off and slipped into his stomach. To relieve
suffocation the sword was pushed further down. Gastrotomy was
performed, and the piece of sword 11 inches long was extracted;
as there was perforation of the stomach before the operation, the
patient died of peritonitis.
An hour after ingestion, Bernays of St. Louis successfully
removed a knife 9 1/2 inches long. By means of an army-bullet
forceps the knife was extracted easily through an incision 5/8
inch long in the walls of the stomach. Gross speaks of a man of
thirty who was in the habit of giving exhibitions of
sword-swallowing in public houses, and who injured his esophagus
to such an extent as to cause abscess and death. In the Journal
of the American Medical Association, March 1, 1896, there is an
extensive list of gastrotomies performed for the removal of
knives and other foreign bodies, from the seventeenth century to
the present time.
The physiologic explanation of sword-swallowing is quite
interesting. We know that when we introduce the finger, a spoon,
brush, etc.
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