1 00:00:01,240 --> 00:00:04,200 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class from how 2 00:00:04,280 --> 00:00:14,440 Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot Com. Hello and welcomed the podcast. I'm 3 00:00:14,480 --> 00:00:17,520 Speaker 1: Tracy he Wilson and I'm Holly Fry. Today we have 4 00:00:17,800 --> 00:00:21,560 Speaker 1: a massively popular listener request. Yeah, it's one of our 5 00:00:21,560 --> 00:00:23,920 Speaker 1: most requested of all times. So many people have asked 6 00:00:24,000 --> 00:00:27,440 Speaker 1: us about to talk about Phineas Gauge, and we are 7 00:00:27,480 --> 00:00:30,280 Speaker 1: coming up on the hundred and sixty five anniversary of 8 00:00:30,360 --> 00:00:33,239 Speaker 1: the accident that made him and his brain famous. So 9 00:00:33,880 --> 00:00:38,240 Speaker 1: here we go. I'm gonna talk about him. So today, 10 00:00:38,280 --> 00:00:40,800 Speaker 1: it's pretty close to common knowledge that different parts of 11 00:00:40,800 --> 00:00:44,800 Speaker 1: your brain have different functions and responsibilities, and this was 12 00:00:44,880 --> 00:00:48,480 Speaker 1: far from the case back in when an explosion sent 13 00:00:48,520 --> 00:00:52,920 Speaker 1: an iron rod through Phineas Gage's head, destroying his left 14 00:00:52,960 --> 00:00:57,040 Speaker 1: frontal lobe. Unlike anyone else in known history who had 15 00:00:57,120 --> 00:01:00,880 Speaker 1: ever experienced such a catastrophic brain in jury at that point, 16 00:01:01,160 --> 00:01:05,640 Speaker 1: he lived, although altered, for more than eleven more years. 17 00:01:06,400 --> 00:01:09,160 Speaker 1: Over time since then, he's kind of morphed into one 18 00:01:09,200 --> 00:01:12,640 Speaker 1: of the world's most famous case studies and how damage 19 00:01:12,680 --> 00:01:15,840 Speaker 1: to the brain can affect behavior, some of which is 20 00:01:15,920 --> 00:01:17,680 Speaker 1: legit and some of which is made up. So we 21 00:01:17,720 --> 00:01:20,160 Speaker 1: will talk about that in more detail. I'm holding back 22 00:01:20,200 --> 00:01:23,839 Speaker 1: my desire to talk about Futurama and Fries messed up brain. 23 00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:26,840 Speaker 1: But anybody who watches Futurama knows what I'm talking about. 24 00:01:27,600 --> 00:01:30,160 Speaker 1: Uh So, we don't really know much about phineas though 25 00:01:30,200 --> 00:01:32,720 Speaker 1: before his accident, now, before he got put on the 26 00:01:32,760 --> 00:01:37,399 Speaker 1: map by the spike, his life really wasn't recorded. We 27 00:01:37,480 --> 00:01:40,800 Speaker 1: know he was twenty five on September eighteen forty eight 28 00:01:40,840 --> 00:01:43,560 Speaker 1: when the incident happened, and at the time he was 29 00:01:43,640 --> 00:01:46,959 Speaker 1: the foreman of a railroad crew worked and they were 30 00:01:47,000 --> 00:01:48,840 Speaker 1: at that time working on the bed for the Rutland 31 00:01:48,880 --> 00:01:52,080 Speaker 1: and Burlington Railroad. He was, in the words of a 32 00:01:52,160 --> 00:01:54,720 Speaker 1: letter written by his doctor to the editor of the 33 00:01:54,720 --> 00:02:00,360 Speaker 1: Boston Medical and Surgical Journal, in quote of middles Notcher, 34 00:02:01,160 --> 00:02:06,280 Speaker 1: vigorous physical organization, temperate habits, and possessed of considerable energy 35 00:02:06,320 --> 00:02:09,920 Speaker 1: of character. He was also a good foreman with a 36 00:02:09,919 --> 00:02:12,640 Speaker 1: good reputation, and he was competent at his job and 37 00:02:12,680 --> 00:02:14,720 Speaker 1: really good at managing the crew, who were all pretty 38 00:02:14,760 --> 00:02:18,400 Speaker 1: fond of him. And as you can imagine, building a railroad, 39 00:02:18,400 --> 00:02:22,480 Speaker 1: particularly at that time, was a really heavily manual process. 40 00:02:22,800 --> 00:02:24,920 Speaker 1: When they had to cut through a hill, the crew 41 00:02:24,960 --> 00:02:27,600 Speaker 1: would have to blast their way through rock, and one 42 00:02:27,600 --> 00:02:29,640 Speaker 1: group of men would be preparing for the charge to 43 00:02:29,680 --> 00:02:31,920 Speaker 1: be laid, and another had to be ready to clear 44 00:02:31,919 --> 00:02:35,639 Speaker 1: away the rubble that happened afterward. And his foreman, Phineas, 45 00:02:35,720 --> 00:02:39,400 Speaker 1: was responsible for the overall operation of these activities, and 46 00:02:39,480 --> 00:02:41,720 Speaker 1: he was the one who was in charge of making 47 00:02:41,720 --> 00:02:44,720 Speaker 1: sure the detonations when as planned, which he had been 48 00:02:44,720 --> 00:02:50,200 Speaker 1: doing without incident. He was successful until that fateful day. Right, So, 49 00:02:50,280 --> 00:02:54,480 Speaker 1: while they were blasting through rock, Phineas used a tamping iron. 50 00:02:54,880 --> 00:02:57,560 Speaker 1: This is an iron rod that was forty three inches 51 00:02:57,639 --> 00:03:01,360 Speaker 1: long one and a quarter inches in diameter, which one 52 00:03:01,520 --> 00:03:03,560 Speaker 1: end of it tapered to a point that was a 53 00:03:03,639 --> 00:03:07,799 Speaker 1: quarter engine diameter, and it weighed thirteen and a quarter pounds, 54 00:03:07,840 --> 00:03:10,919 Speaker 1: So this thing was longer than your typical baseball bat, 55 00:03:11,280 --> 00:03:13,959 Speaker 1: and it was made of iron. And first they would 56 00:03:14,000 --> 00:03:16,840 Speaker 1: make a hole, and they'd put gunpowder into the bottom 57 00:03:16,840 --> 00:03:20,680 Speaker 1: of this hole, and then uh Phineas would use the 58 00:03:20,720 --> 00:03:23,480 Speaker 1: pointed end of his tamping iron to put the fuse 59 00:03:23,520 --> 00:03:25,880 Speaker 1: into place, and they'd fill the rest of the hole 60 00:03:25,880 --> 00:03:27,920 Speaker 1: of soil, and then he would use the broad end 61 00:03:27,919 --> 00:03:30,200 Speaker 1: of the iron to tamp down the dirt before they 62 00:03:30,240 --> 00:03:33,560 Speaker 1: lit the fuse. He and his crew were working on 63 00:03:33,600 --> 00:03:36,560 Speaker 1: a stretch of track near Cavendish, Vermont, which is a 64 00:03:36,600 --> 00:03:41,120 Speaker 1: town that had about people. Walton H. Green described where 65 00:03:41,120 --> 00:03:44,120 Speaker 1: this happened, and it could actually describe two different cuts 66 00:03:44,160 --> 00:03:47,600 Speaker 1: along the track. So we're not sure precisely where it happened, 67 00:03:47,600 --> 00:03:50,720 Speaker 1: but we've got a narrowed down, so he said, at 68 00:03:50,760 --> 00:03:54,080 Speaker 1: the second cut south of Cavendish, where many potholes in 69 00:03:54,120 --> 00:03:57,760 Speaker 1: the rock give indisputable evidence that Black River once went 70 00:03:57,840 --> 00:04:01,119 Speaker 1: this way, near where Roswell down Er built his lime 71 00:04:01,200 --> 00:04:05,880 Speaker 1: kiln later. I love that method of giving direction. Later 72 00:04:05,960 --> 00:04:08,119 Speaker 1: on there would be a lime kiln, but it wasn't 73 00:04:08,160 --> 00:04:12,720 Speaker 1: there at the time. Uh. When the accident happened, they 74 00:04:12,720 --> 00:04:14,720 Speaker 1: had made the hole and already poured the powder in, 75 00:04:14,800 --> 00:04:17,920 Speaker 1: but they hadn't covered it up with sand yet. So 76 00:04:17,960 --> 00:04:20,880 Speaker 1: while he was getting ready to tamp it down, Phineas 77 00:04:20,920 --> 00:04:23,560 Speaker 1: turned his head away from what he was doing, and 78 00:04:23,640 --> 00:04:26,640 Speaker 1: it seems as though he wrongly thought the gunpowder had 79 00:04:26,640 --> 00:04:29,720 Speaker 1: already been covered with sand, but of course, as we said, 80 00:04:29,760 --> 00:04:32,479 Speaker 1: it had not, and he lowered the rod to tamp 81 00:04:32,480 --> 00:04:34,520 Speaker 1: it down and hit the rock and it made a 82 00:04:34,560 --> 00:04:38,640 Speaker 1: spark and at that point the charge exploded. The tamping 83 00:04:38,680 --> 00:04:42,880 Speaker 1: iron flew upward. It entered under his left cheekbone and 84 00:04:42,960 --> 00:04:46,200 Speaker 1: traveled through the roof of his mouth and behind his eye, 85 00:04:46,800 --> 00:04:51,520 Speaker 1: through his brain, and out his skull completely. I I 86 00:04:51,600 --> 00:04:54,880 Speaker 1: was misunderstanding this in my earlier like my knowledge pre 87 00:04:54,960 --> 00:04:58,120 Speaker 1: podcast knowledge of this, I sort of thought it had logged, 88 00:04:58,200 --> 00:05:02,640 Speaker 1: lodged somewhere, no know it traveled completely through his head 89 00:05:02,839 --> 00:05:07,400 Speaker 1: and landed several yards away. So this destroyed his skull 90 00:05:07,480 --> 00:05:10,559 Speaker 1: in several places, along with obviously part of his brain. 91 00:05:11,160 --> 00:05:13,560 Speaker 1: It also pushed against the back of his eyeballs and 92 00:05:13,720 --> 00:05:16,520 Speaker 1: his eye was sort of protruding a little bit. He 93 00:05:16,680 --> 00:05:19,919 Speaker 1: lost a whole lot of blood from the resulting face 94 00:05:19,960 --> 00:05:22,680 Speaker 1: and scalp wounds and the damage to the vessels that 95 00:05:22,720 --> 00:05:26,200 Speaker 1: were inside of his brain. And I I want to 96 00:05:26,240 --> 00:05:29,080 Speaker 1: go back and look because I think, similar to how 97 00:05:29,120 --> 00:05:32,279 Speaker 1: you had the vision of it being lodged, I always 98 00:05:32,320 --> 00:05:34,360 Speaker 1: had a vision of it being a spike from above. 99 00:05:34,720 --> 00:05:36,800 Speaker 1: And I think it might have been a drawing or 100 00:05:36,839 --> 00:05:40,240 Speaker 1: a piece of art at some point that was attributed 101 00:05:40,320 --> 00:05:43,640 Speaker 1: as being Phineas gaged that someone drew that might have 102 00:05:43,680 --> 00:05:45,719 Speaker 1: had it that way, because I have the same image 103 00:05:45,720 --> 00:05:48,240 Speaker 1: in my head of it being a lodged thing. Yeah, 104 00:05:48,279 --> 00:05:51,359 Speaker 1: my understanding of this whole accident was completely incorrect before 105 00:05:51,400 --> 00:05:54,360 Speaker 1: I learned more about it. It came up from underneath 106 00:05:54,560 --> 00:06:00,080 Speaker 1: under his his cheekbone. I know, it's it's crazy. In 107 00:06:00,200 --> 00:06:02,719 Speaker 1: the words of a news article in the Boston Post, 108 00:06:02,760 --> 00:06:05,080 Speaker 1: which was picked up from the leadlow Vermont Free Soil 109 00:06:05,200 --> 00:06:09,719 Speaker 1: Union quote, the most singular circumstance connected with this melancholy 110 00:06:09,800 --> 00:06:12,240 Speaker 1: affair is that he was alive at two o'clock this 111 00:06:12,320 --> 00:06:16,560 Speaker 1: afternoon and in full possession of his reason and free 112 00:06:16,560 --> 00:06:21,560 Speaker 1: from pain. Just let that sit there for a minute. 113 00:06:22,120 --> 00:06:25,719 Speaker 1: So not only did he live through this experience, he 114 00:06:25,800 --> 00:06:28,520 Speaker 1: may not have even lost consciousness, although there was a 115 00:06:28,520 --> 00:06:31,640 Speaker 1: lot of dust and debris following the explosion that had 116 00:06:31,680 --> 00:06:34,520 Speaker 1: to settle before people got to him. If he did 117 00:06:34,560 --> 00:06:37,440 Speaker 1: lose conscious it was really brief. He was able to 118 00:06:37,440 --> 00:06:39,920 Speaker 1: sit upright in the cart while being taken to town 119 00:06:39,960 --> 00:06:41,800 Speaker 1: for a doctor, and once he got there he was 120 00:06:41,880 --> 00:06:44,840 Speaker 1: able to walk with you know, with some help up 121 00:06:44,839 --> 00:06:50,040 Speaker 1: the stairs, which is also studying. Yeah, I can't imagine 122 00:06:50,040 --> 00:06:52,440 Speaker 1: who volunteered to help him, you know what I mean? 123 00:06:52,520 --> 00:06:54,240 Speaker 1: Can you imagine like that? I don't. I don't want 124 00:06:54,279 --> 00:06:55,920 Speaker 1: to do it. Well, he was, Yeah, he was kind 125 00:06:55,960 --> 00:06:59,160 Speaker 1: of he was a favored a favored boss by the crew. 126 00:06:59,279 --> 00:07:02,040 Speaker 1: They were all fine of him, and I think they 127 00:07:02,240 --> 00:07:04,880 Speaker 1: had to have been a bit gruesome. It was definitely gruesome. 128 00:07:05,240 --> 00:07:08,440 Speaker 1: It's gonna get more gruesome. So if you are tender 129 00:07:08,480 --> 00:07:11,600 Speaker 1: of stomach, let's just say that this may may want 130 00:07:11,640 --> 00:07:14,000 Speaker 1: to just fast forward grace for impact, have a friend 131 00:07:14,080 --> 00:07:17,480 Speaker 1: screen at first something, because it does get really gross. Yeah. 132 00:07:17,560 --> 00:07:20,680 Speaker 1: I I skip over some bits that are particularly disgusting 133 00:07:20,800 --> 00:07:22,960 Speaker 1: because it got to a point when I was reading 134 00:07:23,000 --> 00:07:26,240 Speaker 1: the day by day notes of what happened is kind 135 00:07:26,240 --> 00:07:29,160 Speaker 1: of gross. Yeah, it'll make you squirm, it will. Uh. 136 00:07:29,240 --> 00:07:33,000 Speaker 1: So in town, Phineas went to Joseph adams Inn, you know, 137 00:07:33,160 --> 00:07:36,720 Speaker 1: his tavern, and the town's doctor, doctor John Martin Harlowe, 138 00:07:37,680 --> 00:07:40,120 Speaker 1: wasn't available right away. They couldn't find him, so someone 139 00:07:40,240 --> 00:07:43,000 Speaker 1: rode to another nearby town to summon their doctor, who 140 00:07:43,040 --> 00:07:47,040 Speaker 1: was Dr Edward Williams. And once Williams got there, Phineas 141 00:07:47,040 --> 00:07:49,560 Speaker 1: was feeling well enough to say, well, here's work enough 142 00:07:49,600 --> 00:07:56,440 Speaker 1: for you, doctor. Yeah. Yeah, So about an hour later 143 00:07:56,560 --> 00:07:59,440 Speaker 1: Dr Harlow got there. He and Dr Williams conferred with 144 00:07:59,440 --> 00:08:02,160 Speaker 1: each other and eventually decided that Dr Harlow would be 145 00:08:02,200 --> 00:08:04,600 Speaker 1: the one to treat phineas. And here's a side note. 146 00:08:06,000 --> 00:08:08,080 Speaker 1: We've kind of beat this into the ground at this point. 147 00:08:08,120 --> 00:08:10,840 Speaker 1: If you're tired of hearing it, sorry. The whole thing 148 00:08:10,920 --> 00:08:14,760 Speaker 1: was so horrifying and improbable that neither of the doctors 149 00:08:15,160 --> 00:08:17,760 Speaker 1: nor a reverend who happened to see them going by 150 00:08:17,840 --> 00:08:20,000 Speaker 1: on the way to get the doctor, believed what they 151 00:08:20,120 --> 00:08:22,120 Speaker 1: what the crew told them had happened. They were like, 152 00:08:22,160 --> 00:08:24,560 Speaker 1: no way, that is impossible. What you were saying cannot 153 00:08:24,600 --> 00:08:28,120 Speaker 1: have just happened. Um. They didn't believe it until they 154 00:08:28,160 --> 00:08:30,240 Speaker 1: saw the rod in the scene of the accident, where 155 00:08:30,280 --> 00:08:33,760 Speaker 1: there was blood and brain matter everywhere, And our knowledge 156 00:08:33,760 --> 00:08:35,840 Speaker 1: of the brain wasn't the only thing that was vastly 157 00:08:35,880 --> 00:08:40,960 Speaker 1: different in uh. Medical practice was at a completely different 158 00:08:41,000 --> 00:08:44,280 Speaker 1: point of its evolution. But the germ theory of disease 159 00:08:44,320 --> 00:08:46,320 Speaker 1: had not really happened yet. It was still to come. 160 00:08:46,800 --> 00:08:50,840 Speaker 1: So many doctors were treating illnesses by balancing humors because 161 00:08:50,880 --> 00:08:53,680 Speaker 1: they didn't realize the issues of germs in bacteria and 162 00:08:53,920 --> 00:08:58,599 Speaker 1: more commination. Dr Harlow specifically had graduated with his m d. 163 00:08:58,760 --> 00:09:03,120 Speaker 1: From Jefferson Medical Ledge in four although he probably also 164 00:09:03,240 --> 00:09:07,160 Speaker 1: studied at Castleton Medical College in Vermont and the Philadelphia 165 00:09:07,240 --> 00:09:10,760 Speaker 1: School of Anatomy before he went to Jefferson. His medical 166 00:09:10,800 --> 00:09:16,760 Speaker 1: practice was often focused on antiphlogistic principles, and today that 167 00:09:16,800 --> 00:09:19,160 Speaker 1: just means anti inflammatory, but at the time it was 168 00:09:19,200 --> 00:09:23,560 Speaker 1: this body of ideas that disease came from various sources 169 00:09:23,600 --> 00:09:27,160 Speaker 1: of over stimulation or excess which needed to be balanced 170 00:09:27,160 --> 00:09:30,120 Speaker 1: in order for the person to be cured. So a 171 00:09:30,120 --> 00:09:35,360 Speaker 1: lot of common techniques were bleeding, cupping, applying leeches, and 172 00:09:35,440 --> 00:09:38,679 Speaker 1: giving people laxatives and emetics to make them throw up. 173 00:09:39,559 --> 00:09:44,000 Speaker 1: Dr Harlow actually credited how much blood Phineas had lost 174 00:09:44,160 --> 00:09:47,199 Speaker 1: at the scene of the accident um with helping him 175 00:09:47,240 --> 00:09:51,240 Speaker 1: to eventually recover, and the way he described described this 176 00:09:51,480 --> 00:09:55,040 Speaker 1: was quote, may we not infer that this prepared the 177 00:09:55,080 --> 00:09:58,000 Speaker 1: system for the trying ordeal through which it was about 178 00:09:58,040 --> 00:10:02,240 Speaker 1: to pass? Some interesting medical concept. Yeah, Well, there's like 179 00:10:02,280 --> 00:10:04,320 Speaker 1: a tiny piece of truth to it, the fact that 180 00:10:04,360 --> 00:10:07,960 Speaker 1: he had this open injury instead of it like being 181 00:10:07,960 --> 00:10:10,640 Speaker 1: a closed injury, and like his brain had room to 182 00:10:10,720 --> 00:10:14,480 Speaker 1: swell without it putting pressure on itself like that Actually 183 00:10:14,600 --> 00:10:18,960 Speaker 1: is true, but probably the massive blood luff did not 184 00:10:19,040 --> 00:10:24,000 Speaker 1: in fact make it easier overall for his body to heal. Yeah, 185 00:10:24,080 --> 00:10:27,520 Speaker 1: and Dr Harlow also was a follower of phrenology, which 186 00:10:27,520 --> 00:10:29,440 Speaker 1: you may have heard of. It's that concept that the 187 00:10:29,440 --> 00:10:31,800 Speaker 1: different parts of the skull relate to different parts of 188 00:10:31,840 --> 00:10:34,840 Speaker 1: a person's character, and that was a really common belief 189 00:10:34,880 --> 00:10:38,200 Speaker 1: at the time. Yeah, people have probably seen those pictures 190 00:10:38,240 --> 00:10:41,720 Speaker 1: of skulls that have the little um grid lines drawn 191 00:10:41,760 --> 00:10:45,640 Speaker 1: around them and they're labeled with what their particular area 192 00:10:45,720 --> 00:10:50,079 Speaker 1: pertains to in the person's behavior of personality. There were 193 00:10:50,160 --> 00:10:54,240 Speaker 1: no antibiotics or surgical disinfectants then, and handwashing before a 194 00:10:54,280 --> 00:10:58,160 Speaker 1: medical procedure was not even a standard practice. So most 195 00:10:58,200 --> 00:11:01,280 Speaker 1: of what doctor Harlow did was to clean out obvious 196 00:11:01,360 --> 00:11:05,520 Speaker 1: dirt like loose brain tissue and bone fragments out of 197 00:11:05,520 --> 00:11:08,480 Speaker 1: the wound um and to try to replace the biggest 198 00:11:08,520 --> 00:11:11,720 Speaker 1: pieces of the top of the skull, sort of put 199 00:11:11,760 --> 00:11:14,600 Speaker 1: them back in place um, and then close up the 200 00:11:14,600 --> 00:11:18,079 Speaker 1: scalp and bandage the whole thing. He also treated and 201 00:11:18,200 --> 00:11:22,840 Speaker 1: dressed some pretty extensive burns on Phineas's arms and hands. Uh. 202 00:11:23,040 --> 00:11:25,760 Speaker 1: Everyone had been so distracted by the dramatic facial and 203 00:11:25,800 --> 00:11:28,560 Speaker 1: head injury that they didn't notice his injuries at first, 204 00:11:28,559 --> 00:11:31,800 Speaker 1: but of course this was an explosion related injury, so 205 00:11:31,960 --> 00:11:34,640 Speaker 1: it makes sense that he would have had other damage. 206 00:11:35,360 --> 00:11:37,920 Speaker 1: During the first few days after his injury, Phineas did 207 00:11:37,960 --> 00:11:42,040 Speaker 1: surprisingly well. I mean, he was definitely very ill, but 208 00:11:42,200 --> 00:11:44,839 Speaker 1: he continued to ask after the work on the railroad. 209 00:11:45,000 --> 00:11:47,240 Speaker 1: He would ask who was acting as the foreman while 210 00:11:47,280 --> 00:11:51,160 Speaker 1: he wasn't there. He also declined to see his friends, 211 00:11:51,320 --> 00:11:52,719 Speaker 1: saying that he would be back at work in the 212 00:11:52,760 --> 00:11:54,880 Speaker 1: day too, so he didn't really need to have visitors. 213 00:11:55,600 --> 00:11:59,400 Speaker 1: Um the bleeding gradually slowed and he was more or 214 00:11:59,480 --> 00:12:03,240 Speaker 1: less able to sleep, but then he started to develop 215 00:12:03,320 --> 00:12:07,400 Speaker 1: abscesses and fevers and the wound became fitted. Dr Harlow's 216 00:12:07,400 --> 00:12:10,800 Speaker 1: response was to balance the humors, prescribing a medics and 217 00:12:10,880 --> 00:12:13,960 Speaker 1: lass laxatives as well as silver nitrate to treat what 218 00:12:14,040 --> 00:12:17,360 Speaker 1: he described as quote fungus, which may have actually been 219 00:12:17,440 --> 00:12:22,120 Speaker 1: fungus coming from the brain. It's pretty disgusting. Yeah, I mean, 220 00:12:22,960 --> 00:12:26,480 Speaker 1: it's not a short walk to presume that, uh uh, 221 00:12:27,120 --> 00:12:29,480 Speaker 1: the wound of this nature treated in the manner it 222 00:12:29,640 --> 00:12:33,600 Speaker 1: was would have some infection issues. Yeah. He also bled 223 00:12:33,600 --> 00:12:36,480 Speaker 1: Phineas and drained the pus from the wound, both of 224 00:12:36,520 --> 00:12:39,240 Speaker 1: which were motivated by this idea of getting rid of 225 00:12:39,280 --> 00:12:42,600 Speaker 1: the excess and balancing the humors. But of all the things, 226 00:12:42,600 --> 00:12:45,200 Speaker 1: they may have been of actual real medical use in 227 00:12:45,240 --> 00:12:48,000 Speaker 1: this case, since they would have reduced some of the 228 00:12:48,040 --> 00:12:50,840 Speaker 1: pressure going on inside of his skull and in the 229 00:12:50,840 --> 00:12:54,800 Speaker 1: case of the pus, removed infectious material from his body. 230 00:12:55,640 --> 00:12:57,800 Speaker 1: And Phineas had been able to see a little out 231 00:12:57,840 --> 00:13:00,160 Speaker 1: of his left eye for a while after the acts it, 232 00:13:00,240 --> 00:13:02,880 Speaker 1: but he did eventually lose all sight in it, along 233 00:13:02,880 --> 00:13:04,840 Speaker 1: with the ability to open it, so it's kind of 234 00:13:04,840 --> 00:13:08,880 Speaker 1: permanently shut. Right. He got a lot worse before he 235 00:13:08,920 --> 00:13:11,680 Speaker 1: started to get better, and at some points he was 236 00:13:11,800 --> 00:13:15,959 Speaker 1: nearly comatose. In September, his friends and family went ahead 237 00:13:15,960 --> 00:13:18,280 Speaker 1: and picked out a coffin and decided what clothes they 238 00:13:18,280 --> 00:13:20,200 Speaker 1: were going to give they were going to put on 239 00:13:20,280 --> 00:13:22,880 Speaker 1: him to be buried in, and at least one of 240 00:13:22,920 --> 00:13:25,400 Speaker 1: the people attending him so that they should stop treating 241 00:13:25,440 --> 00:13:29,599 Speaker 1: him since it was just prolonging the inevitable. But eventually 242 00:13:29,760 --> 00:13:33,920 Speaker 1: he started to rally and changes in his behavior began 243 00:13:33,960 --> 00:13:36,720 Speaker 1: to be apparent. While he was still under Dr Harlowe's care. 244 00:13:37,360 --> 00:13:40,800 Speaker 1: For example, on October eleven, Doctor Harlow offered him one 245 00:13:40,840 --> 00:13:44,200 Speaker 1: thousand dollars for some pebbles that he had collected, and 246 00:13:44,240 --> 00:13:48,520 Speaker 1: Phineas refused. A little later in October, when he was 247 00:13:48,640 --> 00:13:53,240 Speaker 1: really starting to improve pretty steadily after that dramatic downturn, 248 00:13:54,040 --> 00:13:56,640 Speaker 1: he decided he was ready to go home and he 249 00:13:56,679 --> 00:13:59,760 Speaker 1: planned to walk there. It was twenty miles away, so 250 00:14:00,080 --> 00:14:02,480 Speaker 1: he went out shopping for some provisions he was going 251 00:14:02,600 --> 00:14:04,880 Speaker 1: to need, and he did so in bare feet with 252 00:14:04,920 --> 00:14:09,439 Speaker 1: no coat on. So remember this was Vermont. This exposure 253 00:14:09,480 --> 00:14:11,679 Speaker 1: set him back a little bit, but by the end 254 00:14:11,720 --> 00:14:14,400 Speaker 1: of November he was able to go home to his family. 255 00:14:14,800 --> 00:14:18,319 Speaker 1: So obviously he was having some judgment issues at that point. 256 00:14:18,440 --> 00:14:20,800 Speaker 1: He you know, would turn down a large sum of 257 00:14:20,840 --> 00:14:23,480 Speaker 1: money for for some rocks, for some rocks which who 258 00:14:23,480 --> 00:14:25,200 Speaker 1: wouldn't want to take? I would take a thousand dollars 259 00:14:25,200 --> 00:14:28,040 Speaker 1: for pebbles right now? Uh. And then he put himself 260 00:14:28,040 --> 00:14:32,280 Speaker 1: in danger kind of thoughtlessly. But Dr Harlowe attended to 261 00:14:32,400 --> 00:14:35,560 Speaker 1: him for ten weeks. Uh. And then Phineas went home 262 00:14:35,600 --> 00:14:38,520 Speaker 1: to Lebanon, New Hampshire by carriage and he stayed until 263 00:14:38,560 --> 00:14:42,920 Speaker 1: April continuing to recuperate. So, of course, one of the 264 00:14:42,960 --> 00:14:46,160 Speaker 1: things I mean, apart from having his brain partially destroyed 265 00:14:46,160 --> 00:14:48,440 Speaker 1: by a giant iron rod, one of the things that 266 00:14:48,520 --> 00:14:51,680 Speaker 1: he is really famous for is for the change in 267 00:14:51,720 --> 00:14:56,480 Speaker 1: behavior that came afterwards. Um, a lot of this is 268 00:14:56,520 --> 00:14:58,960 Speaker 1: portrayed is like he just became unable to work and 269 00:14:59,040 --> 00:15:01,320 Speaker 1: unable to hold a job, and that's not really accurate. 270 00:15:01,520 --> 00:15:05,560 Speaker 1: His recuperation did continue to be pretty slow even after 271 00:15:05,600 --> 00:15:08,440 Speaker 1: he left Dr Harlowe's care, but he really wanted to 272 00:15:08,440 --> 00:15:11,880 Speaker 1: get back to work and he started working on his 273 00:15:11,960 --> 00:15:15,000 Speaker 1: parents farm. By the middle of the following year, which 274 00:15:15,080 --> 00:15:17,680 Speaker 1: was eighteen forty nine, he was barely able to do 275 00:15:17,720 --> 00:15:20,720 Speaker 1: a whole day's work there. So even as he was 276 00:15:20,800 --> 00:15:26,040 Speaker 1: recovering seemingly pretty well physically, his personality had changed. And 277 00:15:26,040 --> 00:15:29,680 Speaker 1: we described him before the accident as being very smart, competent, 278 00:15:29,800 --> 00:15:33,800 Speaker 1: and reliable, But after the accident, Dr Harlowe described him 279 00:15:33,800 --> 00:15:37,960 Speaker 1: as fitful, irreverent, indulging at times in the grossest profanity, 280 00:15:38,080 --> 00:15:42,280 Speaker 1: which had not previously been his custom manifesting but little 281 00:15:42,320 --> 00:15:45,640 Speaker 1: deference for his fellows, impatient of restraint or advice when 282 00:15:45,680 --> 00:15:50,240 Speaker 1: it conflicts with his desires at times pertinaciously obstinate, yet 283 00:15:50,240 --> 00:15:54,480 Speaker 1: capricious and vacillating, devising many plans of future operation which 284 00:15:54,480 --> 00:15:57,080 Speaker 1: are no sooner arranged than they are abandoned in turn 285 00:15:57,440 --> 00:16:01,239 Speaker 1: for others, appearing more feasible at child in his intellectual 286 00:16:01,240 --> 00:16:04,800 Speaker 1: capacity and manifestations, he has the animal passions of a 287 00:16:04,840 --> 00:16:09,920 Speaker 1: strong man. So most of what we know about Phineas's 288 00:16:09,960 --> 00:16:13,360 Speaker 1: behavior after the accident comes from Dr Harlow, and there's 289 00:16:13,400 --> 00:16:15,560 Speaker 1: a little bit of question today as to whether this 290 00:16:15,640 --> 00:16:20,120 Speaker 1: account is entirely reliable. His belief in phrenology might have 291 00:16:20,280 --> 00:16:24,440 Speaker 1: colored his perception of Phineas's behavior, especially considering that some 292 00:16:24,520 --> 00:16:28,640 Speaker 1: of his writings about him include specific phrenological terms such 293 00:16:28,680 --> 00:16:34,640 Speaker 1: as nervo bilious. But regardless even his friends and acquaintances, 294 00:16:35,640 --> 00:16:39,480 Speaker 1: we're saying that he was no longer gauge Uh. Consequently, 295 00:16:39,480 --> 00:16:41,920 Speaker 1: when he felt physically ready to return to work again, 296 00:16:42,480 --> 00:16:45,360 Speaker 1: his old employer wouldn't have him back. There's a lot 297 00:16:45,400 --> 00:16:48,360 Speaker 1: of popular writing about him today that sort of characterizes 298 00:16:48,440 --> 00:16:55,000 Speaker 1: him at this point as a completely unreliable, unemployable, violent drifter. Um. 299 00:16:55,040 --> 00:16:58,640 Speaker 1: This is completely inaccurate. He did find steady work after 300 00:16:58,680 --> 00:17:02,880 Speaker 1: he recovered, although that did not involve handling explosives anymore, 301 00:17:03,480 --> 00:17:07,200 Speaker 1: which would make sense. He went to Boston for a 302 00:17:07,240 --> 00:17:10,359 Speaker 1: while in eighteen fifty where he was under the observation 303 00:17:10,400 --> 00:17:14,119 Speaker 1: of Henry J. Bigelow of Harvard, and he presented at 304 00:17:14,119 --> 00:17:16,399 Speaker 1: the Boston He was presented at the Boston Society for 305 00:17:16,480 --> 00:17:19,600 Speaker 1: Medical Improvement and to a medical class at the hospital, 306 00:17:20,119 --> 00:17:23,200 Speaker 1: and Dr Bigelow also made a life cast of Phineas's head, 307 00:17:23,560 --> 00:17:26,880 Speaker 1: showing the outward physical damage that was still evidence even 308 00:17:26,920 --> 00:17:30,199 Speaker 1: once the initial wounds had healed. He spent some time 309 00:17:30,280 --> 00:17:33,160 Speaker 1: at Barnum's American Museum in New York City and gave 310 00:17:33,160 --> 00:17:36,280 Speaker 1: a couple of lectures and exhibitions about his accident in 311 00:17:36,359 --> 00:17:39,760 Speaker 1: the Northeast sometime in the early eighteen fifties. And this 312 00:17:39,840 --> 00:17:43,240 Speaker 1: seems to be sort of the the total of his 313 00:17:43,320 --> 00:17:47,000 Speaker 1: public display. Like sometimes people say that he traveled around 314 00:17:47,000 --> 00:17:48,840 Speaker 1: with a freak show and he became this freak show 315 00:17:48,880 --> 00:17:52,399 Speaker 1: performer um, and that seems to be an exaggeration of 316 00:17:52,400 --> 00:17:56,080 Speaker 1: what was more a couple of exhibitions or lectures that 317 00:17:56,200 --> 00:18:00,080 Speaker 1: he was in. And in early eighteen fifty one he 318 00:18:00,119 --> 00:18:02,719 Speaker 1: was hired by Jonathan Courier to work at a Livery 319 00:18:02,760 --> 00:18:05,320 Speaker 1: stable in New Hampshire, and he worked there for about 320 00:18:05,320 --> 00:18:07,879 Speaker 1: a year and a half. Then in August of eighteen 321 00:18:07,880 --> 00:18:10,440 Speaker 1: fifty two, a man who was starting a new carriage 322 00:18:10,440 --> 00:18:13,080 Speaker 1: company hired him to come work with him in Chili. 323 00:18:14,320 --> 00:18:17,080 Speaker 1: Phineas worked in a stable and drove a stagecoach in 324 00:18:17,200 --> 00:18:20,080 Speaker 1: Chili for about seven years. And we've talked about how 325 00:18:20,160 --> 00:18:22,639 Speaker 1: demanding the job of a stage coach driver is in 326 00:18:22,680 --> 00:18:27,320 Speaker 1: our recent episode about Charlie Parkhurst. So it seems as though, 327 00:18:27,520 --> 00:18:30,399 Speaker 1: contrary to some of the popular writing about him, he 328 00:18:30,440 --> 00:18:33,320 Speaker 1: did recover some of his mental abilities, or at least 329 00:18:33,359 --> 00:18:36,840 Speaker 1: adapt to life without them. Um it may even be 330 00:18:36,960 --> 00:18:39,560 Speaker 1: that the really routine work of driving the same the 331 00:18:39,600 --> 00:18:43,359 Speaker 1: same stagecoach route, day after day after day gradually helped 332 00:18:43,400 --> 00:18:47,280 Speaker 1: his brain adapt, and eventually, as his health began to fail, 333 00:18:47,800 --> 00:18:51,000 Speaker 1: he went out to San Francisco, where his family had 334 00:18:51,040 --> 00:18:53,440 Speaker 1: moved in pursuit of the gold Rush. He was pretty 335 00:18:53,480 --> 00:18:56,399 Speaker 1: sick when he got there, but he recovered somewhat and 336 00:18:56,480 --> 00:18:58,359 Speaker 1: was able to work for a while on a farm 337 00:18:58,400 --> 00:19:01,919 Speaker 1: in Santa Clara, But then he had a series of seizures. 338 00:19:02,359 --> 00:19:05,000 Speaker 1: They got more and more serious, and he died in 339 00:19:05,080 --> 00:19:08,359 Speaker 1: May of eighteen sixty He was buried on May twenty 340 00:19:08,400 --> 00:19:11,680 Speaker 1: three of that year, and there was no top. There 341 00:19:11,800 --> 00:19:15,480 Speaker 1: was no autopsy, but in eighteen sixty seven his body 342 00:19:15,560 --> 00:19:18,280 Speaker 1: was exhumed and his skull and the tamping iron were 343 00:19:18,359 --> 00:19:22,040 Speaker 1: sent to Dr Harlow, and Dr Harlow eventually sent those 344 00:19:22,080 --> 00:19:25,720 Speaker 1: to the Warren Anatomical Museum at Harvard, which already had 345 00:19:25,800 --> 00:19:28,960 Speaker 1: Dr Bigelow's life cast. So you can actually see all 346 00:19:29,000 --> 00:19:32,280 Speaker 1: three of these things at the Warren Museum Exhibition gallery 347 00:19:32,320 --> 00:19:36,479 Speaker 1: at the Countway Library of Medicine. Thanks to this skull 348 00:19:36,680 --> 00:19:39,080 Speaker 1: and a lot of modern imaging work, today we have 349 00:19:39,160 --> 00:19:43,280 Speaker 1: a much better idea of the exact extent of Phineas's injuries, 350 00:19:43,760 --> 00:19:47,320 Speaker 1: especially where the rod went. Besides the obvious through his head, 351 00:19:48,280 --> 00:19:53,000 Speaker 1: his skull was damaged in multiple places uh you would expect, 352 00:19:53,080 --> 00:19:55,320 Speaker 1: under the cheekbone, at the back of the eye socket, 353 00:19:55,600 --> 00:19:57,880 Speaker 1: and the top of his head. And so he lived 354 00:19:57,920 --> 00:19:59,639 Speaker 1: for the rest of his life with parts of his 355 00:19:59,680 --> 00:20:04,400 Speaker 1: skull missing entirely, including a pretty significant sized patch from 356 00:20:04,400 --> 00:20:07,280 Speaker 1: the top of his head. A number of researchers have 357 00:20:07,359 --> 00:20:10,359 Speaker 1: tried to tackle the question of exactly how the rod 358 00:20:10,400 --> 00:20:13,919 Speaker 1: traveled through his head and brain, and exactly what parts 359 00:20:13,920 --> 00:20:17,040 Speaker 1: of his brain were damaged, because some of the holes 360 00:20:17,119 --> 00:20:19,960 Speaker 1: that were in his skull were smaller than the diameter 361 00:20:20,000 --> 00:20:22,040 Speaker 1: of the rod, which, like the one under his cheekbone, 362 00:20:22,080 --> 00:20:24,520 Speaker 1: was smaller than the rod was, and then the one 363 00:20:24,560 --> 00:20:27,120 Speaker 1: at the top of his head was a lot bigger. UM. 364 00:20:27,160 --> 00:20:29,600 Speaker 1: A lot of their findings didn't really agree with one 365 00:20:29,640 --> 00:20:33,720 Speaker 1: another until we developed tools like CT scans to look 366 00:20:33,720 --> 00:20:36,840 Speaker 1: at the skull itself UM and m R eyes of 367 00:20:37,119 --> 00:20:40,320 Speaker 1: living people's brains to create kind of a model for 368 00:20:40,400 --> 00:20:43,840 Speaker 1: what gauges might have looked like. In two thousand four, 369 00:20:44,080 --> 00:20:46,879 Speaker 1: researchers use set scans of the skull to create a 370 00:20:46,960 --> 00:20:51,120 Speaker 1: three D representation of Phineasa's skull to try to determine 371 00:20:51,200 --> 00:20:54,919 Speaker 1: exactly where the damage occurred, and their conclusion factors in 372 00:20:55,000 --> 00:20:57,520 Speaker 1: that some of the bone at the entry wound must 373 00:20:57,520 --> 00:20:59,560 Speaker 1: have moved out of the way almost like a hinge, 374 00:21:00,040 --> 00:21:03,320 Speaker 1: and then close back down and later healed over since 375 00:21:03,359 --> 00:21:05,639 Speaker 1: the entry wound on the skull under the cheekbone is 376 00:21:05,720 --> 00:21:09,919 Speaker 1: smaller than the rod itself. In a team of researchers 377 00:21:10,000 --> 00:21:13,080 Speaker 1: led by John Darryl Van Horne published a paper called 378 00:21:13,520 --> 00:21:17,439 Speaker 1: Mapping Connectivity Damage in the case of Phineas Gage. It 379 00:21:17,600 --> 00:21:20,600 Speaker 1: used all kinds of medical imaging techniques to map out 380 00:21:20,640 --> 00:21:23,360 Speaker 1: exactly which parts of the brain would have been damaged, 381 00:21:23,400 --> 00:21:25,119 Speaker 1: and this is where they used m R eyes of 382 00:21:25,240 --> 00:21:28,119 Speaker 1: other patients to to sort of work up a model. 383 00:21:28,760 --> 00:21:31,560 Speaker 1: Their findings are in p l OS one, so you 384 00:21:31,560 --> 00:21:34,720 Speaker 1: can read them online for free, and at this point 385 00:21:34,760 --> 00:21:38,120 Speaker 1: most of the modern computational studies agree that the damage 386 00:21:38,160 --> 00:21:42,320 Speaker 1: was really confined to the left frontal lobe. Phineas became 387 00:21:42,359 --> 00:21:46,040 Speaker 1: really famous in the world of neuropsychology today. He's a 388 00:21:46,119 --> 00:21:50,600 Speaker 1: case study in many many psychology and neuroscience textbooks in 389 00:21:50,720 --> 00:21:53,440 Speaker 1: chapters about how an injury to the brain can change 390 00:21:53,440 --> 00:21:57,000 Speaker 1: a person's personality. But a lot of the writing about 391 00:21:57,040 --> 00:22:00,679 Speaker 1: him today really sort of retroactively give his story a 392 00:22:00,680 --> 00:22:03,720 Speaker 1: lot of credit for everything from lobotomyes to how doctors 393 00:22:03,720 --> 00:22:07,679 Speaker 1: diagnosed tumors and people's frontal lobes based on changes in 394 00:22:07,720 --> 00:22:10,600 Speaker 1: their behavior. But a lot of this is really hindsight 395 00:22:10,800 --> 00:22:14,600 Speaker 1: and sometimes it's uh kind of pulled out of thin air. 396 00:22:15,000 --> 00:22:16,880 Speaker 1: There's a little bit of making things up going on. 397 00:22:17,280 --> 00:22:20,800 Speaker 1: So his accident, the fact that he survived it, and 398 00:22:20,840 --> 00:22:23,560 Speaker 1: the fact that he basically recovered and lived for more 399 00:22:23,560 --> 00:22:27,359 Speaker 1: than eleven more years. All of that definitely contributed to 400 00:22:27,400 --> 00:22:31,320 Speaker 1: the fields of neurosurgery and neuropsychology, and and they were 401 00:22:31,320 --> 00:22:34,920 Speaker 1: on their own pretty incredible. He really was long dead 402 00:22:35,040 --> 00:22:38,840 Speaker 1: by the time surgery and sterilization techniques progressed to the 403 00:22:38,880 --> 00:22:43,480 Speaker 1: point that neurosurgery surgery was even a survivable event. And 404 00:22:43,520 --> 00:22:46,040 Speaker 1: a lot of the writing about him also ascribes what 405 00:22:46,119 --> 00:22:48,960 Speaker 1: we later learned about lobotomy and brain tumor patients to 406 00:22:49,040 --> 00:22:53,119 Speaker 1: Phineas himself, sort of applying other people's behavior after the 407 00:22:53,160 --> 00:22:55,960 Speaker 1: destruction of their frontal lobes to phineas his behavior when 408 00:22:56,000 --> 00:23:00,080 Speaker 1: he lived. But these descriptions which we mentioned before that 409 00:23:00,119 --> 00:23:02,600 Speaker 1: he became violent and shiftless and couldn't hold a job, 410 00:23:03,040 --> 00:23:05,320 Speaker 1: they just don't match up with the descriptions of people 411 00:23:05,400 --> 00:23:08,120 Speaker 1: that actually examined him and until that were around him. 412 00:23:08,240 --> 00:23:11,480 Speaker 1: He kind of gets conflated with descriptions of other patients 413 00:23:11,520 --> 00:23:16,000 Speaker 1: with completely different conditions that also involved their frontal lobe 414 00:23:16,000 --> 00:23:19,199 Speaker 1: in some way. Yeah, their symptoms get attributed to his 415 00:23:19,280 --> 00:23:22,600 Speaker 1: behavior or ascribed to his behavior when they weren't really 416 00:23:22,640 --> 00:23:26,200 Speaker 1: going on. A lot of people also cite him as 417 00:23:26,280 --> 00:23:29,359 Speaker 1: one of the patients who helped neurologists figure out that 418 00:23:29,480 --> 00:23:32,320 Speaker 1: different parts of our brains do different jobs, and this 419 00:23:32,520 --> 00:23:36,200 Speaker 1: definitely was not the case at the time. UM. Doctors 420 00:23:36,240 --> 00:23:38,560 Speaker 1: really knew very little about the brain, and there were 421 00:23:38,600 --> 00:23:42,600 Speaker 1: two contradictory and competing theories. One was that the brain 422 00:23:42,960 --> 00:23:46,560 Speaker 1: was basically this undifferentiated thing with all of the parts 423 00:23:46,600 --> 00:23:49,880 Speaker 1: of the brain able to handle any task, and the other, 424 00:23:50,160 --> 00:23:53,639 Speaker 1: which included the phrenologists that we've talked about before, believe 425 00:23:53,720 --> 00:23:57,359 Speaker 1: that different locations in the brain had different functions. Both 426 00:23:57,440 --> 00:24:00,639 Speaker 1: of these groups claimed that Gauge was supporting their theory. 427 00:24:01,080 --> 00:24:04,240 Speaker 1: The people who thought that the brain could do anything 428 00:24:04,320 --> 00:24:07,680 Speaker 1: from any part, we're like, well, he survived, clearly all 429 00:24:07,720 --> 00:24:10,200 Speaker 1: the other parts of the brain made up for it. UM. 430 00:24:10,240 --> 00:24:12,800 Speaker 1: And the people who thought that the different parts of 431 00:24:12,800 --> 00:24:16,320 Speaker 1: the brain had different functions were like, well, his behavior changed, 432 00:24:16,440 --> 00:24:21,560 Speaker 1: so clearly he supports our theory. UM. So this did 433 00:24:21,600 --> 00:24:24,080 Speaker 1: add to the whole field and the whole world of 434 00:24:24,119 --> 00:24:26,280 Speaker 1: things that we know about the brain. But there are 435 00:24:26,320 --> 00:24:29,280 Speaker 1: other doctors and other patients who actually had a much 436 00:24:29,320 --> 00:24:32,679 Speaker 1: bigger impact on this idea that the different parts of 437 00:24:32,680 --> 00:24:36,800 Speaker 1: the brains do different things. In particular, Dr Kyl Wernicky 438 00:24:36,880 --> 00:24:40,080 Speaker 1: and Dr Paul Broca, who each worked with patients who 439 00:24:40,119 --> 00:24:44,000 Speaker 1: have had damage to specific areas that affected their ability 440 00:24:44,040 --> 00:24:48,160 Speaker 1: to use language. So Wernicky and broke Out have parts 441 00:24:48,160 --> 00:24:50,200 Speaker 1: of the brain named after them based on their research. 442 00:24:50,800 --> 00:24:55,119 Speaker 1: Um without those kind of developments, we we could not 443 00:24:55,200 --> 00:24:57,080 Speaker 1: have jumped to the idea that different parts of the 444 00:24:57,080 --> 00:25:01,760 Speaker 1: brain did different things just based on anas Gauges case right, 445 00:25:02,359 --> 00:25:04,760 Speaker 1: And we do have a couple of pictures of Phineas Gauge. 446 00:25:05,200 --> 00:25:08,879 Speaker 1: Vintage photo collectors Jack and Beverly Wilgas acquired one somewhere 447 00:25:08,920 --> 00:25:11,760 Speaker 1: along the line. Yeah, I don't really remember where. They 448 00:25:11,760 --> 00:25:14,560 Speaker 1: put it on Flicker in two thousand seven, and eventually 449 00:25:14,680 --> 00:25:18,640 Speaker 1: Internet chatter identified it as likely be engaged, and this 450 00:25:18,680 --> 00:25:21,800 Speaker 1: was eventually confirmed by matching the photo to the life 451 00:25:21,800 --> 00:25:24,919 Speaker 1: cast that set the museum and Gauge. His family released 452 00:25:24,920 --> 00:25:30,560 Speaker 1: another picture in the life mask of Phineas's head and 453 00:25:30,640 --> 00:25:33,359 Speaker 1: his skull and the tamping iron are all at Warren 454 00:25:33,400 --> 00:25:37,720 Speaker 1: Anatomical Museum at Harvard Medical School. The rod has this inscription, 455 00:25:38,640 --> 00:25:40,760 Speaker 1: this is the bar that was shot through the head 456 00:25:40,800 --> 00:25:45,840 Speaker 1: of Mr Phineas P. Gauge at Cavendish, Vermont, September You 457 00:25:45,960 --> 00:25:48,600 Speaker 1: fully recovered from the injury and deposited this bar in 458 00:25:48,640 --> 00:25:52,200 Speaker 1: the museum at the Medical College of Harvard University. UH. 459 00:25:52,200 --> 00:25:54,119 Speaker 1: And then there is a name and some other dating. 460 00:25:54,480 --> 00:25:57,040 Speaker 1: So what's funny. There's a couple of funny things about this. 461 00:25:57,080 --> 00:25:59,520 Speaker 1: One is that his name is spelled wrong, and the 462 00:25:59,560 --> 00:26:02,960 Speaker 1: other is the the date is wrong and exactly how 463 00:26:03,000 --> 00:26:05,159 Speaker 1: this all came to be as kind of lost to history. 464 00:26:06,080 --> 00:26:09,719 Speaker 1: At some point he gave the rod to Harvard's Medical 465 00:26:09,760 --> 00:26:12,560 Speaker 1: school museum, and then he asked for it back in 466 00:26:12,600 --> 00:26:16,040 Speaker 1: eighteen fifty four, but the inscription is dated eighteen fifty 467 00:26:16,119 --> 00:26:18,040 Speaker 1: so this is all sort of in addition to being 468 00:26:18,119 --> 00:26:21,680 Speaker 1: kind of weird and misspelled. It calls into question this 469 00:26:22,280 --> 00:26:25,920 Speaker 1: uh frequent thing that you may hear about Phineas, which 470 00:26:25,920 --> 00:26:28,359 Speaker 1: is that he carried the rod around with him forever 471 00:26:28,480 --> 00:26:32,320 Speaker 1: after the accident. Clearly he did not do that, UM. 472 00:26:32,400 --> 00:26:35,320 Speaker 1: But clearly he also did want it because he asked 473 00:26:35,320 --> 00:26:38,320 Speaker 1: for it back from Harvard, so that's a little unclear 474 00:26:38,400 --> 00:26:41,639 Speaker 1: at this point. There's also a commemorative plaque in the 475 00:26:41,680 --> 00:26:45,040 Speaker 1: ca in Cavendish, Vermont, UH and it was unveiled on 476 00:26:45,080 --> 00:26:50,440 Speaker 1: September thirteenth, which was the fiftieth anniversary of Phineas's accident. 477 00:26:50,880 --> 00:26:53,639 Speaker 1: There's also a book called An Odd Kind of Fame, 478 00:26:53,880 --> 00:26:57,240 Speaker 1: Stories of Phineas Gage by Malcolm McMillan. It's not the 479 00:26:57,320 --> 00:26:59,720 Speaker 1: only book about him, but it came out in in 480 00:26:59,760 --> 00:27:02,280 Speaker 1: the r two thousand and it gives a really thorough 481 00:27:02,359 --> 00:27:05,399 Speaker 1: history of Phineas and accident um and it debunks a 482 00:27:05,400 --> 00:27:08,520 Speaker 1: lot of the popular perception of him and his life 483 00:27:08,560 --> 00:27:12,080 Speaker 1: and how he behaved afterward. So it is I think 484 00:27:12,119 --> 00:27:15,440 Speaker 1: the most thorough work on him that you can get 485 00:27:15,440 --> 00:27:17,880 Speaker 1: in one place today. Yeah, which is good because there's 486 00:27:17,960 --> 00:27:20,639 Speaker 1: a lot of mythology that's growing and I understand how 487 00:27:20,640 --> 00:27:24,760 Speaker 1: that happens. It's such a bizarre phenomenal thing. Yeah, it's 488 00:27:24,800 --> 00:27:30,040 Speaker 1: easy to then accept some other pretty incredible details about 489 00:27:30,040 --> 00:27:32,280 Speaker 1: the story, right well, and it's it's one of those 490 00:27:32,280 --> 00:27:34,640 Speaker 1: stories that now it's it's almost as interesting for how 491 00:27:34,640 --> 00:27:38,760 Speaker 1: it became this sort of neuroscience juggernaut as for the 492 00:27:38,760 --> 00:27:43,920 Speaker 1: actual accident that happened. So yes, fascinating And he escage 493 00:27:44,320 --> 00:27:48,119 Speaker 1: hundred and sixty five years ago a tamping rod had 494 00:27:48,160 --> 00:27:53,560 Speaker 1: a little accident through his entire skull. Do you also 495 00:27:53,600 --> 00:27:56,159 Speaker 1: have listener mail for our enjoyment? I do this is 496 00:27:56,240 --> 00:27:59,879 Speaker 1: from Elizabeth, and Elizabeth says, I was so excited for 497 00:28:00,000 --> 00:28:03,440 Speaker 1: your Charlie Park first podcast. I've spent many years working 498 00:28:03,440 --> 00:28:07,320 Speaker 1: in the mountains of Santa Cruz practicing forestry and timber harvesting. 499 00:28:07,720 --> 00:28:09,399 Speaker 1: I thought I would give you some background on the 500 00:28:09,440 --> 00:28:12,600 Speaker 1: area to add some flavor to your image of Charlie. 501 00:28:13,000 --> 00:28:16,399 Speaker 1: The Santa Cruz Mountains in the eighteen hundreds were absolutely formidable. 502 00:28:16,920 --> 00:28:20,280 Speaker 1: In California, we have mountains that to Georgia style mountains 503 00:28:20,400 --> 00:28:24,600 Speaker 1: for breakfast. The Santa Cruz Mountains are really steep. There's 504 00:28:24,680 --> 00:28:27,440 Speaker 1: random cracks in the earth from earthquakes, cliffs, and any 505 00:28:27,600 --> 00:28:30,760 Speaker 1: water course essentially has a steep inner gorge surrounding it. 506 00:28:31,200 --> 00:28:33,439 Speaker 1: In the winter, we get rained from about November to 507 00:28:33,520 --> 00:28:36,080 Speaker 1: April and it just rained the whole time. Even in 508 00:28:36,119 --> 00:28:39,800 Speaker 1: the modern era, roads are slick, mudflides are a huge problem, 509 00:28:40,120 --> 00:28:43,520 Speaker 1: rivers become torrents, and remote mountains homes routinely get cut 510 00:28:43,560 --> 00:28:47,200 Speaker 1: off from civilization. Add to all that, in the eighteen hundreds, 511 00:28:47,200 --> 00:28:51,280 Speaker 1: mountain lions and bears routinely roamed the area. Santa Cruz 512 00:28:51,320 --> 00:28:54,880 Speaker 1: has always been slightly off from the larger San Francisco 513 00:28:54,960 --> 00:28:57,920 Speaker 1: Bay to the north, and the moderate. The Montery area 514 00:28:58,000 --> 00:28:59,920 Speaker 1: was difficult to get to as well because it s 515 00:29:00,000 --> 00:29:04,240 Speaker 1: stu aries. The current main road over the hill is 516 00:29:04,240 --> 00:29:08,240 Speaker 1: referred to as Killer seventeen because it is incredibly windy, steep, narrow, 517 00:29:08,280 --> 00:29:12,440 Speaker 1: and for a long time had no median divider. Back 518 00:29:12,440 --> 00:29:15,400 Speaker 1: in the olden days, whips and stagecoach companies used to 519 00:29:15,440 --> 00:29:18,080 Speaker 1: find the roads and passages quote over the hill and 520 00:29:18,120 --> 00:29:21,040 Speaker 1: try to outdo each other transporting people over the rough terrain. 521 00:29:21,400 --> 00:29:23,400 Speaker 1: One of the places I worked as a road prism 522 00:29:23,480 --> 00:29:25,720 Speaker 1: that was one of these stagecoach roads and is still 523 00:29:25,760 --> 00:29:28,720 Speaker 1: a visible road cut through the woods, slide slopes of 524 00:29:29,720 --> 00:29:32,240 Speaker 1: and then randomly nice flat road. You can still drive 525 00:29:32,320 --> 00:29:35,240 Speaker 1: small truck on. One thing you forgot to mention in 526 00:29:35,240 --> 00:29:38,120 Speaker 1: the podcast, maybe because you were not aware that is 527 00:29:38,160 --> 00:29:41,240 Speaker 1: the reason. In fact, there was another Mountain Charlie in 528 00:29:41,280 --> 00:29:43,400 Speaker 1: the area that was maybe more famous in the Santa 529 00:29:43,400 --> 00:29:47,640 Speaker 1: Cruz area. There's even a Mount Charlie road named after him. 530 00:29:47,680 --> 00:29:50,800 Speaker 1: He was another grizzled tough whip who lost an eye 531 00:29:50,880 --> 00:29:53,280 Speaker 1: when it was swiped in a fight with a fare 532 00:29:53,960 --> 00:29:57,000 Speaker 1: Although he couldn't drive teams anywhere, he set up a 533 00:29:57,040 --> 00:30:00,479 Speaker 1: toll on one of his passages over the hill. Uh, 534 00:30:00,520 --> 00:30:03,520 Speaker 1: and then she sends a link to that mountain, Charlie. 535 00:30:03,600 --> 00:30:08,840 Speaker 1: So number one, thank you, Elizabeth. Um. Well, I have 536 00:30:08,960 --> 00:30:11,320 Speaker 1: not been to the Santa Cruz Mountains in particular, but 537 00:30:11,400 --> 00:30:14,840 Speaker 1: I have driven up to Lake Arrowhead in California a 538 00:30:14,840 --> 00:30:17,840 Speaker 1: couple of times for Maximum con um and it is 539 00:30:17,880 --> 00:30:21,200 Speaker 1: definitely a whole different experience from the Appalachian Mountains, which 540 00:30:21,240 --> 00:30:23,680 Speaker 1: I am much more used to. And what's deceptive is 541 00:30:23,720 --> 00:30:26,240 Speaker 1: that it starts out feeling a whole lot like I've 542 00:30:26,280 --> 00:30:29,120 Speaker 1: already going up to Asheville, except it it keeps going, 543 00:30:29,360 --> 00:30:31,480 Speaker 1: and it goes and goes and goes some more, and 544 00:30:31,480 --> 00:30:33,280 Speaker 1: then it keeps going and then you look down and 545 00:30:33,280 --> 00:30:37,960 Speaker 1: there's clouds under you, and it's a little alarming and weird. Um. 546 00:30:38,000 --> 00:30:40,320 Speaker 1: I have never driven it. I think I have driven. 547 00:30:40,720 --> 00:30:43,560 Speaker 1: I've been in a vehicle with my parents driving through it. 548 00:30:44,160 --> 00:30:48,000 Speaker 1: I remember being rather terrified. Yeah, I'm a little bit 549 00:30:48,040 --> 00:30:50,440 Speaker 1: of a nervous Nellie in the car sometimes. Well. And 550 00:30:50,480 --> 00:30:52,800 Speaker 1: the you know, if if any of you have ever 551 00:30:52,880 --> 00:30:56,480 Speaker 1: heard of maximun con it's a the Maximum Fund podcast network, 552 00:30:56,480 --> 00:30:59,200 Speaker 1: I thing that they have every year. Um. And there 553 00:30:59,240 --> 00:31:01,680 Speaker 1: was a lot of this shin on the forums about, Hey, 554 00:31:01,720 --> 00:31:04,040 Speaker 1: I hear this road is really terrifying to drive on. 555 00:31:04,280 --> 00:31:06,840 Speaker 1: And uh, you know, I said, I used to drive 556 00:31:06,880 --> 00:31:09,240 Speaker 1: to Asheville and back. Will I be okay? And people like, oh, yeah, 557 00:31:09,280 --> 00:31:10,840 Speaker 1: sure you'll be fine, and they were right. I mean, 558 00:31:10,840 --> 00:31:13,520 Speaker 1: I was pretty much fine, but there was this moment 559 00:31:13,560 --> 00:31:17,760 Speaker 1: when I sort of saw down how extremely high up 560 00:31:17,760 --> 00:31:21,760 Speaker 1: I was. For a brief second, you were not fine. Yeah. 561 00:31:21,960 --> 00:31:24,120 Speaker 1: And then last the last time that I went, I 562 00:31:24,200 --> 00:31:27,160 Speaker 1: made a wrong turn and wound up just sort of 563 00:31:27,240 --> 00:31:29,600 Speaker 1: on this road that was running along the ridge in 564 00:31:29,680 --> 00:31:32,840 Speaker 1: the mountains there for a really long time. And that 565 00:31:32,920 --> 00:31:36,480 Speaker 1: was that was definitely a little alarming. So yes, thank 566 00:31:36,520 --> 00:31:40,000 Speaker 1: you Elizabeth for writing to us. We definitely did not 567 00:31:40,240 --> 00:31:42,960 Speaker 1: hear about the other mountains Charley um in our research, 568 00:31:43,040 --> 00:31:45,440 Speaker 1: and it's so many great details about the area. It 569 00:31:45,520 --> 00:31:48,280 Speaker 1: really does help contextualize at all. And yeah, we pretty 570 00:31:48,320 --> 00:31:50,320 Speaker 1: much said this was terrifying, but we didn't know a 571 00:31:50,320 --> 00:31:56,200 Speaker 1: lot of terrifying tail I'm extra terrified. I while I 572 00:31:56,200 --> 00:31:58,480 Speaker 1: would like to be a lighthousekeeper, I do not want 573 00:31:58,480 --> 00:32:02,959 Speaker 1: to be a stage coach driver in the Santa Cruz Mountain. Okay, 574 00:32:03,000 --> 00:32:06,280 Speaker 1: if you would like to write to us about stage 575 00:32:06,320 --> 00:32:11,320 Speaker 1: coaches or crazy industrial accidents, maybe not that, or anything 576 00:32:11,320 --> 00:32:14,840 Speaker 1: else you can. 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