NAME___________________________________________________

PD _______

PHINEAS GAGE
A GRUESOME BUT TRUE STORY ABOUT BRAIN SCIENCE
At almost _____________ in the afternoon on September _____, _________. Phineas is the
___________________ of a track construction gang that is in the process of blasting a
________________________
right -of -way through granite bedrock near the small town of
Cavendish,
_______________________.
Describe Phineas. Age _________ Marital Status________________ Height __________
According
to his doctor, Phineas possessed an iron _____________ with an iron
___________________
How
days long does it take for the accident to kill him? __________ years ________ months ________
Even though it seems like Phineas has made a full recovery, what about him has changed?
Building a railroad in ________________ is _________________ work. There are no _________________
or
power shovels to pen a way through Vermonts Green Mountains for the
____________________&
__________________________ Railroad. Phineass men work with _______________,
_________________, and rock drills. Phineass special skill is ________________________________.
With
well
carries
theplaced charges of black gun-powder, he shatters rock.

To set those charges, he

special tool of the blasting trade, his _______________________________ __________________. A

tamping iron is for the ___________________________ job of setting _______________________.
Phineas had his tamping iron made to order : __________ feet _______ inches Weighs _____ lbs.
What is his task? ___________________________________________________
They follow a strict routine.
1)grained______________________.
His assistant charges each new hole by filling the bottom with coarse2)fusePhineas
down. uses the narrow end of his iron to carefully press the ________________________
3)a ____________.
The assistant then ___________ up the rest of the hole with ________________ sand to act as
4)the blast
Phineas will tamp the sand tight to ______________ up the explosion, _____________________
5)

downward into the rock to __________________________ it.

In
short,
pour
the Phineas and his assistant have done this a thousand times _____________ the powder,
____________,
tamp the _________________ plug, ____________________ a ____________________, light
the
fuse, and ___________________ like mad.
What goes wrong this time?
What is it that witnesses do not agree about?

NAME___________________________________________________

PD _______

Someone
or something distracts Phineas. Phineas turns his head to glance over his right
shoulder. BLAM!
The
drill hole acts like ____________ barrel. Instead of a bullet, it _______________Phineass
____________
straight
upward.The
iron shrieks through the air and comes down with a loud clang
_____________
feet away.
It
takes a fraction of a fraction of a second for the ______________ rod to pass from the
____________________
to ______________________________, through and through. Phineas is still ALIVE.
The
iron throws him __________________ on his back, but as his men come running through the
gunpowder
smoke,
he sits up. A minute later, he ___________________. Blood is pouring down his face from
his forehead,
but Phineas is talking about the _____________________________.
p.

8 How does Dr. Williams find Phineas nearly thirty minutes after the accident?

Who tells the correct story and identifies the wound entry point?
At one hour after the accident how is Phineas?
Phineas should have been dead long before now.
1)

A ______________________ pound _________________ rod through the head

2)

He should have died of ______________ soon after reaching Cavendish.

3)

Hes lost a lot of _____________________.

4)

Phineas should have died of ________________ swelling.

p. 10 How does having an open brain injury help Phineas?

What is the bad news about an open brain: injury?
p. notion
11 that
No one in Cavendish in 1848, no scientist in America or Europe, has the slightest
___________________________ causes ____________________________.
p. Phineas
15 None
of the
is saved
by progress of scientists will do Phineas a bit of good back in 1848. Instead
good
__________________ and good __________________. Dr. Harlow follows the best
__________________
advice of his _________________.
Keep the wound __________________ but
___________________watch
for
________________________.
Fourteen days after the accident an abscess is ______________ and
drained.
His
wound
is redressed. Phineasand
is saved by his ______________________, iron
___________________________,
Dr. Harlows good nursing.

NAME___________________________________________________

PD _______

p. Phineass
20 When
Phineas returns
for his
final
examination, Dr Harlow has private doubts about
________--state.
He just
is not
himself.
How do the railroad employers feel about the future of his employment?
Describe characteristics of the new Phineas.
Who wants Phineas Gage to come for a visit?
p.65 What is the job of the two halves of the brain that meet in your head?
What abilities are these?
p.

70 What does the case of Phineas Gage suggest that we are hard wired to be?

p. behind?
74 What was held in 1998 in the town of Cavendish, Vermont? What did they leave
p. 75 According to the author was Phineas Gage lucky? Explain your answer using the book.