Medicine: Electric Arms & Hands

To the 2,000 doctors attending last week's assembly of the International College of Surgeons in Madrid, one of the most interesting exhibits was a one-legged man who was darting around a stone pavement, cutting intricate figures on roller skates. He had been fitted with an artificial leg, and taught to use it, by Dr. Henry H. Kessler of Newark, N. J.

To Kessler and other orthopedists, the rehabilitation of a man with a missing leg is fairly simple. A missing arm or hand is far more of a challenge. Kessler told the assembled surgeons about progress in electrical substitutes. Here the crucial...