393

FOREIGN DEPARTMENT.

FATAL ABSCESS OF TIIE NECK, IN CONSE-

QUENCE OF A BONE BEING SWALLOWED.*

fHE following case was recently read tothe faculty of medicine of Paris, by Dr.Gilbert :—

.1 young man, twenty-four years old,swallowed a piece of bone, which gave himvery severe pain in traversing the pharynx;he thought, however, that the bone had de-scended tnto the stomach since attemptshad been made to push it down with a pro-bang, and food had been swallowed since.The pain, however, continued in the partof the neck where it first began, and itincreased so, that it soon became impracti-cable to swallow. Symptoms of oesopha-gitis came on, which were treated with ge-ueral and local bloodletting, On the seventhday, the patient, in a slight effort of vomit-ing brought up a small portion of bloodyand purulent matter ; and in the stools,lobules of pus were recognised. It was

suspected that an abscess had formed, andthat the matter was evacuated by the stools ;the pain ceased; the patient could drinkwith ease. At the end of two days, au at-tack of fever came on, which, ou the thir-teenth, terminated fatally.On opening the body, it was found that,

at the junction of the pharynx with the

(esophagus, the mucous membrane had beentraversed by a bone which had given rise onthe left side of the neck, under the deeplaver of muscles, to a large abscess, in whichthe bone could be distinguished. M. Gibertotrd two analogous cases ; one of which wascommunicated to him by Dr. Corby, andwhich terminated fatally ; the other by M.Fdteaa, in which the bone fortunately de-scended into the stomach, and escaped peranum, but was not extracted from this open-lag, without a great deal of pain.

’ Archives Generates de Médecine. MM;

CASE OF CONTINUED PRESSURE ON THE

MEDULLA OBLONGATA. BY PROFESSOR

HENHOSSEK.

(Med. Jahrbuch des K. Ocsterich. Staates.tom. iii. cap. 1.)

A young man, twenty-four years of age,was found dead in the public road, withoutt!.eleast trace of violence being perceptibleon the body : he was thin, not taller than a

of twelve years, and presented no signsof puberty, either on the face, or the organs’-. K’teration. The bones of the cranium

were thick, as compared with the develop-ment of the other parts of the body ; themeninges were gorged with blood ; thecerebral substance was hard, and containeda good deal of blood; each lateral ventriclecontained half an ounce of serum. Theodontoid process-of the second vertebra waspreternaturally long ; the head of this pro-cess was more developed than usual, andits apex was attached to the edge of theforamen magnum, by means of a ligamentdirected horizontally forwards. In conse-

quence of this anormal condition of the

parts, the occipital foramen was contractedone half, and, consequently, the medulla

oblongata compressed and impeded in its

development. The right lung was more-over ocdematous, and the left adhering tothe parietes of the chest. The heart was

very large, and covered with fat. The liverand spleen adhered to the parietes of theabdomen, and the stomach was distendedwith a quantity of aliment; its internalcoat was red.

For several years this lad had been SUb4ject to a great deal of anxiety, and also tosuch loud palpitations of the heart, that theycould be heard at a distance. Death, inthis instance, was the result of apoplexy.Professor Lpnhossek attributes the con-

tinuance of childhood in this case, and theother affections, to the size of the odontoidprocess ; but it may well be doubted, svle-ther the large development of the processwas not rather an effect, than the cause ofa diseased state of body, viz, of rachitis.

SUPPRESSION OF THE SECRETION OF URINE

FOR MORE THAN SEVEN WEEKS.

(Journal der Pnact. Heilkunde.)Dr. Racum, of Riga, relates a case of this

nature, which he observed on a child oftwelve years; the secretion of the urinewas suppressed, without the general healthof the child being disturbed ; and, onintroduction of a catheter, not a drop ofwater escaped. The secretion of the urinereturned, with the administration of tur-

pentine and balsam of copaiba, and frictions,with oil of turpentine in the lumbar region.

DESCRIPTION OF CERTAIN ORGANS IN A

YOUNG LION. BY DR. JOS. JUL. CZER-

MAK, DEMONSTRATOR OF ANATOMY.

At the University of Vienna.* , The following parts were attentively ex-amined by Dr. Czermak, in a lion four days

! after birth, viz., the pupillary membrane,the Eustachian valve, foramen ovale, and

Med.Jahrbück, desk. oester. Staates ;t. iii. call.