4
82 edges of the wound having been brought into contact by straps of adhesive plaster, the woman was taken back to the ward and put to bed, at which time she expressed herself so much more easy; at the expiration of two hours she had a copious fecnlent evacuation and several others in the course of a few following hours. From that time to the present (April 15,)she has been free from pain ; her bowels con- tinued relaxed and there has not been the slightest return of the obstruction, April 15th:—During the past week there have been thirteen accidents admitted into this Hospital, among- which were two caes of fractured ribs; a case of fractured scapula ; a fractured thigh; a severe case of burn; cut throat; frac- tured radius laceration of scalp, fractured leg and thigh (same man); dislocation ofthe hume- rus: and a case .of concussion. The subject of this case, THOMAS TUCKWOOD, a young’ man, was admitted under the care of Mr. MORGAN, on Friday last. At the time of his admission, April 8th, he was in a comatose state, his pupils slightly dilated ; if spoken to sharply would an- swer ; his pulse slow and la- bouring; when roused com- plained of excessive pain in the forehead, the, part where he had received the blow, and which blow was occasioned by the falling* of a very heavy bed-post. Immediately after his admission he was bled to the extent of 3 xiv., and twenty leeches were applied to the temples; the loss of blood by these means pro- duced considerable relief, the drowsiness no longer exi sted the pulse became more free, and the pain of the forehead nearly gone. On the following day however this pain returned with great severity, when thirty’ additional leeches were applied to the temples: likewise some cathartic pills composed of hy- drarg. submur et extra colo- cynth. comp. which had been given on the previous day were repeated, the loss of blood from the leeches and its determination to the intestinal canal, from the irritation of the cathartic, toge- ther contributed to ease the bead, and in the afterrloon the pain subsided. Since Saturday, no symptoms have appeared worthy of notice, he has been kept on a low diet, and the pur- gative pills occasionally repeat- ed. This man is rapidly recover- ing from the eflects of the acci- dent. ST. THOMAS’S HOSPITAL. April 15. HENRY PRINCE, the little child from whom Mr. TRAVERS extracted a urinary calculus, on the 12th ultimo, has now per- fectly recovered from the effects of the operation, and is entirely free from symptoms of stone. In giving the concluding’ notice or this child’s case we cannot refrain from pointing out to the benevolent governors of Saint Thomas’s the forlorn and hope- less prospect of this poor little infant. Through their benevo. lence and the skill of their medical officers, he is restor- ecl to -health, but if their kindness be not extended be-

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Page 1: ST. THOMAS'S HOSPITAL

82

edges of the wound having beenbrought into contact by strapsof adhesive plaster, the womanwas taken back to the ward andput to bed, at which time sheexpressed herself so much moreeasy; at the expiration of twohours she had a copious fecnlentevacuation and several others inthe course of a few followinghours. From that time to thepresent (April 15,)she has beenfree from pain ; her bowels con-tinued relaxed and there has notbeen the slightest return of theobstruction,April 15th:—During the past

week there have been thirteenaccidents admitted into this

Hospital, among- which were

two caes of fractured ribs;a case of fractured scapula ;a fractured thigh; a severe

case of burn; cut throat; frac-tured radius laceration of scalp,fractured leg and thigh (sameman); dislocation ofthe hume-rus: and a case .of concussion.The subject of this case, THOMASTUCKWOOD, a young’ man, wasadmitted under the care of Mr.MORGAN, on Friday last.At the time of his admission,

April 8th, he was in a comatosestate, his pupils slightly dilated ;if spoken to sharply would an-swer ; his pulse slow and la-

bouring; when roused com-

plained of excessive pain in theforehead, the, part where he hadreceived the blow, and whichblow was occasioned by the

falling* of a very heavy bed-post.Immediately after his admissionhe was bled to the extent of3 xiv., and twenty leeches wereapplied to the temples; the lossof blood by these means pro-duced considerable relief, the

drowsiness no longer exi stedthe pulse became more free,and the pain of the forehead

nearly gone. On the followingday however this pain returnedwith great severity, when thirty’additional leeches were appliedto the temples: likewise some

cathartic pills composed of hy-drarg. submur et extra colo-

cynth. comp. which had beengiven on the previous day wererepeated, the loss of blood fromthe leeches and its determinationto the intestinal canal, from theirritation of the cathartic, toge-ther contributed to ease thebead, and in the afterrloon thepain subsided. Since Saturday,no symptoms have appearedworthy of notice, he has beenkept on a low diet, and the pur-gative pills occasionally repeat-ed. This man is rapidly recover-ing from the eflects of the acci-dent.

ST. THOMAS’S HOSPITAL.

April 15.HENRY PRINCE, the little

child from whom Mr. TRAVERSextracted a urinary calculus, onthe 12th ultimo, has now per-fectly recovered from the effectsof the operation, and is entirelyfree from symptoms of stone.In giving the concluding’ noticeor this child’s case we cannotrefrain from pointing out to thebenevolent governors of SaintThomas’s the forlorn and hope-less prospect of this poor littleinfant. Through their benevo.lence and the skill of theirmedical officers, he is restor-ecl to -health, but if theirkindness be not extended be-

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83

. yond the limits usually pre-scribed to the patient of thehospital, we apprehend his

rescue from death will proverather a source of misery thanhappiness. We are informedthat ile is the offspring of pa-

rents who have had the inhu-manity to forsake him, andwho have consigned his wel-fare to the casual stranger.’Should this child, now scarcelymore than two years of age, bedischarged from the hospital,we believe it is uncertain evento what parish he will be sent,much !ess to what friend; there-:tore unless the governors hu-manely interfere to shield thisinfant and continue their pro-tection, we fear they will onlyhave kept him from one graveto which he was fast approach-ing for the purpose of sendinghim by a more painful and bar-

rassing route to another. Nowas we know that many of thegovernors peruse the columnsof THE LANCET, we hope theywill take the distressing’ cir-cumstances of this orphan’s caseinto consideration, and protecthim from that want to whichwe fear he will otherwise be in-evitably doomed.

I.H. Temporal, Aneurism case con-tinued from page 146, vol. II.

On Tuesday the 30th, four

days after the operation, an

erysipelatous inflammation madeits appearance at the wound.and rapidly spread over the headand face on that side.

a, MARCH 31st.—Erysipelasstill encreasing, was orderedpil. colocynth, statim et infus.

rosæ et ma,nes. sulph. ter in

die. v. ad viyAPRIL 2nd.—The violence

of the inflammation has con-siderably abated, and the swalling of the head greatly dimi-nished.— Pulse and soft;ordered R Hydr. submur. gr. j.opii gr. j. 6 tis have. Cerevis. lbj. vin. Rubr. lbj.This man’s case did not un-

dergo uny very material changéfrom the above date, until thefollowing Wednesday-morning,at which time the tumefaction ofthe scalp and face became muchworse; he was delirious; rest-less; had a quick hard pulse,together with stertorous breath-ing, and at half-r-ast nineo’clock in the evening- of thesame day, he died. The bodywas not examined, as the con-sent of the friends could not beobtained. In onr last report of

this case we stated that we -were unable to explain how itcould have happened that fourarteries of considerable sizecould have communicated withthe interior of the aneurismalsac if the aneurism had beenformed, as was imagined, from. neglectii1g to divide the vesselafter the operation of arterio-tomy: we at the same time pro-mised to -recur to the subject,at some future opportunity, andin the mean while, endeavourto ascertain the manner in whichthe flow of blood had beed stop-ped by the g-entleman whoopened the temporalartery. Ourinquiries have not yet been at-’tended with success, but, webelieve, that the particularswill shortly :be- in; our pos-session, we shall then return tothe -sub*t, and the more espe-

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84

; .cialLy. from the -disease havingended in the destruction of life,

for, from whatever cause the tu-meur originated, as it is attendedwith such fatal consequences, itcannot be too cautiously avoidedby surgical practitioners.

April 3rd.—Mr. TRAVERS,this day removed a small tumourfrom the right side of the neck

immediately under the submaxil-lary bone, and immediately over:, the facial artery; the - tumourwas about the size of a large

walnut. It had existed for seve-ral-,years, and resisted every ap-.plication employed to disperse

it., Mr. TRAVERS, having-made’ a transverse incision through theinteguments, the tumour was

easily dissected from its bed, butin accomplishing this step of the

operation it appeared from the-hemorrhage which ensued, that’ the facial artery bard been dividedand on attempting to apply a

..ligature upon the bleeding ves-sel, it had so retracted that itneither could be got hold of bythe forceps, nor pierced by the tenaculum ; after a considerabletime spent in these fruitless ef-forts, Mr. TRAVERS introduced apiece of sponge into the wound,

placed over it a wad of lint, andthen pressed these firmly uponthe part by means of a bandage,

carried over the head; this ex-pedient completely succeeded in

arresting the flow of blood. Thesponge was discharged with asmall quantity of pus, on the7th day, at which time no re-petition of the bleeding oci-

curred, nor indeed at any pe-riosi since th - operation. Thewound at present is rapidly heal-ing, and the patient doing ex-

tremely well; the tumour was

not examined after the operastion, therefore we are unable tostate of what it was composed.

April 5th.—HENRY BucK-MASTER was this morning ad-mitted in consequence of hav.ing had the toes of his left footdreadfully crushed by the- cogwheel of a steam-engine ; Mr.GREFN removed all the toeswith the exception of the greattoe at the metatarsal joints, thegreat toe he amiputated betweenthe first and second joint, thuspreserving the anterior fulcrumof the foot, a circumstance ofvery great importance, andwhich; in amputations of thegreat toe should always be bornein mind for the removal of evenhalf an inch of bone at this partmay,occasion the most serious

impediment to the progressionof the foot ever after.

This man has been doing ex-ceedingly well from the momentof the operation.

,

April 7th.—G. W. was thisday brought to the hospital onaccount of a dreadful lacerationof the left hand, from an explo-sion of half an ounce of the

oxymuriate of potass, the me-tacarpal bones of the middleand ring fingers were fractured;the integuments completely tornthrough between these fingers;the vessels and nerves exposed;

the skin between the thumb andindex finger likewise divided,and the adductor muscles of thethumb separated to the distanceof at least half way back themetacarpal bone of the indexfinger. Mr. GREEN removedthe middle finger by sawingthrough its metacarpal bone alittle above the fracture; thefingers and the other lacerated

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85

parts were then brought tog-e-thér, by straps of adhesive plas-ter, and the man put to. bed ; a

poultice was afterwards appliedover the hand, and although theinjury was of the most seriousdescription, this patient has notyet had an unfavourable symp-to.m.

No operations have=been per-formed at this hospital duringthe present week’,’ and the onlyaccident admitted was a slightinjury to the left knee of a man,occasioned by. a fall from thepavement.

MIDDLESEX HOSPITAL.

- Friday, April 2d.A boy * . was admitted who

had fallen from the scanbtd of achurch, fifty or- sixty -feet high.When: placed in bed his pulsewas very quick and weak, andsomewhat irregular. Pupilsdilated, and insensible to li ht.There had’ been a considerablehemorrhage from the nose andmduth, and the upper ’ lip Wasvery much swollen. There wasan evident injury of the nasalprocesses of the superior maxil-lary bones, and it is ‘probablethat the ethmoid may atso havesuffered. His breathing wasoppressed, but not stertorous,and stupor or coma was presentfrom the commencement. -’

April 3d.—Much the same as’yesterday. - Breathing’ almoststertorous. Pupils dilated. Pulsequtck and weak; Suffusion ofthe face. Skin hot and dry.

Venesectio ad xjj. , ’

Pulvis jalapæ compositusgr.xu.* JOHN ANGEL, ætat. 9.

. Statim sumendus.

. After the bleeding the pulsebecame more frequent and weak.The scalp to be shaved, *and thelotion of acetated ammonia to beconstantly applied. ;

-

4th. - The - laxative powderexhibited yesterday, did - notoperate, in consequence of whichan enema was administered, bywhich a copious evacuation wasprocured. Pulse 120,,and weak.Pupils dilated. Skin ’hot’ and

_ dry.R Hydrargyri submuriatisgr. j.

Pulveris antimonialis gr.jjj. flant, pilula omni nocte su-menda.In the evening:he was veryslightly sensible.

5th.—Pulse I30, weak andinelastic. Has some disposition

--

to take nourishment, and is sen-sible ’ of its presence whenbrought near his mouth. Inbther respects the same as yes-terday. Bowels open.

Hirudines xjj temporibus.6th..-.No, particular altera-

tion. ,

7th.-Somewhat more sensi-ble. Takes his food when of-fered him. Pulse 110. Skinmore natural. Bowels opentwice. He has still a.great pro-pensity to sleep, which- he in- -dulges during the intermissionof exhibiting’ ihe, spoansful offood, and not unfrequentlywhilst in the act 0 ’f swallowingit.

Emplast. lyttæ Fronti,being apparently nearest theseat of the injury.8th.=No particular alteration,

bowels open once or twice—skin