CASE.—Corporal John B——, Co. C, 10th New York
Volunteers, of good constitution and physical
condition, while felling trees at Hatcher's Run,
Virginia, March 11th, 1863, was struck across the
dorsal and lumbar vertebræ by a falling limb,
which had been severed by a shell. Being knocked
senseless, he remained in this condition for an
hour or more, until awakened by the motion of the
ambulance that conveyed him to regimental
headquarters. On returning to consciousness, he
was unable to move the lower portion of his body.
Arriving at Patrick's Station, he was cupped, and
mustard applied to the calves of the legs and to
the spinal region. He complained of pain in the
lower portion of the body. He was blistered, and
the blisters dressed with lint. He was sent to
City Point, and finally, to Washington, where he
entered Finley Hospital on the 19th. When
admitted, he was in a semi-comatose condition;
complete paraplegia; sensation perfect. There was
some febrile action, and very severe diarrhœa. He
passed his urine and fæces involuntarily;
appetite very good; pulse full and bounding;
emaciation slight. The temperature of the right
leg was slightly higher than that of the left, but
both were very cold; skin moist. The blistered
parts on each leg were suppurating slightly. The
parts in the region of the sacrum were in a
gangrenous condition. Opiates were given at night
and chlorides used to cleanse the
gangrenous wounds over the sacrum. Under the
administration of astringents the diarrhœa ceased
by the 25th. The patient, however, continued to
sink, and died on March 29th, 1865. At the
autopsy, the first lumbar vertebra was found
transversely fractured entirely through its body
at its upper third, with each pedicle broken and
the left transverse and spinous processes
encroaching upon the cord, which was lacerated at
the lumbar and dorsal junction. The membranes were
torn entirely across, except a few fibres
anteriorly and posteriorly, and were congested
above and below the seat of injury. Clots of
diffused blood were found near the fracture. The
lower portion of the cord, severely lacerated, was
drawn up into a bundle at the seat of injury,
entirely deprived of the membranes. The
pathological specimens are Nos. 149 and 150,
Section I, A. M. M., and were contributed, with a
history of the case, by Acting Assistant Surgeon W. Dusenbury.