Kennedy, Thomasa machine readable transcriptionSusan C. LawrenceKenneth M. PriceKenneth J. Winkle2011med.d1e7330Civil War WashingtonUniversity of Nebraska–LincolnCenter for Digital Research in the Humanities319 Love LibraryUniversity of Nebraska–LincolnLincoln, NE 68588-4100cdrh@unlnotes.unl.edu2011
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Kenneth M. PriceAJ HowellMatthew BosleyElizabeth LorangStacey BerryElisabeth TraceyThe Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion.
(1861–65.)Surgeon General Joseph K. Barnes, United States
ArmyWashington, D.C.Government Printing OfficePart 1Volume 21870111Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellionon special wounds and injuries of the headwounds and injuries of the headgunshot woundsgunshot contusions of the cranial bonescontusion of the skull without fractureencephalitisconoidal pistol ball contused parietal bone near descending branch of
lambdoidal sutureague, chill dailyinjury found near middle of posterior edge of parietal bonemissile found against skull, inches from point of injurymeninges thickened and blackened and firmly adherent to calvariacalvariumbrain substance softenedblessedadded figure encodingadditional proofing of transcription and encoding,
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KENNEDY, THOMAS, Private, Co. M, 1st Massachusetts Heavy Artillery, aged 30, was wounded,
at the battle of Petersburg, Virginia, June 16th, 1864, by a conoidal pistol
ball, which contused the right parietal bone, near the right descending branch of
the lambdoidal suture. He was conveyed to Washington, and admitted, on the 21st, into the Lincoln Hospital. Simple dressings were applied, as the injury
was considered slight. He was furloughed on July 16th, but returned on the 29th
of the same month. He stated that during his absence from the hospital he
had suffered from ague, and, for the last ten days, had experienced a chill daily. A
careful examination of the wound was now made, and a roughness of the external table
of the skull was detected. He was much prostrated, but complained of no pain or
uneasiness about the head. His pulse was frequent and feeble, tongue dry and red,
and the abdomen tympanitic and painful. Three grains of calomel, with one-fourth of
a grain of opium, were ordered every three hours, until the third dose had been
taken; meantime, tonics and stimulants were given, and afterwards continued in
liberal doses. Sinapisms were applied to the epigastric region and extremities. No
perceptible improvement in his condition, however, was obtained. He died on the
afternoon of the 31st, remaining fully
sensible and able to answer questions intelligently until within two or three hours
of his death. At the autopsy, the seat of injury was found to be near the middle of
the posterior edge of the right parietal bone. The missile had glanced downward and
forward, and was found lying against the skull, two inches from the point of injury.
The pericranium was separated a distance of three and three-quarter inches along the
track of the missile, and beneath it the bone was spongy and porous. The line of
separation from healthy bone was well-marked. Upon the removal of the skull-cap, a
slight sponginess of the internal table, beneath the point of impact, was observed.
(See FIG. 35.) The meninges, for some distance around the
seat of injury, were very much thickened and blackened, and firmly adherent to the calvariacalvarium. The brain substance was softened, and the vessels very much congested.
The heart, liver, and spleen were flabby. The case is reported by Acting Assistant Surgeons Dean and Atwater.