B——, John C.a machine readable transcriptionSusan C. LawrenceKenneth M. PriceKenneth J. Winkle2011med.d1e9573Civil 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 21870131Medical 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 bonesgunshot fractures of the external table of the cranium alonefractures of the mastoidal region of the temporalmastoid process detached or seriously fracturedmissile entered posterior neck below occipital protuberance forward of
ligamentum nuchæ, emerged above ramus of lower jawball detached mastoid process, denuded occipital and temporal bones of
periosteuminjury of facial nervesymptoms of meningitisstupor and comaautopsy performedno traces of inflammation in brain itselfno impairment of hearingblessedadded figure encodingadditional proofing of transcription and encoding,
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CASE.—Corporal John
C. B——, Co. K, 5th
Maryland Volunteers, aged 33 years, was wounded at the battle of Antietam, Maryland, September 17th, 1862. The missile entered the posterior
part of the neck, one and one-half inches below the occipital protuberance just
forward of the ligamentum nuchæ, passed upward and forward, and emerged above
the right ramus of the lower jaw. He was sent to Washington, and admitted to Columbian
College hospital on September
20th. No fracture could be discovered. He complained of difficulty in
mastication, and there was evidently some injury of the facial nerve. In a few days
the wound began to suppurate, and the patient walked about the ward apparently doing
well. October 8th, suppuration suddenly
ceased. Chills occurred; the frequency of recurrence increased until October 12th,
when there was heavy deep breathing, and many symptoms of meningitis. Drowsiness and
stupor followed, and coma and death took place October 14th, 1862. At the autopsy it was found that the ball had
detached the mastoid process, denuded the occipital and temporal bones of periosteum
in the vicinity of the fracture. There was some redness and congestion of the blood
vessels, but no traces of inflammation could be found in the brain itself. The
specimen was sent to the Army Medical Museum
by Surgeon A. Van Derveer, 66th New York Volunteers, and is
represented in the adjacent wood-cut, (FIG. 46.) The
process is entirely detached at the base, the mastoid cells are opened, of course,
but there is no fissuring or other lesion of the inner table and no attempt at
repair. Dr. Van Derveer's report does not
refer to any impairment of the sense of hearing prior to the supervention of
coma.⃰
⃰ See Catalogue of the Surgical Section A. M. M., p. 11,
and Circular No. 6, S. G. O., 1865, p. 12. The history of the
specimen was procured subsequently to the date of those publications.