CASE 912.—Private M. Kenney, Co. K, 2d Cavalry, aged 27, was shot in a street affray at Washington, September 19, 1861. He was taken to the E Street Infirmary. Medical Cadet E. R. Hutchins recorded¹ that a pistol ball entered the left buttock, passed through the rectum, and emerged in the inner right femoral region. The finger introduced in the rectum discovered a ragged wound about three and a half inches from the anus. Fæcal matter passed by the orifice in the thigh. On September 22d, the sphincter was divided; but fæces continued to pass by the wound in the thigh until October 4th, when the natural evacuations took place, with great relief. The wound-track in the thigh was unavailingly dilated with compressed sponge to promote elimination of fragments from the ischium, and on February 19, 1862, an incision was made and some pieces of necrosed bone were removed. Assistant Surgeon S. H. Storrow, U.S. A., reports that this man recovered completely, and was discharged July 9, 1862.


¹ HUTCHINS (E. R.), Boston Med. and Surg. Journal, 1862, Vol. LXV, p. 255, Vol. LXVI, p. 113.