Civil War Washington

CASE.—Corporal G. H. S——, Co. C, 18th Massachusetts Volunteers, was wounded at the battle of Chancellorsville, Virginia, May 3d, 1863, by a conoidal musket ball, which fractured and depressed the frontal and the left parietal bones at the junction of coronal and sagittal sutures, one inch from the median line. He was immediately admitted to the Fifth Corps field hospital, and transferred, on May 9th, to the Finley Hospital, Washington, in good condition, with slight cerebral symptoms. On the 15th, he was placed under the influence of ether; the trephine was then applied and the external table elevated, but further operation was suspended, as no fracture or depression of the inner table could be discovered. On the next morning convulsions occurred and continued at intervals. The patient became insensible and the pupils dilated. Erysipelas of the scalp and face supervened; and these symptoms continued unchanged until May 17th, 1863, when death occurred. The post-mortem examination revealed a stellate fracture and slight depression of the inner table of the frontal and left parietal bones, but more extensive than that of the outer table. The brain under and around the injury was considerably discolored, and softened in both hemispheres. The pathological specimen, with its history, was contributed by Acting Assistant Surgeon Alfred Edelin.