Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1858-07-23
Mr.. Summers Health.

Mr.. Summers Health.
The Paris correspondent Of the New York
Tribune, from conversations with Mr.. Sum
ner, and with his physician, DR.. Brown.
Sequard, makes the following statement
"From the outset Mr. Sumner has, 80 tc
speak ,undervalued the seriousness of his con-
dition. AT the time of the assault upon him
he did not comprehend the full extent and
nature OF the injury received, and has lived
from that time to the present in the constant
hope of an early restoration to sound state
OF health. On coming abroad this time he
was counting mainly on the curative inhuen-
ces of travel, exercise in the open air, and
absence of that excitement on home affairs
which he could not escape in America At
Paris he met DR.. Geo. Hayward. the eminent
Boston surgeon, who, in view of his present
condition at once urged .active treatment
that is, the application of system of cou1-
ter-irrtants, in order to reach the malady in
the cerebral system and in the spine With
the sanction of DR.. H., Mr.. Sumner then put
himself in the hands of DIR. Brown-Sequard,
the celebrated Psychologist, SO well known
in England and America who, by the way,
should now be better known to our medical
men by the newly founded Journal de la Ply
sioloy,c dei' Homme ct des Aninlaur of which
he is editor, whose speciality, as practis
mg physician. is diseases of the spine and
nervous system. DR.. Browns guards care
tul and acute investigation of the case result
ted in "a diagnosis which, if yours were a
medical instead ofa general Journal, should
be incxcusablc for not giving in retail from
the memorandum before me. Suffice it for
tue lay reader to say : the brain itself is
asccrtaincd o'bc free fany serious remain
ing injury, but the effects of the original
commoton there, are still manifest in an etlus-
ion oi liquid about the brain and in q slight
degree of congestion, chiefly if not only con-
fined to the membrane around the brane it
was also found that the spine was suffering
in two places from the effect ofwhat is called
contre-coup. Mr.. Sumner being seated and
inclined over his desk at the time of the
assault, the blows on his head took effect by
counterstroAe. or communicated shock III the
spine. 1t is worth noting here, that, after
the lapse of more than two years, his suffer-
ings to-day indicate the peculiar nature Of
the assault; but observe that the spinal
chord is sound, the injury being in the spine
itself. DR.. Brown-Sequard agrees with DR..
Hayward as to the necessity of.an active
treatment, doubling very much whether any
degree of care or lapse of time, unless the
morbid condition Of the system be directly
acted upon, would not always leave the patient
exposed to II relapse. He proceeded, there
fore, at once to apply fire to the back of the
neck and along the spine. Now, fire is fire,
and the quality oft is to burn, as surely as
the property Of rain is to wet. And here |
cannot do better that to quote entire note |
have just received from NJ. Sequard i
think you will like to be able to say that
have applied six mo1as to Senator Sumner S
neck and back, and that he has borne these
e1cceAngy painful applications with the
greatest courage and patience. You know
that moxa is II burning Of the skin with
inilamed agaric (amadou), cottonwood or
some other very combustible subst rnce. |
had never seen IL man bearing with such u
tortitude rs Mr.. Sumner has shown the eY-
tremely violent pain of this kind of burning.
80 You see the moral is sound. In his MEM
orandum. the doctor speaks cautiously but
hopefully Of the final result. He says | am
in hopes that an active treatment will produce
the absorption Of the excess Of iluid eilused
about the brain, and diminish the congestion
of the membranes of this organ. As regards
the condition of the spine, which is quite dis
tnct from that of the head, though due to
the same primary cause, and by sort of
contre coup, an active treatment may dlmin-
ish the degree OF pain, if not altogether rem
der the sensibiity normal, SO as to allow
walking and other movements to take place
without pain
Mr.. Summers general health has almost
entirely rallied from the original shock
This is due to what the English physicians
last year called the wonderful recuperative
energies of his constitution, and to what Dir
Sequard names "a remarkable power of resls-
tlnce t. injury 1t is this. in alliance with
his untouched vigor of will, that has enabled
Mr. ). 10 throw of or resist 50 much of the
r;irct of his original injuries, and now ena-
h.,s him to bear the moxa without the chlo-
r'lorn which DR.. Sequard recommended and
witliout the wincing witch the Doctor ex-
pected. The present severe treatment, which
DR.. ). is not yet ready to relinquish, may be
followed in the course of the summer, by
certain internal remedies, and by baths"