The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1898-01-12
to the ground. Within five minutes

are the numerous injuries to the brain
and spinal cord, which on first view
would be pronounced fatal. At Val
paraiso, Ind, few days ago, man
named Herbert j. Fish, while in lit
of temporary insanity, pat 38-calibre
bullet through his brain and at last
accounts he was still alive and appa-
rently getting well. The bullet, by
all accounts, passed through the right
and left anterior hemispheres Of the
brain, lodging finally in the posterior
bone wall of the left eye socket. in
its course the ball destroyed a large
amount of brain matter. At the same
time it cut the optic nerve OF both
eyes, destroying the sight. In some
way the sense Of smell, too, was de-
stroyed. 1t seems miraculous that
this man should recover and retain
his senses, but the physicians In at
tendance reported that aside from the
fact of a somewhat weakened mental
apparatus he appeared to be about as
rational as before he sustained the
self-inAicted wound. The one point
at which they found him most at sea
was that he did not believe or realize
that he had shot himself.
MANY Chicagoans will remember
tragedy at the Briggs House, in this
city, several years ago. in which
man who was shot in the brain got
we'll. J. S. Mcdonnell, we'll known
veterinary surgeon, and his wife were
boarders at the hotel. 1t was in Au-
gust, 1887. One day there was a great
uproar and excitement. over a shoot
ing ARRAY in the apartments of the
McDonnells. In the quarrel Melon
nell was shot by his wife. the bullet
entering the side Of his head in the
parietal bone above the ear and pene-
trating the brain. Within the next
As hours the ball was removed by DR..
Liston H. Montgomery and the
wounded man got well. The wife at
the same time shot herself in the
head, but old-time physicians used to
pronounce wounds like that Of s1c-
Donnell's fatal in every instance. and
made very little effort to save the
patient. Brain injuries are most
serious and most often prove fatal
when they occur near the base of the
brain.
s'The Army and Navy Journal re-
Gently told of French artillery officer
who carried bullet in his head for
81 year. He was shot in the left
temple during the Franco-Prussian
war. The bullet could not be ex-
tracted, but it soon ceased to be pain
full and the wound healed. A few
month ago the bullet began to move
about, causing the soldier intense pain
and driving him almost mad. Then
there was lull and short time ago,
it is said, the man removed the bullet
from his throat.
Sup to the time of the civil war
but little effort was made to operate
on gunshot wounds Of the brain or
abdomen. Since then much has been
accomplished through experimental
work and clinical observation to eluci-
date the subject. For wounds in the
abdomen in general American and
German surgeons advocate lajarotomy
as early as possible.
"Gunshot wounds in the head di-
rectly involving the brain may be
either perforating or penetrating. A
penetrating wound is one in which
the missile enters and does not emerge.
A pe2forating wound is one in which
the bullet passes entirely through the
head. The injury to the skull or
brain may vary from a comparatively
slight wound to one which iDficts
immense and widespread injury both
to the skull and its contents. The
difference between the wound OF en-
trance and the wound Of exit is apt to
be far more marked in the skull than
in the soft parts. At the wound OF
entrance the aperture in the external
table may be no larger than the bullet
itself, or may even be reduced to
simple slit, whereas the inner table
may be quite extensively fractured.
At the wound of exit the reverse is
true. The outer table will be more
extensively fractured than the inner,
and in addition to this, the entire
aperture at the wound Of exit. as the
ball strikes on the concavc surface of
the skull, is apt to be much larger
than the wound Of entrance.
''rhe regent advance in cerebral
surnnru has materially changed treat