684 MORBID ANATOMY.
310.7. An iron gas-pipe, by which a man was transfixed through the head in May, 1867. (See No. 952.)
Dr. Bigelow mentions (April 1st, 1870) some important facts in regard to this case, and that were not referred to in the papers from which the history (p. 149) was drawn up. He says : " When addressed, his expression was in- telligent and singularly pleasant. He evidently appre- hended what was said to him, but rarely replied in words. His habitual reply on such occasions was ' mais, oui ; ' and this, with the word ' tabac,' of which article he was very fond, seemed to constitute his vocabulary. There could be no question that this was a case of what has been called aphasia. As far as could be judged, his intellectual functions were not disturbed. Being brought to a new city, he showed within a few days a singular faculty of finding his way home, through the streets, and from long distances, unaided." Dr. B. has also handed to me a letter from Dr. Jewett, that I had not before seen (dated April 29th, 1868), and in which he says: " To my request that he would go home with me, and work in my garden, he replied, 'No, sir-ee,' the largest number of words I have heard him connect since the injury." Dr. B. has heard nothing (1870) of the man since the middle of last sum- mer, but he was then in fine health, and in regard to speech he had decidedly improved. There has never been, he says, any paralysis. 1868. Dr. H. J. Bigeloiv. in. from a barn floor, and upon which a man fell head fore- most, 16 ft. The case occurred (Dec. 1868) in the prac- tice of Dr. C., who gave the following history of the case ; and, at the request of Dr. J. B. Upham, presented the spike to the museum. (Med. Jour., March 24th, 1870.)
The patient was a laborer, twenty-eight years of age. The spike passed through the upper posterior part of the right parietal bone, and carried a portion of it, an inch square, into the substance of the brain, to the depth of about 2 in. ; the fracture extending, also, downward nearly to the ear. The man was " firmly buttoned down to the floor " by the head of the spike, which measured 1 in. across ; and, in their attempts to extricate him, two strong
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