Medical evidence in railway accidents / by John Charles Hall.

  • Hall, John Charles, 1816-1876.
Date:
1868
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Medical evidence in railway accidents / by John Charles Hall. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    symptoms of slight concussion of the brain. Then he slept but little, and when he did so awoke with a start, and fancied that he was falling. He tells me now that his sleep is broken and uncomfortable, that he does not know what it is to enjoy a good night's rest; that he has fearful dreams; and he added I have not had a good night's rest since it happened. The power of attending to his business in a great measure is lost, for he cannot direct his attention to any one subject long together. He is one of the Board of Directors of a large company, and it had been his duty to reckon the wages, and to cast up the books of the workmen. He can no longer do so. His family tell me he is a changed man, and now irritable and discontented. His tongue is furred. He has no appetite ; no inclination to do anything ; feels best when sitting in his chair. He can walk well, though he feels very weak, and as though his legs would give way under him. The utterance is not affected; still, he appears, now and then, at a loss for the right word to complete a sentence ; his taste and smell are not impaired; there is slight intolerance of light. He stated that loud noises distressed him very much. The sense of touch is not impaired. He can read, but it makes him '' mazey.'' There appeared some difference of power on the two sides; he did not grasp with the right hand so firmly as he did with the left. He had perfect command over the sphincters; the bowels were inclined to be constipated ; pulse 76. He was advised to go immediately to the sea-side; to keep his mind altogether at rest; and to leave his warehouse in charge of others for a month or two. The case was settled out of court by the payment of ,£500. When I saw this gentleman some months afterwards, all traces of the accident had passed away. Two other persons, both young, were in the same carriage with this gentleman, and were also injured. One, a young gentleman, that I saw, had ptosis, the result of a cut over the eye-brow, but who perfectly