Injuries of nerves and their consequences - Reflex Sympathetic ...

DIAGNOSIS AND PROGNOSIS OF INJURIES OF NERVES. 217
the bleeding. He thinks both arras were at this time
equally strong. The third night his wounds were dressed.
Up to this time he had taken no food, and most of the
water which he drank ran out of the right wound in the
neck. He was taken to the Douglas Hospital on the 10th
of May.
At this point I insert the letter which Seymour brought
with him from the accomplished surgeon in charge of the
Douglas Hospital, Dr. Wm. Thomson, TJ. S. A., at whose
request the patient w^as transferred to the United States
of the Nervous
Army Hospital for Diseases and Injuries
System.
After describing the wound, Dr. Thomson adds:
"For a number of days he was nourished by injections
of beef-tea, and by small quantities of milk introduced
into the stomach through a catheter. He had had a
severe hemorrhage on his way to the hospital. His wounds
were dressed with cold water.
"
May
— 19th. He had a secondary hemorrhage, and
lost eight ounces of blood. This was checked bv compression.
"May — 26th. Lost four ounces of arterial blood from
the wound of exit and from the mouth. The wound of
entry was closed. Small bleedings occurred each day
upon the least exertion, until May 30th, when it became
evident that some operation would be needed to save his
life. The external compression had caused an accumulation
of blood about the trachea and neck generally, which,
with other causes connected with the wound, made sutlbcation
appear imminent. He was anaesthetized, and an
incision made for ligature of the right primitive carotid.
"I should add that at this time there was good pulsation in
the right temporal artery.
After patient and thorough
search, no trace of the right carotid, the internal jugular
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