Charles Sumner: his complete works, volume 05 (of 20)Sumner, Charles
History
Charles Sumner: his complete works, volume 05 (of 20)
Sumner, Charles
Slavery -- United States; Speeches, addresses, etc., American
“From the time of the attack until the Monday following, no serious
symptoms manifested themselves, except some pain and soreness in the
head, and nervousness. Tuesday morning he had more pain, and in the
afternoon he was quite feverish. During the night the pain became
very violent, and when I saw him, early on Wednesday, for the first
time professionally, he had a high fever, pulse 104, intense pain in
the head, eyes suffused, and extreme nervousness. The scalp above the
right ear was inflamed, having the appearance of erysipelas. This
inflammation extended to the glands of the neck, which were swollen
and tender to the touch. On examination, it was found that pus had
formed under the scalp, which escaped readily on opening the wound,
which had been closed over with collodion by Dr. Boyle. Mr. Sumner had
suffered so much during the last ten hours, that he had become very
much exhausted. He was put under the influence of opium, the wound
was poulticed, and perfect rest enjoined. For three days he was in a
critical situation. The local inflammation, the danger of poison from
the absorption of pus, and the extreme nervous exhaustion made it a
formidable case. At the end, however, of this time, he appeared to be
out of immediate danger.
“The wound on the left side of the head healed by first intention. It
was several weeks before that on the right side closed over. During
this time he was very weak, had some fever, especially when excited,
and was confined mostly to his bed. He did not at that time complain of
much pain in his head, but, as the wound healed after several weeks, he
had neuralgic pain in the back of the head, coming on in paroxysms. As
these passed away, he had a feeling of oppressive weight or pressure of
the brain, which was increased when excited or engaged in conversation.
He described it as “a fifty-six pounds weight” upon his head. At the
same time he lost flesh and strength, his appetite was irregular,
and his nights wakeful,--sometimes lying awake all night, or, when
sleeping, disturbed. He had also increased sensibility of the spinal
cord, and a sense of weakness in the small of the back. These were
developed by walking, and every step he took seemed to produce a shock
upon the brain. His walk was irregular and uncertain, and after slight
efforts he would lose almost entire control of the lower extremities.
“In this condition he was advised by Dr. Lindsly, of Washington, to
remove from that place to some more quiet spot. He accordingly came to
Philadelphia, and there called upon Dr. Wister for advice. Mountain air
and complete seclusion were recommended; but Mr. Sumner undertook first
to try the sea air, and went to Cape May. Here he was very weak, so
that he was unable to bathe, and he finally left without any sensible
improvement. On the recommendation of Dr. Wister, he went to Cresson,
in the Alleghany Mountains. While there he was in the family of Dr. R.
M. Jackson, and under his medical direction.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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