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CASE OF POISONING BY COAL-GAS.

BY F. DE CHAUMONT, M.D.,SURGEON-MAJOR,

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF HYGIENE, ARMY MEDICAL SCHOOL.

IN December, 1870, Mrs. B-, aged eighty-two, hergrandson, a man of thirty-eight years of age, and her

granddaughter, about thirty, lived in a small four-roomedhouse, semi-detached, on the road which runs along theshore at Itchen Ferry, opposite Southampton. The gascompany had recently laid down pipes along this road, andimmediately opposite the house, about six feet off, a syphonwas placed in the ground. The pipes and syphon were notlaid very deep, and had been in the ground for some months,but had not been tested for leakage, except soon after beingfirst laid down. In the meantime severe frosts had occurred.The gas was first turned on in these pipes on the evening ofDec. 2nd, but the inhabitants of the house in question donot appear to have noticed any particular smell before re-tiring to rest, which they did at their usual hour, from 9to 10 P.M. The old woman and her granddaughter occu-pied the front room and the grandson the back room on thefirst floor. On the morning of the 3rd of December themilkman called at the usual hour (between 7 and 8 A.M.),but was unable to obtain admittance, and on returningafter his round found the door still shut. By this time,however, the neighbours had begun to be alarmed for thesafety of the inmates, and at last, about 9.30 A.M., it wasdecided to break open the door, which was accordingly done,and the apparently lifeless body of the younger woman wasfound in the passage. She was removed to a neighbour’shouse, and, under the care of Dr. Symonds of Woolston, wassoon restored to consciousness. The dead body of the oldwoman was found in the front room, and that of the man-who appeared to have died in sleep-in the back room. Thehouse was perceived to be filled with a penetrating smell,variously described by those entering it as paraffin, gas, &c.Most of the people had never smelt gas before, and theodour was therefore strange to them, but it was easily re-cognisable even a week after, when I visited the housemyself. The account of the occurrence was obtained fromthe survivor, and was as follows. As above mentioned, thegrandmother and granddaughter slept in the same room,and had retired to rest before 10 r.M. About 11.30 r.M. thegranddaughter awoke feeling very ill, and the grandmotheialso awoke complaining of uneasiness. Soon the youngerwoman became violently sick, and, feeling a little bette]after that, was easily persuaded by her grandmother to liedown again. She appears to have fallen asleep, but wokeup again about 12.30 with great headache and a sense oi

’ suffocation. Not being able to rouse her grandmother, shetook the light (a small benzoline lamp) and rushed to thedoor to call for help. When she reached the head of thEstair, which is straight and steep, extreme giddiness camEover her, and she remembered nothing more. She seems tchave fallen headlong to the bottom, where she lay insensibleuntil picked up in the morning when the house was brokerinto. She was much bruised, and the lamp she carried wasfound crushed and flattened under her.An attempt was made on behalf of the Gas Company tc

throw the blame on other causes (even on the small benzolimlamp), on account of the gas not having time to reach thalpoint; but it was conclusively proved that the gas wasactually burning at 9 P.M. on Dec. 2nd at a point at leas1half a mile beyond. On examination, the syphon in th<

roadway in front of the house was found to be cracked, ancthe soil (which consists of loose gravel) between it and thEhouse was highly charged with gas, which seemed to havepassed under the wall of the house and up through th,floor of the sitting-room, for the smell was strongly markecunder the floor planking and in the wall cupboard. Thefront room (over the sitting-room) occupied by the tw(women was of about 500 cubic feet capacity, and the baclroom (over the kitchen), where the man slept, about 400Both were destitute of means of ventilation; for the windows were closely shut, and the fireplaces boarded up an(pasted carefully over at all parts with brown paper. Eveia week afterwards, when the windows had been constant],

open and the rooms unoccupied, the carbonic acid was asfollows: front room (women’s), 0’746 volumes per 1000;back room (man’s), 0’934. In all probability the youngwoman’s fall was the means of saving her life, by bringingher face to the brick floor of the lobby on the ground-floor,along which a free current of cool fresh air passed from thespaces under the front and back doors. It is also probablethat had there been means of ventilation active in theupper story the other cases would not have been fatal.The post-mortem examinations (which were performed,

four days after death, by Dr. Sims of Southampton andDr. Symonds of Woolston) showed the following conditions:-Extensive ecchymosis of a bright-red colour on the de-pendent parts of the back, arms, and legs. The dura materin its external surface much congested. On the upper sur-face of the two hemispheres the arachnoid had an opaqueappearance, with some white spots studded about. Thepia mater greatly injected, of a bright-red colour. Sub-stance of the brain of a bright-red colour, with numerousbloody points in it. A small quantity of bloody serumissued from the spinal canal. A little serum in the peri-cardium ; right auricle full of coagulated blood; blood

generally fluid. Frothy mucus issuing from the mouth;tongue congested. Trachea highly congested and of a

bright-red colour, containing a moderate quantity of mucus.Lungs not much collapsed, dark in colour, and crepitant.Bronchial membrane much congested and of a bright-redcolour; bloody frothy matter in great quantity issuing fromthe tubes. Stomach healthy; kidney, liver, and spleen con-gested.-N.B. The man had only one kidney.At the inquest, held at Itchen Ferry, the jury brought in

a verdict in accordance with the evidence: that the deceasedmet their deaths from the effects of poisoning by coal-gas,caused by a defect in the syphon of the company’s main.The survivor received compensation from the company forthe personal injury she had suffered.Woolston Lawn, Southampton.

A MirrorOF

HOSPITAL PRACTICE,BRITISH AND FOREIGN.

MIDDLESEX HOSPITAL.CASES OF HERNIA.

(Under the care of Mr. HULKE.)

Nulla antem est alia pro certo noscendi via, nibi quamplurimas etmorborumet dissectionum historias, tum aliorum, tum proprias collectas habere, etinter se comparare.-MORGAGNI De Sed. et Caue. Morb., lib. iv. Prommium.

WE propose publishing seven cases of hernia which haverecently been under the care of Mr. Hulke, but space willpermit of only three appearing this week. Of the cases,five were strangulated, one incarcerated, and one onlypartly reducible. In the five strangulated cases the sacwas opened four times, all ultimately doing well. Three ofthe cases were femoral, two scrotal, one inguinal, and onelabial. It will be seen that the strangulation occurred inthe cases that were recent, or in which the bowel had notbeen down for some time. This is intelligible when itis borne in mind that if the bowel be kept within the peri-toneal cavity the orifice of the sac tends to diminish in sizeby the formation of adhesions in the peritoneum at the

’ mouth of the sac and the development of thick bands ofconnective tissue under the peritoneal coat, so that a con-siderable amount of resistance is offered to the descent ofthe viscera; but should the bowel come down, it is firmlycompressed or even strangulated by the constricted and un-yielding orifice. On the other hand, if the intestine beallowed to remain in the sac, enlargement of the orifice isproduced by the constant pressure of the viscera.

Strangulated, oblique, scrotal hernia ; taxis; ice; hernio-tommy sac opened; antiseptic dressing; rapid recovery; after-wards diarrh&oelig;a and tenesmus caused by scybala in rectum.-A brewer’s drayman, aged twenty-three, a stout, large man,

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was admitted at 7 P.M. on May 20th into Broderipp ward.The right inguinal canal and right half of scrotum weredistended by a large swelling, the scrotal part being aboutnine inches in its long axis. The testis was distinguishablebelow it. The patient was bent double with pain, andtossing restlessly about. Ice and the taxis had been alreadytried. He said that he had been ruptured from childhood;had never worn a truss; the bowel only occasionally slippeddown, and till now he had always got it back. At 4 p.m.,whilst hurrying to the railway station, he felt it descend, andsymptoms of strangulation quickly followed.

Chloroform was given, and the taxis, tried for a fewminutes, failing, herniotomy was done under antisepticprecautions. Reduction was not possible until the sac hadbeen opened, which contained much omentum, and a longloop of dark-purple bowel, with a quantity of bloody serum.The wound healed directly.On June 2nd, his belly being rather uneasy, an enema

of warm water was given, and brought away a hard, knottystool. On June 7th, whilst convalescent and only waitingfor a truss, he had tenesmus, and on exploring the rectumit was found blocked with scybala, on the removal of whichthe mucous diarrhoea and forcing down ceased.

Strangulated femoral rupture; herniotomy ; ; sac opened ; ;recovery.-A married woman, aged thirty, was admitted intoBird ward on April 4th, at 1 o’clock P.M., with symptoms ofstrangulated hernia. Frequent vomiting of peasoup-likematter; severe pain in the epigastrium; sunken features;small, weak, rapid pulse In the right groin, below Poupart’sligament, a tender, painful, tense oblong swelling, the inner.end of which slipped into the femoral canal. She said thatat 1 o’clock A.M. on the 3rd inst. she awoke with great painin her belly, which was soon followed by retching, and afew hours later the rupture was first detected. Ice and thetaxis had been tried.As the symptoms were urgent, herniotomy was at once

resorted to under chloroform. Reduction without openingthe sac was not found practicable. The sac was opened, andits neck divided, which allowed the finger to pass into asmooth pouch above the crural ring, but not into the peri-toneal cavity. On tracing upwards the mesentery, a smalltight aperture was felt at some depth ; it was manifestlythe original neck of the hernial sac, which had at someprevious time been detached from the crural ring, and dis-placed upwards. After pulling it down, and cutting it, re-duction was easily accomplished. The wound was dressedantiseptically, and nearly the whole united immediately.The first stool was passed on the sixth day.

Strangulated hernia complicating a suppurating pelvic hcema-tocele; recovery.-A parlour-maid, aged twenty-four, wasadmitted into Bird ward at 7 P.M. on Jan. 30th, with sym-ptoms of strangulated hernia, which had begun three daysbefore. She had constipation, frequent retching, greattenderness of belly and pain, dry tongue, quick feeblepulse, and a painful and tender tumour in the right groinof the size of an orange. The taxis had been already tried.A bag of ice was laid on the rupture, and opium was givenher. At midnight, when seen by Mr. Hulke, the house-surgeon thought that the swelling was less. It was nowscarcely conspicuous to the eye, but easily definable bytouch, no longer tense, and the contents felt granular, likeomentum. This change made itprobablethat some of the con-tents of the sac had returned into the belly, but the generalsymptoms continued, which made it necessary to operate. Thesac, which was extremely thin, was opened, and a quantityof omentum fixed by old adhesions was found in it, but nogut. As the omentum was very indurated, it was tied witha carbolised catgut thread and cut off. The operation wasdone under antiseptic precautions, and the wound dressedstrictly after Lister’s method. After recovering from chlo-roform, a grain of opium was given, and it was directed tobe repeated as often as might be necessary to relieve pain.The belly was covered with a linseed poultice.

Jan. 31st.-8.30 A.M.: Has retched four times; belly abovenavel less tender; has taken three grains of opium. Orderedbismuth and hydrocyanic acid, after a couple of doses ofwhich the vomiting ceased.

Feb. 1st.-She now said that she had some disorder ofthe womb, and the vaginal orifice was found patulous; theuterus very low and fixed, its cervix smooth and very tender;through the rectum a large hard mass was felt behind the

uterus, very broad’ from side to side, and so large that itsupper limit could not be reached. The examination causedexquisite suffering. The tenderness over the front of thebelly was now almost restricted to the hypogastrium. Thecondition was regarded as metritis and pelvic abscess.Four leeches were applied to the cervix uteri. The opiumand poultices were continued.2nd.-Face slightly jaundiced. Catheter had been re-

quired ever since the operation. The wound quiet; partlyunited. Between 10 and 12 P.M. she passed three loosestools, resembling thin watery pus, and without f&aelig;cal odour.Temperature now 103’80. Wound has opened and is sup-purating.

3rd.’&mdash;Voided two more stools of similar appearance.4th.-Catamenia appeared, with great aggravation of the

abdominal pain. Her gums have become swollen and

spongy, and easily bleed. She also had labial herpes.5th.-Passed per anum a quantity of clear, ropy mucus,

like white of egg. It was voided suddenly with irre-sistible straining. She could hardly wait till a bed-panwas brought.A few days later some grumous blood resembling coffee-

grounds escaped per vaginam.She remained in hospital until the middle of April, when

her friends took her home apparently dying,. For somedays after the journey death seemed imminent, but sherallied, and finally made a good recovery. A daily reportof the case would occupy too much space. During the re-mainder of her stay in hospital she frequently voided largequantities of glairy mucus, and sometimes pus per anum,and the size of the pelvic indurated mass was found to vary,but at no time could fluctuation be detected either per vagi-nam or per rectum. The swelling mechanically obstructedthe latter canal, causing faecal accumulations above the block.Retching recurred several times, and was always stopped bybismuth and prussic acid. The hernial wound sloughed,and the catgut ligature was thrown off en masse. It wasnot disintegrated, but had the form of a swollen whitecord.

ST. BARTHOLOMEW’S HOSPITAL, CHATHAM.A SERIES OF MULTIPLE FRACTURES.

(Under the care of Mr. A. W. NANKIVELL.)1. J. D-, a woman aged forty-six. Admitted Dec. 20th,

1870. On admission the patient was found to have sus-tained a double Colles’ fracture. A pistol-shaped splintwas applied to the back of each arm, a short straight onebeing used for the front. Discharged cured Jan. 25th, 1871.

2. T. D-, aged forty-nine. Admitted Aug. 7th, 1871.The left femur was fractured at the junction of the lowerwith the middle third; fracture simple. The right femurwas comminuted at its middle third. Long splints (Liston’s)were applied. Discharged Oct. llth. Left femur quitefirm; right rather weak. To the latter a starch bandagewas applied for a few weeks.

3. M. A. W-, aged twenty-five. Admitted Oct. 16th,1871, suffering from a simple fracture of the left humerus,a compound comminuted fracture of the left radius andulna, two inches below the elbow, and a Colles’ fracture ofthe same arm. Angular and straight splints were applied.During her stay three pieces of bone were removed fromthe compound fracture. She left Nov. 29th, the humerusand the Colles’ fracture being quite firm, the radius andulna partially so.

4. M. A. S-, aged twenty-eight. On admission, March31st, 1872, she was found to be suffering from a compoundcomminuted fracture of the upper end of the left humerus,a compound fracture of same humerus into the elbow-joint,a simple fracture of the left radius, and the neck of theright femur was also broken. Patient was in a state ofcollapse. Appropriate splints were applied, but, notwith-standing the free administration of stimulants, she died onApril 3rd.

5. T. H , a lad aged fifteen, fell from the mast of abarge on Oct. 15th, 1872. When admitted, he was found tobe suffering from a fracture of the external plate of theskull over the right frontal sinus. He had also a Colles’fracture of the left radius. The arm did well; but a portionof the skull necrosed, and was removed when loose. Dis-charged Dec. 4th.