Seven years afterward, he fell from his horse, and suffered from concussion of the brain, which added to his former sensations by rendering the left half of his whole person incapable of resisting cold, or of evolving heat. In a still atmosphere abroad, at 68° Fahr., he said, “the left side requires four coatings of stout flannel, which are augmented as the thermometer descends every two degrees and a half, to prevent a painful sense of cold; so that when it stands at the freezing point the quantity of clothing of the affected side becomes extremely burdensome. When exposed to a breeze, or even in moving against the air, one or even two oilskin coverings are necessary in addition, to prevent a sensation of piercing cold driving through the whole frame. Moderate horse exercise and generous diet improved the general health; the warm bath caused a distressing effect; the shower bath, cold or tepid, increased the paralytic affection. Frictions, with remedies of all kinds, increased it also, and so did sponging with vinegar and water, as well as any violent, stimulating, quick excitement, or earnest attention to any particular subject. The Admiral died unrelieved, twenty-six years after the receipt of the injury, of disease of the bladder.”
37. Brigade-Major Bissett was wounded on horseback, in the Kaffir war, by a musket-ball, which entered on the outside of the lower part of the left thigh, passed upward across the perineum, wounding the rectum within the anus--from which part he lost a quantity of blood--and came out through the pelvis on the opposite side. The course of this ball was accounted for by the fact that he saw the Kaffir who shot him standing some yards below him when he fired. The ball, in its passage upward and across the thigh, injured the great sciatic nerve, and the consequence is continued pain in the toes, instep, and foot, with contraction of the muscles, and lameness, together with the usual incapability of bearing heat or cold, particularly the latter, against which he is peculiarly obliged to guard. The skin shows no sign of discoloration or derangement. Position gives the explanation why the ball took such a peculiar course; the symptoms show the nature of the injury. From other effects he has perfectly recovered, but his leg is comparatively useless, while it is a constant source of suffering.