Diseases of the nervous system resulting from accident and injury.

  • Bailey, Pearce.
Date:
1906
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Diseases of the nervous system resulting from accident and injury. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by UCL Library Services. The original may be consulted at UCL (University College London)

    24/658 (page 8)
    II. History of the Accident Definite and reliable information concerning the accident is often unobtainable. In general accidents, such as railway collisions, where a large number of persons are involved, there are usually no spectators. The circumstances which surround such catastrophes make each individual a participator rather than a witness; and the suddenness of the accident and the terror which it causes usually render the victim unable to give an intelligent account of the way his own injuries were received. Even if he were not rendered unconscious, he is rarely able to describe just what befell him. When, however, statements are obtainable from witnesses, such testimony is often more valuable than that of the victim himself. The gen- eral character of accidents determines, to a certain extent, the nature of the resulting injuries. In the consideration of indi- vidual cases it is, of course, impossible to rely too largely on generalizations. Although it may be known that certain causes are usually followed by similar results, a variation of conditions may bring about exceptions. In most cases, how- ever, the character of the accident is an index of the severity and of the nature of the resulting injuries. In serious general accidents the body may be subjected to every degree of violence, which may induce immediate death or cause mutilations of all degrees. The fate of passengers or employees in any single given collision or derailment cannot, of course, be foretold. On the other hand, it can be stated positively that the sudden stopping or starting of a vehicle, by which the passenger may be jarred but receives no external wound, rarely if ever exerts sufficient force to cause irreparable injury to the nervous system. In many other forms of mishap we are justified in inferring that the violence was inadequate to cause structural injury. Thus, a light pasteboard box falls a