Shell-shock and other neuropsychiatric problems

by Elmer Ernest Southard

E caddi, come l’uom, cui sonno piglia.

—the dusky plain

trembled so violently, that the remembrance

of my terror bathes me still with sweat.

The tearful ground gave out wind

which flashed forth a crimson light

that conquered all my senses;

And I fell, like one who is seized with sleep.

Inferno, Canto III, 130-136.

Bombardment; shell explosion nearby: Mania; death in 24 hours. The AUTOPSY showed superficial punctate hemorrhages of brain and congestion of pia mater. CAUSE OF DEATH—small bulbar hemorrhage, congestion of veins, and nerve-cell changes of a local and differential nature (chromatolysis of vago-accessorius nucleus). SHELL-SHOCK SYMPTOMS due to capillary anemia and chromatolysis of various regions.