Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine

by George M. Gould; Walter L. Pyle

Many savage tribes still make use of the poisonous arrow. The Dyak uses a sumpitan, or blow-tube, which is about seven feet long, and having a bore of about half an inch. Through this he blows his long, thin dart, anointed on the head with some vegetable poison. Braidwood speaks of the physiologic action of Dajaksch, an arrow-poison used in Borneo. Arnott has made observations relative to a substance produced near Aden, which is said to be used by the Somalies to poison their arrows. Messer of the British Navy has made inquiries into the reputed poisonous nature of the arrows of the South Sea Islanders.

Otis has collected reports of arrow-wounds from surgical cases occurring in the U. S. Army. Of the multiple arrow-wounds, six out of the seven cases were fatal. In five in which the cranial cavity was wounded, four patients perished. There were two remarkable instances of recovery after penetration of the pleural cavity by arrows. The great fatality of arrow-wounds of the abdomen is well known, and, according to Bill, the Indians always aim at the umbilicus; when fighting Indians, the Mexicans are accustomed to envelop the abdomen, as the most vulnerable part, in many folds of a blanket.

Of the arrow-wounds reported, nine were fatal, with one exception, in which the lesion implicated the soft parts only. The regions injured were the scalp, face, and neck, in three instances; the parietes of the chest in six; the long muscles of the back in two; the abdominal muscles in two; the hip or buttocks in three; the testis in one; the shoulder or arm in 13; forearm or hand in six; the thigh or leg in seven.

The force with which arrows are projected by Indians is so great that it has been estimated that the initial velocity nearly equals that of a musket-ball. At a short distance an arrow will perforate the larger bones without comminuting them, causing a slight fissure only, and resembling the effect of a pistol-ball fired through a window-glass a few yards off.

Among extraordinary cases of recovery from arrow-wounds, several of the most striking will be recorded. Tremaine mentions a sergeant of thirty-four who, in a fray with some hostile Indians, received seven arrow-wounds: two on the anterior surface of the right arm; one in the right axilla; one on the right side of the chest near the axillary border; two on the posterior surface of the left arm near the elbow-joint, and one on the left temple. On June 1st he was admitted to the Post Hospital at Fort Dodge, Kan. The wound on the right arm near the deltoid discharged, and there was slight exfoliation of the humerus. The patient was treated with simple dressings, and was returned to duty in July, 1870.

Goddard mentions an arrow-wound by which the body was transfixed. The patient was a cutler's helper at Fort Rice, Dakota Territory. He was accidentally wounded in February, 1868, by an arrow which entered the back three inches to the right of the 5th lumbar vertebra, and emerged about two inches to the right of the ensiform cartilage. During the following evening the patient lost about eight ounces of blood externally, with a small amount internally. He was confined to his bed some two weeks, suffering from circumscribed peritonitis with irritative fever. In four weeks he was walking about, and by July 1st was actively employed. The arrow was deposited in the Army Medical Museum.

Muller gives a report of an arrow-wound of the lung which was productive of pleurisy but which was followed by recovery. Kugler recites the description of the case of an arrow-wound of the thorax, complicated by frightful dyspnea and blood in the pleural cavity and in the bronchi, with recovery.

Smart extracted a hoop-iron arrow-head, 1 3/4 inches long and 1/2 inch in breadth, from the brain of a private, about a month after its entrance. About a dram of pus followed the exit of the arrow-head. After the operation the right side was observed to be paralyzed, and the man could not remember his name. He continued in a varying condition for a month, but died on May 13, 1866, fifty-two days after the injury. At the postmortem it was found that the brain-tissue, to the extent of 3/4 inch around the track of the arrow as a center, was softened and disorganized. The track itself was filled with thick pus which extended into the ventricles.

Peabody reports a most remarkable case of recovery from multiple arrow-wounds. In a skirmish with some Indians on June 3, 1863, the patient had been wounded by eight distinct arrows which entered different parts of the body. They were all extracted with the exception of one, which had entered at the outer and lower margin of the right scapula, and had passed inward and upward through the upper lobe of the right lung or trachea. The hemorrhage at this time was so great that all hope was abandoned. The patient, however, rallied, but continued to experience great pain on swallowing, and occasionally spat blood. In July, 1866, more than three years after the injury, he called on Dr. Peabody to undergo an examination with a view of applying for a pension, stating that his health was affected from the presence of an arrow-head. He was much emaciated, and expressed himself as tired of life. Upon probing through a small fistulous opening just above the superior end of the sternum, the point of the arrow was found resting against the bone, about 1 1/2 inches below, the head lying against the trachea and esophagus, with the carotid artery, jugular vein, and nerves overlying. After some little difficulty the point of the arrow was raised above the sternum, and it was extracted without the loss of an ounce of blood. The edge grazed against the sheath of the innominate artery during the operation. The missile measured an inch at the base, and was four inches long. The health of the patient underwent remarkable improvement immediately after the operation.

Serious Insect-stings.—Although in this country the stings of insects are seldom productive of serious consequences, in the tropic climates death not unfrequently results from them. Wounds inflicted by large spiders, centipedes, tarantulae, and scorpions have proved fatal. Even in our country deaths, preceded by gangrene, have sometimes followed the bite of a mosquito or a bee, the location of the bite and the idiosyncrasy of the individual probably influencing the fatal issue. In some cases, possibly, some vegetable poison is introduced with the sting. Hulse, U.S.N., reports the case of a man who was bitten on the penis by a spider, and who subsequently exhibited violent symptoms simulating spinal meningitis, but ultimately recovered. Kunst mentions a man of thirty-six who received several bee-stings while taking some honey from a tree, fell from the tree unconscious, and for some time afterward exhibited signs of cerebral congestion. Chaumeton mentions a young man who did not perceive a wasp in a glass of sweet wine, and swallowed the insect. He was stung in the throat, followed by such intense inflammation that the man died asphyxiated in the presence of his friends, who could do nothing to relieve him. In connection with this case there is mentioned an English agriculturist who saved the life of one of his friends who had inadvertently swallowed a wasp with a glass of beer. Alarming symptoms manifested themselves at the moment of the sting. The farmer made a kind of paste from a solution of common salt in as little water as possible, which he gave to the young man, and, after several swallows of the potion, the symptoms disappeared as if by enchantment. There is a recent account from Bridgeport, Conn., of a woman who, while eating a pear, swallowed a hornet that had alighted on the fruit. In going down the throat the insect stung her on the tonsil. Great pain and inflammation followed, and in a short time there was complete deprivation of the power of speech.