144 Mr Twining on Single Vision 



wall. The fehock occasioned a momentary privation of con- 

 sciousness, but of such short duration, that it amounted only to 

 the slightest degree of stunning ; from which she soon recover- 

 ed, and again rode for half an hour. About an hour after 

 the fall her sight became impaired, so that half of objects on 

 her right, (that is, the left side of persons walking towards her) 

 was not seen. On looking at a book, she read with difficulty, 

 half of the page being dark ; and she found that she could not 

 comprehend what she read, from forgetting the first part of a 

 sentence before she arrived at its conclusion. A dull heavy 

 headach was felt, the pulse became slow and oppressed, coun- 

 tenance pale and void of expression, pupils dilated, and vomit- 

 ing came on. 



The slow and gradual accession of these symptoms, distinct 

 from the first effects of concussion, and not immediately con- 

 nected with alarm at the moment of the accident, was attributed 

 to effusion slowly taking place from ruptured vessels, and ap- 

 peared to indicate the necessity of active treatment. The patient 

 was accordingly bled to lb.iss. and a general system of depletion 

 was adopted in its fullest extent ; at the same time every kind 

 of excitement was avoided, and no food but tea, and a very 

 small quantity of bread, allowed for several days. 



In a few hours after the V. S. the whole of objects was per- 

 ceived, but there was a confusion of sight, objects appearing 

 irregular, and their outlines not well defined. This symptom, 

 with dizziness and a dull headach, subsided gradually ; and 

 after several davs continuance in the plan of treatment above 

 stated, the patient recovered, and has never since experienced 

 any similar affection of the sight. In this case, no experiment 

 was made to ascertain whether only the half of objects would 

 be seen, when one eye was closed. 



We sometimes find, that injuries of the head, sympathetic 

 affections of remote parts of the nervous system, and disorders 

 of the stomach, as well as those disturbances of the nervous 

 system dependent on distress of mind, intense thought, and se- 

 vere application to business, produce suspension of- the func- 

 tions of some organs, and disordered action of others. It is 

 difficult to assign a reason why affections of mind occasionally 

 produce the same symptoms, as arose from concussion of the 



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