266 THE REV. THEODORE WOOD, F.E.S., ON 
mediate result of a bruise, very often, is to numb the nerves 
in the part affected, and pain is not felt for some minutes. 
And that such is the case also in more serious injuries I have 
had some slight personal experience, for I was once unfortu- 
nate enough to fracture the larger bone of my leg, and felt 
absolutely no pain whatever until the limb was set more 
than an hour afterwards. 
Soldiers in action, too, are said to be frequently uncon- 
scious of the reception of wounds of great severity until 
weakened by the consequent loss of blood. This fact has 
been accounted for as due to the great mental excitement 
under which they are labourmg; but I have been informed 
by a near relation that in closing a pocket-knife he once cut 
his foretinger to the very bone, and was quite unaware of 
the fact until a sensation of faintness overcame him. And 
this man, as a general rule, was perhaps unusually susceptible 
tu bodily suffering. 
This temporary insensibility to pain, of course, attends 
only such injuries as are suddenly inflicted; but of this class, 
in almost every case, are the wounds received by animals 
attacked by the creatures of prey. All the members of the 
cat tribe, for instance, take their victims by surprise; the 
first intimation of their presence is a blow from the death- 
dealing talons. And hence it might, perhaps, be mferred 
that the sufferings which these animals seem to inflict may 
be more apparent than real. 
That such is actually the case is proved—although from a 
perfectly different standpoint—by the well-known experience 
of Dr. Livingstone, which—although, no doubt, familiar to 
all present—I may perhaps be permitted to cite as so 
admirably illustrating this branch of my subject. I quote 
his own words :— 
“ Starting and looking half round, I saw the lion just in 
the act of springing on me. I was upon a little height; he 
caught my shoulder as he sprang, and we both came to the 
ground below together. Growling horribly close to my ear, 
he shook measa terrier dog doesarat. The shock produced 
a stupor similar to that which seems to be felt by a mouse 
after the first shake of the cat. It caused a sort of 
dreaminess, in which there was no sense of pain or feeling of 
terror, although I was quite conscious of all that was 
happening. It was like what patients, partially under the 
influence of chloroform, describe, who see all the operation, 
but feel not the knife. This singular condition was not the 
