458 
G. ARCHIE STOCK WELL. 
books, was regarded as a nolle-me-tangere. The flow of pus 
stopped, evidences of compression superVened, followed by death. 
Because the pus was surrounded by cerebral tissues no measures 
were taken for relief ! The autopsy revealed above three ounces 
of pus easily accessible in that it was situate less than an inch 
from the external opening of the wound. The bullet was found 
two inches farther back, imbedded and encysted in the right pos¬ 
terior lobe, its track practically invisible, conclusively demon¬ 
strating it at least was out of the way for harm. 
The first series of cases illustrate the necessity, first and fore 
most, in injuries involving the brain itself, of free drainage. 
Therein lies the whole secret of what, in the light of the teachings 
of the hour, were deemed miraculous recoveries. In the very 
magnitude of the wound and laceration lay the elements of 
safety (1) in the avoidance of compression, and (2), in the re¬ 
duction of concussion to a minimum. 
In the experiments before mentioned, undertaken upon lower 
animals, every case recovered promptly and readily where the 
wound was persistently kept open, with free escape for inflamma¬ 
tory products, and with less detriment to general health than 
commonly accrues to injuries and wounds of other portions of 
the physical economy; and the exceptional freedom from shock 
and surgical fever and reflex phenomena was especially notable. 
I have already spoken of hernia cerebri as a bugbear , for such 
it truly is, and little reflection will convince the most skeptical 
that the “ masterly inactivity ” inculcated regarding surgical in¬ 
terference is a gross error resultant upon blundering misconcep¬ 
tion. For instance, Nancrede, while discussing the subject of 
cerebral hernia, voices the opinion of the medical profession gen¬ 
erally when he says*: “ The less done the better, as the cause pri¬ 
marily is loss of support /” and, again, that interference “ must be 
avoided , especially when granulations are springing upon or 
around the protuberance , as we thus remove pressure and en¬ 
courage growth /” Atop of all this he insists upon resort to com¬ 
pression with a view of forcing the mass back upon its matrix. 
* International Cyclopaedia of Surgery. 
