Buller describes a case of lightning-stroke in which the
external ocular muscles, the crystalline lens, and the optic
nerve were involved. Godfrey reports the case of Daniel Brown, a
seaman on H.M.S. Cambrian. While at sea on February 21, 1799, he
was struck both dumb and blind by a lightning-stroke. There was
evidently paralysis of the optic nerve and of the oculomotor
muscles; and the muscles of the glottis were also in some manner
deprived of motion.
That an amputation can be perfectly performed by a
lightning-stroke is exemplified in the case of Sycyanko of
Cracow, Poland. The patient was a boy of twelve, whose right knee
was ankylosed. While riding in a field in a violent storm, a loud
peal of thunder caused the horse to run away, and the child fell
stunned to the ground. On coming to his senses the boy found that
his right leg was missing, the parts having been divided at the
upper end of the tibia. The wound was perfectly round and the
patella and femur were intact. There were other signs of burns
about the body, but the boy recovered. Some days after the injury
the missing leg was found near the place where he was first
thrown from the horse.
The therapeutic effect of lightning-stroke is verified by a
number of cases, a few of which will be given.
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