The pain was brief, and he was then able
to see objects distinctly. From this occasion he steadily
improved until he was able to walk about without a guide.
Le Conte mentions the case of a negress who was struck by
lightning August 19, 1842, on a plantation in Georgia. For years
before the reception of the shock her health had been very bad,
and she seemed to be suffering from a progressive emaciation and
feebleness akin to chlorosis. The difficulty had probably
followed a protracted amenorrhea, subsequent to labor and a
retained placenta In the course of a week she had recovered from
the effects of lightning and soon experienced complete
restoration to health; and for two years had been a remarkably
healthy and vigorous laborer. Le Conte quotes five similar cases,
and mentions one in which a lightning-shock to a woman of
twenty-nine produced amenorrhea, whereas she had previously
suffered from profuse menstruation, and also mentions another
case of a woman of seventy who was struck unconscious; the
catamenial discharge which had ceased twenty years before, was
now permanently reestablished, and the shrunken mammae again
resumed their full contour.
A peculiar feature or superstition as to lightning-stroke is its
photographic properties.
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