the Spinal Cord= may be due to concussion, compression
(fracture-dislocation), or wounds. That the wound has penetrated the
meninges is shown by the escape of cerebro-spinal fluid. The cord and
nerves may be injured (1) by the puncture; (2) by extravasation of blood
and the formation of a clot; and (3) by subsequent septic inflammation.
Division or complete compression of the cord at or above the level of
the fourth cervical vertebra is immediately fatal (as happens in
judicial hanging). When the injury is below the fourth, the diaphragm
continues forcibly in action, but the lungs are imperfectly expanded,
and life will not be maintained for more than a day or two. When the
injury is in the dorsal region, there is paralysis of the legs and of
the sphincters of the bladder and rectum, but power is retained in the
arms and the upper intercostal muscles act, the extent of paralysis
depending on the level of the lesion. In injuries to the lumbar region
the legs may be partly paralysed, and the rectal and bladder sphincters
may be involved.

_Railway spine_, or traumatic neurasthenia, may be set up by concussion
of the cord as a result of blows or falls. Passengers after railway
accidents, or miners, often suffer from this affection.

3. =Of the Face.=--These produce great disfigurement and inconvenience,
and there is a risk of injury to the brain. The seventh nerve may be
involved, giving rise to facial paralysis. Punctured wounds of the orbit
are especially dangerous. Wounds apparently confined to the external
parts often conceal deep-seated mischief.

4. =Of the Eye.=--The iris may be injured by sharp blows, as from the
cork of a soda-water bottle. It is usually followed by haemorrhage into
the anterior chamber, and there may be separation of the iris from its
ciliary border. Wounds at the edge of the cornea are often followed by
prolapse of the iris. Acute traumatic iritis or irido-cyclitis may
supervene four or five days after the injury. The lens is frequently
wounded in addition to the cornea and iris. In dislocation of the lens
into the anterior chamber as the result of a blow, the lens appears like
a large drop of oil lying at the back of the cornea, the margin
exhibiting a brilliant yellow reflex. Partial dislocations of the lens
as the result of severe blows generally terminate in cataract.

5. =Of the Throat.=--Very frequently inflicted by suicides. Division of
the carotid artery is fatal, and of the internal