suffered from epileptic convulsions. An iron nail
covered with rust was discovered in his brain; from the history of his
life and from the appearances of the nail it had evidently been lodged
in the cerebrum since childhood.

Slee mentions a case in which, after the death of a man from septic
peritonitis following a bullet-wound of the intestines, he found
postmortem a knife-blade 5/16 inch in width projecting into the brain
to the depth of one inch. The blade was ensheathed in a strong fibrous
capsule 1/2 inch thick, and the adjacent brain-structure was apparently
normal. The blade was black and corroded, and had evidently passed
between the sutures during boyhood as there was no depression or
displacement of the cranial bones. The weapon had broken off just on a
level with the skull, and had remained in situ until the time of death
without causing any indicative symptoms. Slee does not state the man's
age, but remarks that he was a married man and a father at the time of
his death, and had enjoyed the best of health up to the time he was
shot in the abdomen. Callaghan, quoted in Erichsen's "Surgery," remarks
that he knew of an officer who lived seven years with a portion of a
gun-breech weighing three ounces lodged in his brain.

Lawson mentions the impaction of a portion of a breech of a gun in the
forehead of a man for twelve years, with subsequent removal and
recovery. Waldon speaks of a similar case in which a fragment of the
breech weighing three ounces penetrated the cranium, and was lodged in
the brain for two months previous to the death of the patient.

Huppert tells of the lodgment of a slate-pencil three inches long in
the brain during lifetime, death ultimately being caused by a slight
head-injury. Larry mentions a person who for some time carried a six
ounce ball in the brain and ultimately recovered. Peter removed a
musket-ball from the frontal sinus after six years' lodgment, with
successful issue. Mastin has given an instance in which the blade of a
pen-knife remained in the brain six months, recovery following its
removal. Camden reports a case in which a ball received in a gunshot
wound of the brain remained in situ for thirteen years; Cronyn mentions
a similar case in which a bullet rested in the brain for eight years.
Doyle successfully removed an ounce Minie ball from the brain after a
fifteen years' lodgment.

Pipe-stems, wires, shot, and other foreign bodies, are from time to
time recorde