Births  Marriages  Deaths  &c. &c.

1848 continued

abortive. Serious fears were now entertained, & which alas! were fully verified. The teacher had been careful not to mention suspicions to any one lest they should reach the ears of the sufferer; but on the evening of the thirteenth of the month, he was informed that McCoy complained of a slight pain in the back of his neck and that his jaws are somewhat stiff. Powerful antispasmodics were immediately applied internally & externally, and frequently repeated during the night, the teacher remaining with him. At daylight the sufferer was informed that death was inevitable if the splinter was not extracted when he consented to a further dilation of the wound. The teacher too, urged by the desperation of the case, was determined to use more powerful means than he had hitherto done; accordingly the injured limb had a bandage wound tightly round it, and the patient being held by several persons a pair of plyers reduced for the purpose were inserted and after many failures the teacher succeeded in drawing forth a piece of wood three inches long and half an inch in diameter!! Laudanum was now injected into the hold and continued to be so at intervals during that day and the following night, but the tension of the jaws, and the stiffness of the neck continuing to increase; spirits of turpentine were again applied. Strong antispasmodics were exhibited every two hours, and friction with the hand upon the jaws, and neck were untiringly and almost unceasingly applied