Serjeant Ballantine in his _Experiences of a Barrister’s Life_,
says:—“There was a singular physical fact connected with him (Sir Edward
Belcher), he had entirely lost the sense of taste; this he frequently
complained of, and could not account for. A friend of mine, an eminent
member of the Bar, suffers in the same way, but is able to trace the
phenomenon to the shock that he suffered in a railway collision.”