B. H. was an incurable patient, who had been confined in the house from
the year 1788, and for some years before that time in a private madhouse.
He was about sixty years of age--had formerly been in the habit of
intoxicating himself. His character was strongly marked by pride,
irascibility, and malevolence. During the four last years of his life, he
was confined for attempting to commit some violence on one of the
officers of the house. After this, he was seldom heard to speak; yet he
manifested his evil disposition by every species of dumb insult. Latterly
he grew suspicious, and would sometimes tell the keeper that his victuals
were poisoned. About the beginning of December he was taken ill with a
cough, attended with copious expectoration. Being then asked respecting
his complaints, he said, he had a violent pain across the stomach, which
arose from his navel string at his birth having been tied too short. He
never spoke afterwards, though frequently importuned to describe his
complaints. He died December 24, 1795.
Upon dividing the integuments of the head, the pericranium was found
scarcely to adhere to the scull. On the right parietal bone there was a
large blotch, as if the bone had been inflamed: there were others on
different parts of the bone, but considerably smaller. The glandulae
Pacchioni were uncommonly large: the tunica arachnoidea in many places
wanted the natural transparency of that membrane: there was a large
determination of blood to the substance of the brain: the ventricles
contained about three ounces of water: the consistence of the brain was
natural. He was opened two days after death.