Vii.
He was no stranger in
Europe.
Throughout the
British Islands, and on the Continent, all the great men
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304]
in science, in literature, in jurisprudence, with the friends of humanity, were prepared to give him the most generous greeting.
Mr. George Combe, the distinguished physiologist, who interested himself most earnestly in his case, after consultation with
Sir James Clark, Physician to the
Queen, advised him strongly against any early return to public life.
But so deep was his anxiety about certain measures before Congress, he could not be deterred from returning; and in December, 1857, he was once more in his seat.
But he soon found that application to public affairs brought on a recurrence of his unfavorable symptoms, and a series of relapses induced him at last to make one more, and, if necessary, a protracted effort for recovery.
Consequently, on the 22d of May, the following year,—1858,—he once more embarked for
Europe.
At
Paris he placed himself under the care of
Dr. Brown-
Sequard, the illustrious physiologist and specialist, who made a more thorough and analytical diagnosis of his case than had ever been made; and he unreservedly expressed the opinion that ‘the blows on the head had taken effect by
contre-coups in the spine, producing disturbance in the spinal cord.’
‘What then shall be the remedy?’
inquired
Mr. Sumner. ‘Fire,’ answered
Dr. Brown-
Sequard.
‘When can you apply it?’
‘To-morrow, if you please.’
‘Why not this afternoon?’
That afternoon it was done by the
moxa, which was followed by seven other applications,
always without chloroform, since
Mr. Sumner remarked that he wished to comprehend the whole process; and as for the pain, he cared nothing for it.
This treatment had taken place in the month of June, and the result justified the sagacity and learning of
Mr.
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305]
Sumner's very great medical adviser.
Probably within the whole range of modern chemistry, its subtle elements of power have in no instance been so exhaustively invoked for the restoration of life; for, although a perfect cure seemed to be an impossibility, yet beyond all doubt it is owing to the matchless learning, and more than friendly assiduity, of
Dr. Brown-
Sequard, that
Mr. Sumner's valuable life was protracted with almost unabated vigor during the long period of sixteen years.
To show the elasticity of
Mr. Sumner's mind, and the strange power of recuperation his physical system possessed, he spent most of the time during the painful treatment he was subjected to, in the careful study of engravings; and thus with the assistance of the finest artists in
Paris, he matured his connoisseurship in that exquisitely beautiful department of Art.
