award of compensation, saying that it was based on mere guess or conjecture.76

A workman's employment required him to break rock in a quarry with a 16-pound sledge and load the rock into a car. Shortly after he was seen breaking large rock with his sledge, he suffered a pulmonary hemorrhage, from which he died before medical aid could reach him. The court reversing the decision of the District court, held that the facts indicated an accidental injury arising out of the employment."

Temporary blindness due to hemorrhagic spots in the retina of the eye of an employee, following exposure to intense bright light, was held to be due to natural. causes, and not an accident arising out of the employment.78

Where a fireman, working in a stoke hole, drank a large quantity of water, causing a hemorrhage, it was held that he suffered an accidental injury, for which compensation would be allowed.70

Where a strain caused internal hemorrhage from which the employee died, it was held that the death was the result of an accidental injury, but on appeal the Supreme court of California held that there was no evidence to justify this finding and the award was annulled.80

§ 199. Hemorrhoids.-Where a hod carrier, carrying a hod up an incline, slipped and fell against a building, it was held that. even though the exertion might have caused the internal hemorrhoids to become external, this was not an accidental injury for which compensation could be allowed.81

Where claimant felt a sudden pain in the region of the rectum caused by the strain of lifting the handles of a heavily loaded

76. Hansen v. Turner Const. Co., 224 N. Y. 331, 120 N. E. 693.

77. Gilliland V. Ash Grove Lime & Portland Cement Co., 104 Kas. 771, 180 Pac. 793, 4 W. C. L. J. 187.

78. Crouch v. Ritter, 2 Cal. I. A. C. 702.

79. Johnson v. Owens S. S. Torrington, 3 B. W. C. C. 68.

80.

A. 545.

Englebretson v. Indus. Acc. Com.-Cal.-, 151 Pac. 421, 10 N. C. C.

Note: For further cases see Cerebral hemorrhage, hemorrhage under the "arising out of" chapter, Injuries to eye, and Aneurism.

truck and it was found that the strain caused hemorrhoids, the court held that the hemorrhoids were due to an accidental injury.82

Aggravation of existing hemorrhoids from straining and lifting is a compensable injury under the Federal Act.83

§ 200. Hernia.-An employee, in lifting, severely strained his body, causing the protrusion of an intestine into an existing hernia sac or aperture. It was contended that the employee was afflicted with a disease or disabling condition which rendered him susceptible to injury upon exposure to "some slight accident" either within or outside his employment. The court said "This furnishes no ground for holding that the disease or condition rather than the accident was the proximate cause of the injury upon which the award for disability is based."

84

An employee working as stevedore ruptured himself on March 29th. On April 2nd he was operated on, and left the hospital on April 14th in an emaciated condition. On September 22nd he entered an infirmary, and on December 12th died of pulmonary tuberculosis. On appeal the court declined to interfere with the finding of fact by the county court judge to the effect that the rupture and operation were not the cause of the tuberculosis which resulted in death.85

A rupture caused by a strain while the employee is at work, is an accident or untoward event and as such, compensable.86

"The presence of a structural weakness or actual pain, antedating the injury alleged, in the region where the injury occurred, does not preclude a recovery if the injury, itself is distinct and the

82.

Hallock v. The American Steel & Wire Co., 2 Conn. W. C. C. 320. 83. In re Trevor L. Hill, 2nd A. R. U. S. C. C. 200.

84. Puritan Bed Springs Co. v. Wolfe (Ind. App.), 120 N. E. 417 (1918), 17 N. C. C. A. 872, 3 W. C. L. J. 39.

85. Kemp v. Clyde Shipping Co. Ltd., 119 L. T. R. 131, (1918), 17 N. C. C. A. 875.

86. Poccardi v. Public Service Comm., 75 W. Va. Jordan v. Decorative Co., - N. Y. App.

542, 84 S. E. 242;

130 N. E.

634, 1921.

result of a particular strain causing a sudden protrusion of the intestine. ''87

"While an employee was lifting bundles of paper weighing from 40 to 60 pounds, which work he had done regularly every day for 7 years, he felt a pain which indicated to his physician, upon examination, that he had sustained a rupture. There was no blow or unusual exertion, nothing out of the ordinary to suggest to the employee that anything he then did caused the pain. *** No attempt was made to prove that the lifting could have produced the rupture which later developed. Hernia is a disease arising out of natural causes as well as from accident, and it was therefore incumbent upon the claimant to offer some evidence that the employment caused or could have caused the injury.''89

Where an employee's rupture was caused by an attempt to move a 600 pound gas engine, the injury was held to be accidental, though the strain caused the rupture because the tissues were weak and not normal.89

Compensation was denied for the death of a workman due to strangulation of hernia, alleged to have been brought on by a fall. Evidence showed that the workman sustained a fall but failed to show that the fall in any way caused or accelerated the rupture.90

Hernia caused by violent coughing is not compensable in the absence of a showing that the cold, which caused the coughing spell, was brought on by unusual exposure,91

Compensation was denied on the ground that it was not an "accidental injury" where applicant, a civil engineer, in the perform

87. Bell v. Hayes Ionia Co., 192 Mich. 90, 158 N. W. 179; Casper Cone Co. v. Industrial Comm. 165 Wis. 255, 161 N. W. 784, 14 N. C. C. A. 537; Hurley v. Selden-Breck Const. Co., 193 Mich. 197, 159 N. W. 311, 14 N. C. C. A. 529.

88. Alpert v. Powers, 223 N. Y. 97, 119 N. E. 229, 2 W. C. L. J. 106, 17 N. C. C. A. 789.

89. Robbins v. Original Gas. Engine Co., 191 Mich. 122, 157 N. W. 437, 14 N. C. C. A. 530; In re Otto Gjorud, 2nd A. R. U. S. C. C. 107; In re Edward Adair, 2nd A. R. U. S. C. C. 109.

90. Marshall v. Sheppard (1913), 6 B. W. C. C. 571; In re James Mikolasek, 2nd A. R. U. S. C. C. 106.

91. In re Geo. L. Schneider, 3rd A. R. U. S. C. C. 118.

ance of his duties, lifted a heavy block of timber, at which time he felt a sharp burning pain in his right groin, though he did not slip or fall nor did the timber he was lifting, in any manner strike him, and it was 10 days later before he noticed a swelling at or about the place he felt the burning pain. The court said: "Nothing out of the ordinary happened, because he had lifted such timbers before, when such action was necessary in the performance of his duties; and down to the time of the hearing he had remained at work continuously. It seems to us that these facts conclusively show that claimant did not receive an accidental injury within the meaning of the act. 1792

Where the deceased suffered from chronic myocarditis prior to an operation, performed for the relief of a hernia, and he died from this disease 6 weeks after the operation, an award in favor of deceased's widow was reversed, where the evidence did not sustain the allegation that the effects of the operation were the cause of his death.93

In denying compensation to an employee, who, while lifting an iron beam weighing between 30 and 90 pounds, and which he had occasion to lift as many as 100 times a day, sustained a rupture on one of these occasions, the court said: "We are of the opinion that an employee who receives an injury in the nature of a hernia, while engaged in his usual and ordinary employment, without the intervention of any untoward or accidental happening, is not within the provisions of the compensation act, which as we have held provides compensation for accidental injuries only. ''94

The duties of an employee of a school district required him to lift, carry and throw cord woed into furnaces. He went from his house to the school, on the day of the injury, in good health. Upon his return he was found to be suffering from a hernia. When submitting to an operation it was discovered that he was

92. Tackles v. Bryant & Detwiler, 200 Mich. 350, 167 N. W. 36, 17 N. C. C. A. 789, 1 W. C. L. J. 1031.

93. Tucillo v. Ward Baking Co., 180 N. Y. App. 302, 167 N. Y. Supp. 666, 15 N. C. C. A. 637, 1 W. C. L. J. 439.

94. Kutschmar v. Briggs Mfg. Co., 197 Mich. 146, 163 N. W. 933, 15 N. C. C. A. 523.

suffering from another hernia of previous origin. An operation was performed for the two and infection resulted in both wounds, causing death. It was contended that it was not shown which wound became infected. In disposing of this contention, the court, after briefly referring to the evidence, said that it was a reasonable conclusion to draw that both incisions were infected during the operation and that the fatal blood poisoning would have taken place even if the injured man had only been operated upon for the injury arising from the accident. The court stated the general rule, namely: "If an accident necessitates an operation and death ensues, even though it is not a natural or probable consequence, the death may, if the chain of causation is unbroken, be said to have in fact resulted from the injury."'95

Where the wife of an "engine tamer" sought compensation for the death of her husband, following an operation for a hernia, alleged to have resulted from a strain received in the course of the employment, compensation was denied because of lack of any direct or circumstantial evidence to prove that the hernia was due to an accident received during his employment. The court said: "Declarations made by one injured to his attending physician are admissible in evidence when they relate to the part of his body injured, his suffering, symptoms, and the like, but not if they relate to the cause of the injury.

96

Where an employee aggravated two hernias by straining the muscles of his back while lifting a heavy steel girder, and death. resulted later, the trial court found that the death was due to the accident, which finding was held to be conclusive."7

95. Eddles v. School District of Winnipeg No. 1, 22 Manitoba 240, 21 W. L. R. 214. 2. W. W. R. 265, 2 Dom. L. R. 696, (1912), 14 N. C. C. A. 542

96. Chicago & A. R. Co. v. Indus. Bd. of Ill., 274 Ill. 336, 113 N. E. 629, 14 N. C. C. A. 541.

97. New York Switch and Crossing Co. v. Mullenbach, 92 N. J. L. 254, 103 Atl. 803, 2 W. C. L. J. 346; 17 N. C. C. A. 865; Gartner v. N. Y. Dairy Produce Co., 179 N. Y. App. Div. 950; Coons v. Endicott Johnson & Co., 181 N. Y. App. Div. 963, 168 N. Y. S. 1105; Bellaflore v. Roman Bronze Works, 181 N. Y. App. Div. 910, 167 N. Y. S. 1088; Fleming v. Robert Gair Co., 176 N. Y. App. Div. 162 N. Y. Supp. 298, 14 N. C.

W. C.-25