171 Sheet – American State Trials 1918 Volume X Leo Frank Document

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Here is the translated text as follows:

EDWARD D. WORRELL, 139

He found him in the condition stated by the aunt; he was raving and tearing and kicking up his heels, and looked wild and made strange gestures. They succeeded in getting him into the house, and some time after midnight he became pacified and fell into a sound sleep. The next morning he appeared as usual. The doctor does not pretend to say that it was an attack of epilepsy, but saw nothing of intoxication, and did not suspect anything of the kind.

A parent is apt to be blind to the faults of his children, but a disinterested person will find no difficulty in detecting drunkenness in the scene described, for his conduct was precisely such as a boy of his age who had been drinking too freely would exhibit.

He certainly gave no indications of epilepsy, for an epileptic falls suddenly to the ground, and is never found leaning against a tree or any other object for support; nor is the spasm generally prolonged over thirty minutes, and in most cases not exceeding ten or fifteen. At the termination of the convulsion, the patient goes into a sound sleep, but it seems the prisoner did not become quiet under seven or eight hours.

The next occurrence related by Dr. Worrell took place in Portsmouth, Ohio, in 1850. His son had been out with some young men, who brought him home. The doctor did not see him until the paroxysm passed off, and thinks the attack was much lighter than the one near Baltimore. The evidence discloses nothing tending to show epilepsy.

The next attack took place in Kentucky in 1851, and is referred to by Dr. Curran in his deposition. Dr. Worrell and family were boarding at the time with the father of Dr. Curran. Dr. Curran gives it as his opinion that the attack was epilepsy, but fails to assign any reason for the opinion, and you are left in the dark as to who Dr. Curran is, what is the extent of his skill, and what experience, if any, he has had in such cases. The opinion may have been to some extent the result of information derived from Dr. Worrell, for Dr. Worrell states that he told Dr. Curran that his son was subject to convulsions.