Civil War Washington

CASE 58.—Horace Hill, a robust muscular man, age 25 years; colored; was admitted November 7, 1865, with quotidian intermittent fever; tongue yellow-coated; appetite poor; pulse during the intervals of the paroxysm 84, full and of good strength; bowels quite regular; urine scanty and of high color; no difficulty of breathing; no œdema of the feet and legs. After treatment for two days the chills left the patient, but a febrile pulse remained; two days later sordes appeared on the teeth and lips, and the tongue became exceedingly dry; mental torpor and slight delirium were manifested. There was fulness​ and slight tenderness on pressure in the right hypochondrium and greater precordial dulness​ than natural. Moderate vomiting took place about noon of the 13th, and in a few minutes the patient suddenly and unexpectedly died. Post-mortem examination sixteen hours after death: The right ventricle of the heart much dilated; spleen greatly enlarged and softened; liver much enlarged; kidneys fatty; other organs normal.—Surgeon Edwin Bentley, U. S. Vols., L'Ouverture Hospital, Alexandria, Va.