Civil War Washington

CASE 12.—Private John Tyler, Co. I, 1st Reg't Invalid Corps, on duty in the hospital kitchen, was taken suddenly with convulsions Jan. 11, 1864. He had no pain in the abdomen and had been complaining but little prior to this attack. He died next day. Post-mortem examination: The lungs were engorged with blood, which flowed freely upon section. The heart contained a large white clot. Two pints of pus were found in the peritoneal cavity. The liver was covered with lymph and softened but not granular; the spleen was macerated and softened, pale-blue externally and grayish-blue internally; the pancreas was healthy. The intestines were healthy except within three feet of the anus, where the mucous membrane was congested and covered with whitish tenacious mucus. The kidneys were purplish-red, large and flabby, the sections mottled and greatly congested; the suprarenal capsules were pale and friable but of natural size.—Ass't Surgeon Harrison Allen, U. S. A., Lincoln Hospital, Washington, D. C.