Civil War Washington

CASE 9.—Deafness; dizziness, but mental faculties clear; diarrhœa; rose-colored spots on the 10th and 12th days, fading on 14th, when convalescence followed; to duty on 27th day.—Private George N. Barber, Co. G, 14th N. Y.; age 18; was admitted Sept. 20, 1861, having been taken sick a week before with weakness, pains in the head, back and bowels, and epistaxis. Diagnosis—typhoid fever. On admission the pulse was 114, the skin hot and moist, the face flushed, the tongue gray in the centre and red at the tip and edges; there was diarrhœa, with irritability of the stomach and much tenderness in the right iliac region; the patient was sometimes affected with dizziness, but his mind was clear. Blue-pill was given. On the 21st he had five stools with persisting tenderness and gurgling, anorexia, a slight cough, epistaxis and deafness; his face was flushed, skin hot and moist, tongue red at tip, whitish-gray at base. On the 22d the epistaxis recurred; the tongue was dark-red at the tip, brown at the base, and its papillæ were prominent; the skin was warm and dry and presented one or two rose-colored spots; one stool was passed and the tenderness continued; pulse 76. Quinine in eight-grain doses was given three times daily, with morphia at night. The eruption faded next day, but appeared again on the 24th. The tongue began to clean on the 22d and the skin softened on the same day, after which, although the bowels continued relaxed and tender for a few days and the throat became slightly sore on the 27th, there was a steady improvement, and the patient was returned to duty October 9.