Civil War Washington

Case from the case-book and medical descriptive lists of the HAREWOOD HOSPITAL, Washington, D. C., Surgeon Thomas Antisell, U. S. V., in charge from October, 1862, to September, 1863:

CASE 272.—Private Owen Kenan, company C, 2d New York artillery; admitted October 7, 1862. Chronic dysentery. [The register of the Convalescent hospital, Fort Ellsworth, Virginia, shows that this man was admitted to that hospital August 24th—intermittent fever—transferred to Harewood hospital.] Died, November 26th. This patient was found dead in his bed about midnight by the attendant; for some days previous he had been able to sit up, and was supposed to be getting better. Autopsy: There was slight effusion beneath the arachnoid, but the brain-substance appeared healthy. The small intestine was congested in patches. The colon, which was distended with gas, contained fæcal matter of fair consistence; the whole tract of the colon and rectum presented innumerable ulcers in a state of cicatrization. The mucous membrane of the rectum was thickened. The liver was congested; the gall-bladder full of bile. The spleen was much enlarged and softened. Both kidneys were in a state of fatty degeneration, which was most marked in the right.—Assistant Surgeon Josiah F. Day, jr​, 10th Maine volunteers.