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 276.—Private John A. Chollar, company K, 21st Connecticut volunteers; admitted February 8, 1863, from Windmill Point hospital. Chronic rheumatism, with diarrhœa. This man had a feeble pulse and considerable œdema of the feet and legs, but was not very much emaciated or prostrated when first admitted. At that time the stools were frequent and bloody; they afterward became bilious. Treatment: At first a scruple each of Dover's powder and mercury with chalk, divided into six powders, once every four hours; afterward wine, milk-punch, and brandy in small quantities. Died, February 23d. Autopsy: Peritoneal adhesions were found along the whole length of the colon, especially in the transverse portion. The stomach was distended with a liquid containing bile. The intestines were filled with fæcal matter of normal consistence, and highly colored with bile. The small intestine was healthy. The large intestine was ulcerated, especially in the sigmoid flexure and rectum; the ulcers were deeply stained with biliary coloring matter; the follicles of the colon were much enlarged. The liver was normal; the gall-bladder greatly distended with bile. The spleen normal. Some of the matter from the colon ulcers, examined under the microscope, was found to contain pus-corpuscles, fat-globules, debris of tissue, and crystals of cholesterin.