Title: Mahar, William
Source text: The Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion. (1861-65.), Part 2, Volume 1 (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1879), 155-156.
Civil War Washington ID: med.d1e40956
TEI/XML: med.d1e40956.xml
Case from the case-book and medical descriptive lists of the DOUGLAS HOSPITAL, Washington, D. C., Assistant Surgeon William F. Norris in charge from October, 1864, to September, 1865:
CASE 328.—Private William Mahar, company G, 10th United States infantry; age 19; admitted August 26, 1865. Diarrhœa. The patient was quite weak and pale. He stated that he had a chill two or three days previously, but none since. He had suffered from diarrhœa for some days, with from four to eight watery stools in the twenty-four hours. The order for his admission stated his disease to be typhoid fever, but no evidences of that disorder were observed. The pulse at his wrist counted 44, but an intermediate beat was heard over the heart; there was some slight abdominal pain, but no tenderness on pressure in the right iliac region; there was no delirium; his tongue was clean, moist, and slightly reddened; he complained of thirst. Ordered pills of nitrate of silver and opium, and a mixture of quinine and muriatic acid. August 28th: Pulse 64, heart-beat normal; the other symptoms are unchanged. The patient remains quite rational. August 29th: At 9.30 A. M. I was called to see him, with the intelligence that he had a fit. I found him cold; his pulse weak; respiration infrequent; face pale; eyes wide open and turned upward; pupils very much dilated; corners of mouth twitching—risus sardonicus. I attempted to rouse him, and asked what is the matter? He replied, I don't know, and in a moment expired. Artificial respiration was attempted, with no result. Autopsy five hours after death: No rigor mortis. The lungs were healthy. The left side of the heart was firmly contracted, the right greatly distended with blood. The pericardium contained five or six drachms of serum. The liver, spleen, and kidneys congested, but otherwise normal. The mucous membrane of the intestines was inflamed, but not ulcerated. The mesenteric glands were enlarged. There were no indications whatever of typhoid fever, and no satisfactory evidence of the cause of death. [It does not appear from the record that the head was examined.]—Acting Assistant Surgeon Henry Gibbons, jr.
