Civil War Washington

Case from the case-book of LINCOLN HOSPITAL, Washington, D. C.; Surgeon Henry Bryant, U. S. V., in charge to May, 1863.

CASE 344.—Corporal Hiram A. Scott, company A, 137th New York volunteers; age 23; admitted from regimental hospital, Fairfax station, Virginia, January 18, 1863. Typhoid fever. When admitted had frequent pulse, dry skin, and some cough. Dulness​ on percussion was observed on the right side of the chest. The expectoration was scanty at first, but subsequently became free. Died, February 23d. Autopsy fifteen hours after death: Height five feet seven inches; body emaciated; rigor mortis slight. The brain weighed fifty ounces; it was slightly congested and of a pale flesh color, its substance slightly softened; the subarachnoid space contained two ounces and a half of serum. The right lung weighed twenty-four ounces and a half, the left twenty-one ounces and a half; both pleural sacs contained serum, in all about three pints; both lungs contained much black pigment; the lower lobes of both were solidified, and the bronchial tubes leading to them inflamed. The bronchial glands contained much black pigment; three of them on the right side were somewhat enlarged. The heart weighed eleven ounces; firm white clots were found in both sides; they weighed two ounces. The liver weighed eighty-four ounces and a half; it was soft, and presented the nutmeg appearance; the gall-bladder contained six drachms of thin, dirty-yellow bile. The spleen weighed seven ounces and a half; was of a brick-red color internally, and tolerably firm; on its surface was a white fibrous band, by which the organ appeared somewhat constricted. The pancreas was firm, weighed three ounces, and was of a light straw-color. The right suprarenal capsule was large, the left small; they were of a dark coffee-color and tough. The right kidney weighed live ounces, the left five ounces and a quarter. The stomach was slightly larger than usual; its mucous lining was somewhat softened. The mucous membrane of the small intestine was soft; the edges of the valvulæ conniventes congested. The large intestine was distended and congested throughout its whole length. The mucous membrane of the rectum was soft, much discolored, and covered with pseudomembrane. The mesenteric glands were enlarged.—Assistant Surgeon George M. McGill, U. S. A.