Title: Gupton, W. H.

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), 179.

Keywords:diarrhœa and dysenteryfatal cases of diarrhœa and dysentery, with accounts of the morbid appearances observedfrom Lincoln Hospital, Washington, D. C.chronic diarrhœaboth lungs adherent to thoracic walls at their apices, considerable tuberculous solidificationsmall cavities communicated with bronchial tubes and with each othersmall intestine contained tubercular deposit and extensively ulceratedlarge intestine had several ulcers, many in state of cicatrizationautopsy performed

Civil War Washington ID: med.d1e41209

TEI/XML: med.d1e41209.xml


Case from the case-book of LINCOLN HOSPITAL, Washington, D. C.; Assistant Surgeon Roberts Bartholow, U. S. A., in charge from August 21st to December, 1863, then Surgeon J. Cooper McKee, U. S. A., in charge.


CASE 403.—Private W. H. Gupton, company D, 44th North Carolina, (Confederate:) age 29; admitted December 17, 1863. Chronic diarrhœa. Died, April 21, 1864. Autopsy: Height six feet; body extremely emaciated. Brain not examined. Both lungs were adherent at their apices to the thoracic walls; there was considerable tuberculous solidification in the posterior part of the upper lobe and upper third of the lower lobe of the left lung; on section of the consolidated portion numerous small cavities were seen, which communicated with the bronchial tubes and with each other; they were filled with a yellowish some what fetid, purulent secretion, and were lined by a distinct smooth membrane; the superior lobe of the right lung was almost wholly solidified; at its apex was a cavity the size of a walnut, with several smaller ones communicating with it; these cavities closely resembled those in the opposite lung; the lower lobe was healthy; the right lung weighed twenty-four ounces, the left thirty ounces. The heart was healthy; weight eight ounces. The liver, spleen, pancreas, and kidneys were healthy; weight of liver fifty-three ounces; spleen ten ounces; pancreas two ounces; right kidney five ounces, left five and a half. The small intestine contained a considerable amount of tubercular (?) deposit, and was extensively ulcerated. In the large intestine were several ulcers, many in a state of cicatrization.—Acting Assistant Surgeon Henry E. Paine.