Title: Rasbeck, Chester

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), 180-181.

Keywords:diarrhœa and dysenteryfatal cases of diarrhœa and dysentery, with accounts of the morbid appearances observedfrom Lincoln Hospital, Washington, D. C.chronic diarrhœaquotidian intermittent feversmall-pox, variolacatarrhviolent chills daily, controlled on fourth day by quininelarge intestine much ulceratedautopsy performed

Civil War Washington ID: med.d1e41235

TEI/XML: med.d1e41235.xml


Case from the case-book of LINCOLN HOSPITAL, Washington, D. C.; Surgeon J. Cooper McKee, U. S. A., in charge.


CASE 410.—Private Chester Rasbeck, company A, 10th New York heavy artillery; age 20; admitted from regimental hospital September 28, 1864. Chronic diarrhœa and quotidian intermittent fever. [This man appears on the register of the regimental hospital of the 10th New York artillery, admitted January 13, 1864—small-pox—sent to small-pox hospital January 19th. He is borne on the register of the Kalorama small-pox hospital, Washington, D. C., admitted January 19th—variola—returned to duty January 25th. He again appears on the register of his regimental hospital, admitted January 26th—catarrh—returned to duty February 7th. No subsequent record of his case is found prior to his admission to Lincoln hospital.] The patient had violent chills every day for several days after admission, but they were controlled on the fourth day by the free use of quinine. He was also suffering from a profuse watery diarrhœa, having from fifteen to twenty stools daily. Quinine, astringents, and stimulants were employed without benefit. Died, October 26th.—Acting Assistant Surgeon W. E. Roberts. Autopsy next day: Height five feet ten inches; body considerably emaciated. The brain was very firm; it weighed fifty-two ounces and a half. The larynx and trachea were normal. The lungs appeared to be normal when examined externally, but on section of their lower lobes a large amount of frothy rust-colored mucus exuded: the right lung weighed twenty-three ounces, the left twenty-seven ounces. The heart and its valves were normal; it weighed nine ounces and a half; its right side contained a large fibrinous clot; the left side was empty. The spleen was of a dark slate-color and very pulpy; it weighed fourteen ounces. The liver was of a dark-olive color. The kidneys were normal; the right weighed four ounces, the left four and a half. The large intestine was very much ulcerated. The rest of the alimentary canal was normal.—Acting Assistant Surgeon H. M. Dean.