Civil War Washington

Case from the case-book of the SECOND DIVISION of the ALEXANDRIA HOSPITAL, Virginia, Surgeon Edwin Bentley, U. S. V., in charge. Autopsy was made and recorded in the case-book by Acting Assistant Surgeon Thomas Bowen:

CASE 445.—Private Adelbert Caywood, company A, 24th New York cavalry; age 18; admitted from City Point, Virginia, October 2, 1864. Chronic diarrhœa. Died, October 25th. Autopsy twenty-four hours after death: Rigor mortis great; body very much emaciated. Head, neck and spinal column not examined. The pericardium contained half an ounce of clear serum. The heart was rather smaller than usual, its structure normal, although a little pale; all the valves closed perfectly, but they were somewhat attenuated; both auricles and ventricles contained small firm clots. The right pleural cavity contained an ounce of bloody serum; there were no adhesions between the pulmonary and costal pleura on either side, but the lobes of the right lung were interadherent. The left lung was pale, its structure normal; the right lung was congested, and portions of its upper and lower lobes, anteriorly, were in the stage of gray hepatization. The bronchi contained some muco-purulent matter, but their mucous membrane was normal; the bronchial glands were healthy with the exception of one, which contained a deposit of calcareous matter. The mucous membrane of the stomach was slightly congested. The duodenum was normal. The small intestine was congested in regions through its whole tract, but not ulcerated. The large intestine was contracted, thickened, and congested from the cæcum to the rectum, but there were no ulcers present. The liver was of medium size, its structure normal; the gall-bladder contained an ounce of very dark bile. The pancreas and spleen were normal. The kidneys apparently healthy in structure, but pale; the bladder contained about eight ounces of urine.—Acting Assistant Surgeon Thomas Bowen.