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 452.—Private Oliver Bradley, company I, 179th New York volunteers; age 39; admitted from the field October 21, 1864. Chronic diarrhœa. [This man appears on the register of the hospital of the 2d Division, 9th Corps, admitted October 12th—typhoid fever—sent to depot hospital October 18th. He is borne on the register of the depot hospital of the 9th Corps, City Point, Virginia, admitted October 18th—chronic diarrhœa—sent to general hospital October 20th.] Died, November 11th, of typhoid fever. Autopsy fourteen hours after death: Rigor mortis moderate; body much emaciated; suggillation posteriorly. The dura mater was normal; there was half an ounce of serum in the subarachnoid space. The brain and pia mater were normal. Neck and spinal column not examined. The pericardium contained an ounce of clear fluid. The heart and its valves were normal; small fibrinous clots were found in both auricles and ventricles. There were slight adhesions between the base of the left lung and the diaphragm; the upper lobe of the left lung was normal, its lower lobe congested posteriorly; the right lung was normal. Three of the bronchial glands were very large, and contained an abundant deposit of calcareous matter. The liver was enlarged, but its structure seemed normal; the gall-bladder contained an ounce and a half of bile. The spleen, pancreas, mesenteric glands, kidneys, stomach, duodenum, and jejunum were normal. The mucous coat of the ileum presented several patches of inflammation. There were two ulcers in the upper part of the colon, which was other wise normal. The rectum was inflamed.—Acting Assistant Surgeon Thomas Bowen.