Title: Lynch, James F.

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), 194.

Keywords:diarrhœa and dysenteryfatal cases of diarrhœa and dysentery, with accounts of the morbid appearances observedfrom the Third Division of the Alexandria Hospital, Virginiachronic diarrhœa, eight weeks durationmesentery injected, mesenteric glands enlargedmucous membrane of small intestine softened, particularly lower ileumautopsy performed

Civil War Washington ID: med.d1e41485

TEI/XML: med.d1e41485.xml


Case from the case-book of the THIRD DIVISION of the ALEXANDRIA HOSPITAL, Surgeon Edwin Bentley, U. S. V., in charge:⃰


CASE 477.—Private James F. Lynch, company H, 20th Massachusetts volunteers; age 30; admitted December 2, 1862. Chronic diarrhœa of eight weeks duration. [This man appears on the sick report of his regiment as under treatment for diarrhœa from April 23d to April 27, 1862.] He was extremely emaciated, had large, liquid, and very frequent stools, which, during the last twenty-four hours of his life, were involuntary. Treatment: Astringents, opiates, stimulants and concentrated food. Died, December 7th. Autopsy: Body extremely emaciated; abdomen sunken. The thoracic viscera were normal. The mesentery was injected; the mesenteric glands enlarged. The mucous membrane of the small intestine was softened, particularly in the lower part of the ileum. The liver was somewhat enlarged and fatty. The spleen large and soft. [The condition of the large intestine is not recorded.]


⃰ It is to be regretted that, in most instances, the records of this hospital do not show by whom the autopsies were made. It is known that many of them were made by Surgeon Bentley himself, or under his immediate supervision, but it is only possible to distinguish these from the others in a few cases.