Civil War Washington

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

CASE 516.—Private James Carroll, company K, 84th New York volunteers; age 55; admitted August 8, 1864. Acute diarrhœa. Died, September 2d. Autopsy two hours and a half after death: No rigor mortis; no stasis; body much emaciated. There was some effusion of serum beneath the arachnoid; the brain-substance was normal, or a trifle harder than usual; the lateral ventricles contained three or four drachms of serum; the middle commissure of the brain was absent. There was an abscess in the left parotid gland. The lungs were of a gray color mottled with black, and were adherent on both sides by firm bands to the thoracic parietes and the diaphragm. The heart was normal; its right ventricle contained a mixed clot, both auricles yellow clots. The liver was small, pale, and rather free from blood. The spleen two inches and a half long by an inch and a half wide. The kidneys were normal. The transverse colon, descending colon and rectum were of a dark-red color, and presented numerous ulcers. The ileum was not inflamed. The mesenteric glands not enlarged.

⃰ 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.