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 532.—Private John Powell, company G, 26th Kentucky volunteers; admitted from Soldiers' Rest February 11, 1865. Chronic diarrhœa. The diarrhœa was readily checked, but immediately afterward he had an attack of jaundice, which was treated with iodide of potassium and three grains of blue mass every other night. Under this treatment he appeared to improve rapidly, and by the 3d of March the conjunctivæ had almost regained their normal color, and the iodide of potassium was discontinued. It appears that the same evening he went to the sutler's and indulged freely in apple-pie, and about 2 A. M., March 4th, was seized with severe pain in the abdomen, accompanied by violent spasms. The nurse in attendance did not summon the attending physician until half-past seven next morning, at which time the surface of the body was of a purple line and cold, saliva flowing from the mouth, the spasms frequent and intense. Stimulants and external friction were resorted to, but without effect. He died during the day. Autopsy twenty-six hours after death: The middle lobe of the right lung was hepatized. The valves of the heart were slightly thickened. There was a small quantity of serum in the peritoneal cavity. The spleen was large and soft. The glands of Peyer congested. An oval gall stone, three quarters of an inch long by one-third of an inch thick, was found in the gall-bladder.

⃰ 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.