Civil War Washington

CASE 34.—Private Benjamin Cunningham, Co. D, 86th N. Y.; age 21; was admitted Feb. 18, 1862, having been sick for some time with chills, headache, pains in back and limbs, loss of appetite, epistaxis, diarrhœa and inability to sleep. On March 4 his pulse was recorded as rapid and weak, skin warm and moist, cheeks flushed, tongue smooth and natural, abdomen tympanitic and covered with vibices and a few sudamina; he had little appetite, great thirst and one or two watery and sometimes involuntary passages; he was somewhat deaf but appeared sensible; respiration was hurried and there was some cough. Treatment: Punch, beef-essence, turpentine emulsion and tincture of iron, with mustard to the abdomen. From this time he improved: His watery passages gave place to more natural and regular discharges,—indeed, on the 10th his bowels were noted as rather constipated, he slept well, his appetite returned and his general appearance and strength seemed improving; but his tongue was considered to be too smooth, and at times his mind did not appear to be clear. He was, however, considered as in a fair way to recovery. On the 15th he complained that his hips were sore from long continued pressure, and next day that he had lost the sense of taste—that he could feel his food when in his mouth but could not taste it. Bed-sores over the sacrum were noted on the 17th, and great debility with enlarging sores over the left trochanter on the 26th, on which day also he was seized with a severe pain in the left side. This pain increased on the 27th, the breathing becoming hurried and prostration extreme; his mind was clear, pupils dilated, the sclerotic showing to an unnatural extent. He died on the 27th, diarrhœa returning a few hours before death. Post-mortem examination: The mucous membrane of the ileum was much inflamed and ulcerated eighteen or twenty inches above the ileo-cæcal valve.—Seminary Hospital, Georgetown, D. C.