Civil War Washington

CASE 40.—Private Josiah Cheever, Co. B, 15th Vt., was admitted April 14, 1863: Headache; occasional delirium; pulse 100, compressible; hot and dry skin; six to eight stools daily; short, dry cough; sibilant rhonchus distinct over chest anteriorly; abdomen tympanitic. Calomel, opium and ipecacuanha in small doses alternating with effervescing mixture ameliorated his condition. The chest and head symptoms subsided, but the abdomen remained distended and tender and the diarrhœa continued. On the 22d his tongue became cracked and pulse feeble, 120. He died on the 28th, notwithstanding the administration of turpentine, alcoholic stimulants and ammonia. Post-mortem examination: Thoracic viscera normal. Mucous membrane of small intestine injected, lower ileum presenting eight large ulcers; corresponding mesenteric glands enlarged.—Third Division Hospital, Alexandria, Va.