Civil War Washington

CASE 81.—Private William Henry Clay, Co. D, 28th U. S. Colored troops; age 21; was admitted July 21, 1864, on account of inguinal hernia on the right side and enlarged inguinal glands. On April 6, 1865, the records present him as feverish and jaundiced, without giving information as to the period of onset. His pulse was 95, tongue coated with a yellowish fur, skin dry; he had thirst, anorexia, nausea, tenderness in the right iliac region and constipated bowels; there was some mental torpor and considerable muscular debility. On the 8th his pulse was small and frequent; he had a cough and complained of pain in the right side of the chest. He died next day. A mercurial purge operated well on the 6th; subsequently the bowels were so loose that opium was employed. Quinine and stimulants were freely administered. The case is recorded by the attending physician as one of typho-malarial fever. Post-mortem examination: The thoracic viscera were normal. The liver was very light-colored and soft; the spleen and kidneys softened and congested. The whole of the intestinal canal was inflamed; the mesenteric glands enlarged. The peritoneum was inflamed and the sac contained about half a pint of sero-purulent liquid.—Act. Ass't Surg. Frank Buckland, L'Ouvreture​ Hospital, Alexandria, Va.