Civil War Washington

CASE 84.—Private James Coady, Co. B, 24th Vet. Res. Corps; age 21; was admitted February 2, 1865, with debility from malarial disease. The patient had a haggard look, but complained of nothing but weakness and inability to sleep; his tongue was slightly coated with white fur, bowels somewhat loose, pulse 90, skin natural. He said he had recently suffered from intermittent fever. Wine-bitters and quinine were given, with Dover's powder at night. He slept well during the following night, but in the morning he was feverish, his tongue dry and brown in the centre, his bowels loose, and he complained of pain in the right iliac region; there was also some cough, with pain in the right breast and dulness​ on percussion over the upper third of the right lung. Acetate of ammonia and brown mixture were given and the quinine continued. During the next few days the typhoid symptoms became more marked; deafness, fissured tongue and sordes. Milk-punch was ordered. He died on the 19th. Post-mortem examination: There were old pleuritic adhesions on both sides, but particularly on the right. The right lung was infiltrated with tubercle, some of which was softened, and there was some intercurrent pneumonia; the mucous membrane of the bronchial tubes was thickened and of a dark-purple color. The liver was large and somewhat cirrhosed; the spleen dark-brown and soft. There were patches of inflammation and occasional deposits of tubercle in the ileum. The mesenteric glands were enlarged.—Third Division Hospital, Alexandria, Va.