Civil War Washington

CASE 187.—Sergeant John Link, Co. A, 107th Ohio, was admitted June 15, 1863, delirious, and died on the 17th. Post-mortem examination ten hours after death: The brain was normal. The trachea was purple; its mucous membrane firm; the bronchial glands at its bifurcation large. The lower part of the œsophagus was of a pale yellowish color and presented ulcers of the same hue; its mucous membrane was not softened. The right lung weighed nineteen ounces and a half and was congested in its lower and in part of its upper lobe; the lower lobe of the left lung was somewhat engorged. The heart was normal and contained a fibrinous clot in its right side. The liver was large and dark-colored, extending entirely across the body; the gall-bladder contained three ounces and six drachms of bile. The stomach was immensely distended and occupied the greater portion of the abdomen in an oblique position; its mucous membrane was softened and presented several minute black spots towards the pylorus; between its superior curvature and the gall-bladder was a small quantity of recent lymph. The small intestine was contracted; its mucous membrane was softened and varied in color from light pink to deep purple; the jejunum was filled with a glairy tenacious mass; the last two feet of the ileum presented well defined ulceration of Peyer's patches, the ulcers being mostly circular with ragged walls and an irregular base, which was generally stained of a dull-ochre color by the intestinal contents; near the ileo-cæcal valve several of the ulcers ran together, forming a large ulcerated area, which, with its black indurated walls and yellowish base, stood out in strong relief against the purple, livid and congested mucous membrane. The large intestine was also much contracted, its rugæ elevated and coated with a tenacious mucoid secretion; no ulcers were found in it. The right kidney was congested, and several small spots of transuded blood were noticed on its external surface; the pelvis of the left kidney was similarly discolored.—Ass't Surg. H. Allen, U. S. A., Lincoln Hospital, Washington, D. C.