Civil War Washington

CASE 193.—Private Frederick Wolfanger, Co. C, 93d N. Y.; age 43; was admitted Oct. 24, 1863, and died November 18. Post-mortem examination thirty hours after death: Body much emaciated. Brain healthy. The left parotid gland was the seat of suppurative inflammation; the pus had discharged from two openings, one in the mouth, between the tongue and the inferior maxilla, the other externally, between the mastoid process and clavicle. The left lobe of the thyroid gland contained a calcareous mass as large as a walnut, and in its upper portion a cyst the size of a pea, filled with a dark-brown fluid; the right lobe contained a cyst the size of a small chestnut, and in its lower portion an apoplectic extravasation one inch and a half long by one inch in width. The right lung weighed forty-seven ounces and a half; its lobes were interadherent but not attached to the ribs; the lateral and posterior parts were œdematous. The left lung resembled the other, but contained a greater quantity of blood in many places, the parenchyma being of a darker hue. The bronchial tubes were thickened and their mucous membrane reddish; a yellow tenacious mucus was contained in the smaller tubes, giving a granular appearance to a section of the lung. Both sides of the heart contained mixed fibrinous and dark clots; its muscular tissue was much softer than usual. The liver was normal; the spleen soft, flabby and of a turbid purple color. The intestines were of a dark grayish color; Peyer's patches were ulcerated in places but were not elevated. The kidneys were slightly congested.—Ass't Surg. H. Allen, U. S. A., Lincoln Hospital, Washington, D. C.