A case of typhus or ship fever, with remarks / By Wm. Ingalls.

  • Ingalls, William, 1769-1851.
Date:
1848
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A case of typhus or ship fever, with remarks / By Wm. Ingalls. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    surface ; accumulation of sordes on the teeth, extending to the buc¬ cal cavity, roof of the mouth and fauces, proving very troublesome ; it was removed with swab wet with water ; had two dejections similar in appearance to the last. Friday—-Morning.—A high delirium last night; flushed face ; respiration spasmodic ; pulse quick and somewhat hard ; lies on his back, head pressed deeply into the pillow ; tonic spasm of the flexor carpi radialis et ulnaris, rendering their tendons tense ; twitchings of the muscular fibres very perceptible to the hand ; strong contraction of the extensors of the toes. Afternoon—respi¬ ration more labored ; pulse 137 ; great irritation of the anterior nares. Evening, between nine and ten o’clock'—respiration very different; pulse too rapid to be counted ; delirium furious ; large compress, very wet with cold water, with other remedies, in the course of an hour, moderated the yiolence of the symptoms. Saturday.—Last night four men were actively employed in re¬ straining his inordinate movements and preventing his escape from bed ; this morning delirium less furious, and the other symptoms less violent. Afternoon—delirium high, frequent attempts to get out of bed and “ go home ; ” subsultus tendinum ; tremors ; carpology ; tongue thick red and pointed, without being coated. Evening—a well digested dejection, mixed with urine thick and white, which had been, during the whole course of the fever, of a black brown ; sub¬ sultus tendinum subsided; moisture from the forehead to the feet. These symptoms being indicative of a crisis, the keeping of the room free from noise, and the suspension of medicine rigorously enjoined; prescription, however, was left to be given conditionally. [Every attention had hitherto been paid most scrupulously to my directions and prescriptions, even to a written account of every thing he had taken, and at what hours, during the intervals between my visits ; but what transpired between this time and my visit on Sunday morning, I could obtain no account, except no medicine had been administered ; it is with regret, therefore, I could not as¬ certain to what cause the unexpected state in which I found the patient on Sunday, might probably be attributed.] Sunday Morning.—Attempts to escape from bed relinquished ; lies on his back, head pressed in the pillow ; face of deep red color ; eyeballs rolling in every direction, especially upwards and inwards, concealing at times the cornea ; cheeks hollow ; nose sharp and