Volume 1

Glasgow hospital reports / edited for the committee by George S. Middleton [and others].

Date:
1898-1901
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Glasgow hospital reports / edited for the committee by George S. Middleton [and others]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

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    great extent passed off. About the beginning of the present year he suffered from loss of appetite, indigestion, and occa- sional vomiting, which confined him to bed for a few weeks, on leaving which he observed for the first time that he had some difficulty in walking. Two months ago he “ sprained his left leg,” when he took to bed again for a couple of weeks, chiefly, as he says, “ on account of the shock which it gave him.” Since then the difficulty in walking has been more marked, not on account of any loss of power in his limbs, he thinks, as they seem to him to be “ as strong as ever they were,” but on account of giddiness, and an inclination to fall, sometimes back- wards, sometimes forwards, but oftenest backwards. The day before he hurt his leg he had two “ nervous attacks,” and, while in bed on account of the injury, he had eight or ten more, all of which closely resembled, though they were more severe than, one which he had the day after his admission, of which the following is a brief outline: About 4.30 A.M., on the day in question, he began to suffer from hiccough and severe frontal headache, with uneasiness in the eyes and tingling in all his extremities. About 8 a.m. he began to expectorate large mouthfuls of clear, sometimes frothy, tenacious saliva. The salivation continued more or less all day, about two hand basins full in all being expectorated. During the attack he vomited once a small quantity of beef-tea shortly after its ingestion, the eyes watered very much, and the eyelids and conjunctivae were congested, while the pupils, especially the right, were observed to be contracted. The skin at the commencement felt hot, but slowly cooled down. Un- fortunately at this time no record of the temperature is preserved, but during his residence in hospital the temperature was sometimes above the normal, and on the night of his admission was 101*4. Latterly he has complained of a noise like machinery between his temples, and vomiting has been a frequent symptom: this he attributes to constipation, which has troubled him all through his illness. He is a tall, lanky, melancholy-looking man, who has a rather stupid, apathetic look, except when he speaks, but he answers questions very intelligently. He has great difficulty