An essay on the nature and treatment of the Indian pestilence, commonly called cholera / by Henry Penneck.

  • Penneck Henry.
Date:
1831
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: An essay on the nature and treatment of the Indian pestilence, commonly called cholera / by Henry Penneck. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

    6/40 (page 6)
    to occupy the first place, whilst it is “ observed*, that all the functions employed in carrying on life are sus- pended, or alarmingly weakened, except that of the brain, which appears in these extreme cases to suffer little, the intellectual powers usually remaining per- fect to the last moment.” When it is said that the functions of the brain “ suffer little,” I presume the intellectual powers only are intended, since the writer has just acknowledged, that “ all the functions employed in carrying on life were suspended or weakened;” for what are these functions, if they are not either functions of the brain (considering it with its continuation, the spinal chord, as a whole), or func- tions in immediate subordination to it. It appears to me, that the loss of heat and circulation on the surface, and the vomiting, purging, cramps, and suppression of the secretionsi, and “ the loss of bodily power, as if the patient were suddenly struck down, or placed under the immediate effects of some poison,” are the most striking evidences of the deranged action of the brain. The Bengal report states, that, “ the powers of vo- luntary motion were in every instance impaired, and the mind obscured : the patient staggered like a drunken man, or fell down like a helpless child. Headache, over one or both eyes, sometimes, but rarely, occurred. The pulse, when to be felt, was re- gular and extremely feeble, sometimes soft, not very quick ; usually ranging from 80 to 100 : in a few in- stances it rose to 140 or 150 shortly before death. Then it was distinct, small, feeble, and irregular. Sometimes very rapid, then slow for one or two beats. The mouth was hot and dry ; the tongue parched, and