The Medical adviser and complete guide to health and long life : containing the most plain and easy directions for the treatment of every disorder incidental to the human frame in all its ages / by Alexr. Burnett, M.D.

Date:
1825
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The Medical adviser and complete guide to health and long life : containing the most plain and easy directions for the treatment of every disorder incidental to the human frame in all its ages / by Alexr. Burnett, M.D. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library at Yale University, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library at Yale University.

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    is Claude Ambroise Seurat, born on the 10th of April, 1797, at Troyes, in Champagne. His mother was a woman of good health, and expe- rienced neither fright nor accident during the term of gestation; so that no part of his malformation and con- sequent state can be accoimfed for by external causes. According to the statement of his father, (the mother is dead,) he presented nothing ex- traordinary in his appearance at the time of birth j though in my own mind I have no doubt but the same malformation was existent then, which is so apparent now. He continued growing until the usual term of life, and concomitant with that growth, were his depletion and loss of mus- cular power. Upon entering the room, a stoop- ing posture of sitting, attenuated hands, sunken eyes, and meagre face, tend strongly to impress the mind of the visitant with an idea that Seurat has just emerged from the couch of long-continued illness. With regard to individual features, they are, how- ever, perfect, and such as, if lit by health and excitation, would afford a face of considerable attraction; his eye is dark and full, and the tunica conjunctiva of a beautiful whiteness; but the effect of this organ is ren- dered painful to the beholder by that expression of anxiety arid glaziness so generally observed in persons la- bouring under phthisis; his teeth are good, and his capability of mastica- tion suited to his need, though he soon tires of this, as of every other muscular exertion, preferring for his diet that which calls for the least effort of the masticatory muscles. I might here mention, that on Sunday last I was with him at the time of dining, when he took soup (vermicelli, I believe,) to about the amount of four table spoonsful, eating the eighth of a penny French roll with it: this, with the half of a small glass of cider, constituted the whole of his repast. He appeared anxious for the meal, but by the time he had eaten half the specified quantity, his appetite evidently decreased. He is able to feed himself by bending his head down half-way to the table, where the fore-arm rests; but when requiring drink, his step-mother (who is most kindly attentive to him) must supply him, as he cannot raise the glass to his mouth. His sleep is mostly sound and good, occasion- ally, only, interrupted by oneirodynia, commonly known by the term night- mare; his digestive powers seem quite efficient to the task assigned to them, and the state of his body is regular. The pulse, whenever I have ex- amined it, has been full and oft, and of a natural acceleration. On Sunday, it was increased a few beats after his dinner. He converses in good French, and with considerable vivacity, ap- pearing, however, exhausted if con- tinued many minutes: he did not, according to his own account, ex- perience the slightest inconvenience from sea-sickness, during the passage oyer: indeed I almost doubt whether he has muscular power sufficient to eject the contents of the stomach; at any rate the effort would be at- tended with great risk to himself.— His general health they state to have been good, but he has laboured for- merly (five years since) with a liver complaint, and also an attack of pleurisy. At present he is perfectly free from any bodily affection; though I much fear the inequalities of tem- perature experienced in an English winter, and the frequent exposure he is threatened with by exhibition, will tend to produce disease of the lungs. Having thus afforded you a ge- neral description, I shall proceed to a further cognizance of him when presented to you in a denuded state. Of his appearance when placed before you thus, language must fail to con- vey a sufficiently correct or forcible picture. I therefore refer you with great pleasure to the effective effort of Mr. Cruikshank's pencil, and which