A scientific and popular view of the fever of Walcheren, and its consequences, as they appeared in the British troops returned from the late expedition ; with an account of the morbid anatomy of the body, and the efficacy of drastic purges and mercury in the treatment of this disease / By J.B. Davis, M.D.

  • Davis, J.B. (John Bunnell), 1780-1824.
Date:
1810
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A scientific and popular view of the fever of Walcheren, and its consequences, as they appeared in the British troops returned from the late expedition ; with an account of the morbid anatomy of the body, and the efficacy of drastic purges and mercury in the treatment of this disease / By J.B. Davis, M.D. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service. The original may be consulted at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service.

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    -wmotom that announced the presence of calculi in geMr •;. v1 The rev, as seldom any vestige of disease in the bladder, :!; ;i0i l was more common than for patients to make bloody water, and to be seized with great pain at the neck ot this viscus, strangury, and suppression ot urine. I have elsewhere hinted, that -the vena portarum was always loaded with blood, even to its minutest ramitotaoaj, and I may now add, that a similar plethora of the whole 4nous svstem of the abdomen always prevailed at whatever period of the Walchereu intermittent the patient expir- ed The vessels of the mesentery in particular were con- spicuously turgid. The ramifications which surround the in- testines sometimes equalled a goose-quill in diameter and have even been full of blood, to the very trunks of the me- senteric veins. In short, the whole venous system of the mtestines was evidently surcharged with blood. The spleen as well as the liver partook of venous congestion, and that portion of the vena cava, which lies upon the vertebra ot the loins, and extends- to the diaphragm was generally dis- tended with black blood half coagulated, so that not only the veins returning blood from the viscera were in a state of ple- thora but even their common trunk up to the right auricle ot the heart. The higher the vena cava proceeded, the more re- markable was its dilatation. Near the heart ft was enlarged a third of its diameter, was thinner than usual, and always loaded with blood. Several evident changes could also be traced in the heart. The right side of this organ like the venous system, from its minute ramifications, in the abdominal viscera, to the extremity of the vena cava, was considerably dilated. The dilatation was particularly remarkable in the right auricle, which was always thinner, paler, and at least one- third larger than natural. It was generally flaccid, like the ventricle of the same side, and full of black blood that was coagulated, but of a firm consistence. The right ventricle too, owing to the difficult passage of the blood through the lungs, was mostly distended with blood of a firm con- sistence, the fibrous part of which adhered with great tenacity to the sides of the ventricle and to the valvular semilunares. The right side of the heart was always very pale, and the left firm and of a darker colour than natural. The former was not as, d priori, might be supposed from the increase of resistance opposed to it from the impediment to the freedom of the pulmonary circulation, thickened or inflamed. The effect of the resistance was a gradual diminution of muscular power, a dilatation of the fibres, in short, debility of the right