Case of tubercular elephantiasis in a man of English parentage, born in India / by J. Kinnis.

  • Kinnis, John.
Date:
[1844]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Case of tubercular elephantiasis in a man of English parentage, born in India / by J. Kinnis. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    but cannot be completely extended. This finger has so entirely lost its sensibility, that it may be pressed or pricked when his eyes are shut, without his being aware of the contact of a foreign body. The skin of its metacarpal bone, and of the rest of the hand, is greatly benumbed, and the muscular power so much impaired, that he^can neither clench his fist nor grasp any object firmly; while the sensibility and muscular power of the left hand are equal to those of other healthy parts. The nails of the right hand are short, fluted, and so very brittle as to render paring unnecessary ; while those of the left have a normal appearance. The trunk is very greatly emaciated, and, though the skin co- vering it exhibits several large white patches, such as are often seen in healthy Europeans, who have served in the tropics, it ap- pears to be everywhere sensible, perspirable, and sound. Tubercles exist in considerable numbers on both hips and on the back, front, and inside of the thighs, generally flat, oblong, imbedded, of moderate size, and a pale-bluish colour. There are also one or two on the right knee, one or two on the upper and outer parts of both legs, and three, two of which coalesce into one, near the inner edge of the left tibia. The last are covered with white scars. The skin on the back, and slightly on other parts of the legs, and on the ankles and feet, is thickened, indurated, and benumbed; the cellular membrane cedematous; the cuticle dry, rough, thickened, cracked, and peeling off in opaque white narrow shreds, or giving passage to a serous discharge from the true skin. The toes are smooth, swollen, shining ; the nails convex from be- hind forwards, thickened and subdivided into layers, from which transverse segments have been broken near their roots, and thrown off. Immediately under the right groin are two enlarged glands, each above half-an-inch in diameter, and, somewhat lower down, a third, nearly two inches by one in size. Below the left groin is a less prominent glandular swelling. He had lost all sexual desire some months before his admission into hospital in Corfu in August 1842, and the testicles are small, though not much wasted. His general health and strength are greatly reduced; the emaciation of his trunk is much more considerable than could have been anticipated from the mere in- spection of his face and limbs; yet there is no reason to suspect organic disease in either the chest or abdomen. By the aid of a staff he walks about; but with pain, difficulty, and dyspnoea. His height is 5 feet 9 inches and a-half. In his clothes he weighed Stones. lbs. Before leaving India, . . 10 0 In Ireland, 1838, . 9. 10 At Fort Pitt, 22d September 1813, 8 2|