An unusual abnormal condition of the tongue and cheeks considered in connexion with life assurance / by J. Moore Neligan.

  • Neligan, J. Moore (John Moore), 1815-1863.
Date:
1862
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: An unusual abnormal condition of the tongue and cheeks considered in connexion with life assurance / by J. Moore Neligan. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    to, or resembling which, I have not been able to find on record. H. E., aged 46 next birth-day, appeared before me to be examined for assurance on the 17th of April, 1857. In his paper he stated that he never had any illness since childhood, and that he never had occasion even to consult a medical man. His father died at the age of 78, and his mother was living, aged 77. He had, originally, two brothers and three sisters; his two brothers were dead, one at the age of three weeks, and the other at the age of 21 years of fever; one of his sisters died at the age of 48, of acute bronchitis; the other two were living, and in good health. As the result of my examination I reported, that on stethoscopic exami¬ nation the heart and lungs were healthy, as were also the viscera in the other cavities, as far as could be ascertained; that he had the appearance of a person of the age stated, and of one whose habits and mode of living had been uniformly temperate; that he was a stout, well-made man, about the middle height, of a sanguine tem¬ perament ; and that there was nothing in his appearance or confor¬ mation that would lead one to suppose he had a tendency to any particular complaint. And, in giving my opinion on the life, I stated, that as regards bis present health it was good; as to the state of the different organs, they were healthy, but the tongue was singularly affected, the natural membrane covering it and the inside of the cheeks being changed into a thick white skin, like a kid glove, and uneven on the surface; as to his constitution, that it appeared to be sound; and, as to the eligibility of the life for assurance, that it would be a first class life were it not for the state of the tongue, which I had never seen anything like before, nor could the proposer assign any cause for it; he said that it had been so for the last 30 years, that his taste was as perfect as that of any other person, nor had he any soreness or uncomfortable feel in it. I concluded my opinion by adding that in the case of so singular an affection I would advise an extra rate of five or seven years to be charged. The condition of the mucous membrane of the tongue and inside of the cheeks here alluded to was very remarkable. The tongue