Memoir on the cholera morbus of India / By P.F. Keraudren ... Translated from the French.

  • Keraudren, P.F. (Pierre François)
Date:
1831
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Memoir on the cholera morbus of India / By P.F. Keraudren ... Translated from the French. 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.

    14/48 (page 10)
    of the East, I shall lay before my readers some cases, collected in India by M. Saint Yves, surgeon of the Royal Navy, and cor- respondent of the Museum of Natural History of Paris. I shall not separate their treatment from the description of the symptoms; as, by connecting them, the necessity for repeating the cases will be prevented when I come to the section which will relate to the treatment of the affection. The subjoined cases are given in M. Saint Yves' own words. CASE I. Madame S., of lymphatic and nervous temperament, of a thin and debilitated conformation, and labouring under disease of the womb, breakfasted on rice, as was her usual custom. Immediately after- wards she experienced tension of the epigastrium, which was quickly followed by the several symptoms of the cholera morbus. These continued to increase after 10 a.m. I was called in at 11 p. M., and learned that, in the interval, she had been attended by a Bengalese physician, who had given her brandy, and had also administered the tinctures of mint and lavender at short in- tervals, but without success. The patient had then vomited eight times, and had had twenty involuntary stools. When I saw her she experienced intense epigastric pain, burning thirst, sensation of scorching in the stomach and intestines, respiration interrupted, pulse small, intermittent, and almost insensible, cramps of the lower extremities, and general prostration of strength, and exhi- bited a Hippocratic countenance. She was incapable of volun- tary motion, and lay in the supine position, except while the cramps were present. Her extremities were cold, her skin was dry, and she was passing viscous stools, of a black colour. I prescribed a mixture with laridanum and camphor, a spoonful to be taken every quarter of an hour. The next morning the pulse was increased in fulness and frequency, the heat was re-established, she perspired abundantly, and the evacuations were suspended. The same mix- ture was continued every hour. In the evening her condition was natural, and she had passed one sufficiently consistent stool. She now only complained of weakness, and was allowed to drink Ma- deira and water. On the third day she was entirely convales- cent. Her subsequent nourishment consisted of sago, rendered aromatic by canella; and before her meals she was given a small glassful of a bitter wine.