Medical Inquiries and Observations, Vol. 4: The Second Edition, Revised and Enlarged by the Author — John Shaqi
Medical Inquiries and Observations, Vol. 4: The Second Edition, Revised and Enlarged by the AuthorRush, Benjamin
History
Medical Inquiries and Observations, Vol. 4: The Second Edition, Revised and Enlarged by the Author
Rush, Benjamin
Medicine; Yellow fever -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia
In all of them the stomach was inflamed. The matter which constitutes
what is called the _black vomit_, was found in the stomachs of several
patients who had not discharged it at any time by vomiting. In some
stomachs, he found lines which seemed to separate the living from their
dead parts. Those parts, though dead, were not always in a mortified
state. They were distinguished from the living parts by a peculiar
paleness, and by discovering a weak texture upon being pressed between
the fingers. He observed the greatest marks of inflammation in the
stomachs of several persons in whom there had been no vomiting, during
the whole course of the disease. The brain, in a few instances,
discovered marks of inflammation. Water was now and then found in its
ventricles, but always of its natural colour, even in those persons whose
skins were yellow. The liver suffered but little in this disease. It may
serve to increase our knowledge of the influence of local circumstances
upon epidemics to remark, that this viscus, which was rarely diseased in
the fever of Philadelphia in 1798, discovered marks of great inflammation
in the bodies which were examined by Dr. Rand and Dr. Warren, in the town
of Boston, where the yellow fever prevailed at the same time it did in
Philadelphia.
The weather was hot and dry in August and September, during the
prevalence of this fever. Its influence upon animal and vegetable life
are worthy of notice. Moschetoes abounded, as usual in sickly seasons;
grasshoppers covered the ground in many places; cabbages and other garden
vegetables, and even fields of clover, were devoured by them. Peaches
ripened this year three weeks sooner than in ordinary summers, and apples
rotted much sooner than usual after being gathered in the autumn. Many
fruit-trees blossomed in October, and a second crop of small apples and
cherries were seen in November, on the west side of Schuylkill, near the
city. Meteors were observed in several places. On the 29th of September
there was a white frost. Its effects upon the fever were obvious and
general. It declined, in every part of the city, to such a degree as to
induce many people to return from the country. In the beginning of
October the weather again became warm, and the disease revived. It was
observable, that all great changes in the weather from heat to cold that
were short of frost, or of cold to heat, increased the mortality of the
fever. It spread most rapidly in moist weather.
The origin of this fever was from the exhalations of gutters, docks,
cellars, common sewers, ponds of stagnating water, and from the foul air
of the ship formerly mentioned.
The fever prevailed at the same time in the town of Chester, in
Pennsylvania; in Wilmington, in the state of Delaware; in New-York; in
New-London, in Connecticut; in Windsor, in Vermont; and in Boston; in all
which places its origin was traced to domestic sources.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account