A paper on diphtheria : read before the New York Academy of Medicine, January 1861 / by James Wynne.

  • James Wynne
Date:
1861
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A paper on diphtheria : read before the New York Academy of Medicine, January 1861 / by James Wynne. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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    Aretceus, in speaking of this affection, thus notices some of its pecu- liarities: Ulcera in tonsillis fiunt, aliqua raitia, aliqua pestifera, necan- tia. Pestifera autem sunt lata, cava, quodam concreto kumore alio, livido, aut nigro sordentia. Quod si concreta ilia sordes altius desceuderit; affectus ille eschara est, atque ita Greece vocatur, Latine crusta. Crustum vero circumvenient rubor excellens et inflarnmatio, &c.* Caslius Aurelianus, who lived in Africa, speaks of an epidemic of Malum Syriacum that prevailed extensively in that country in his time.f Macrobus describes a similar visitation at Rome, A.D. 380. It prevailed as an epidemic in Holland in 1337; at Paris in 1576; and at Naples in 1618-19, where it numbered five thousand victims; accurate descriptions of which were given by Nola, Zactus Lusitanus, Marcus-Aurelius Severin, and J. B. Carnevale.J At this period Diphtheria was frequent in many parts of Spain, where it continued to prevail as an epidemic for forty years.§ In 1636 it manifested itself at Kingston, on the Island of Jamaica; in 1736 it visited Bos- ton; in 1743 it returned to Paris, where it continued until 1748, ac- counts of which have been given by Malouin ]| and Chomel.^[ It ap- peared at Cremona in 1749,** and the same year in England, where its characteristics were noted by Fothergil^and Starr.ff In 1770 it manifested itself at New York, and gave rise to a valuable mono- graph on the subject by Dr. Samuel Bard'. It was not, however, until its appearance at Tours in 1818, that it assumed the name of Diphtherite, by which it is generally recognized in England and the United States, at the hands of M. Bretonneau, whose investigations have largely contributed to the present fund of knowledge on this subject, and to whom the first connected and prac- tical researches are due. Diphtherite made its first appearance at Tours in 1818, in the barracks of the soldiers, in the rear of the le- gion of La Vendee, and from thence spread to the surrounding quar- ters. The attack among the soldiers was usually a gingival diphthe- * Aretaeus, De Causis et Signis auctorum et diuturnorura morboruni. Lib. iv.. Cap. 9. j- Cselius Aurelianus. Acutarum et ehronicarum passionum libri quinque. Lib. iii., Cap. 2. X J. B. Carnevale. De morbo strangulator^ affectu. Naples: 1620. § A. Tamayo. De morbo garrotillo. Madrid: 1622. || Temoignages Historiques, p. 66. If Chomel. Dissertation historique sur l'aspect du mal de gorge gangreneux qui a regne parmi les enfans l'annee dernier. Paris: 1749. ** Ghisi. Lettre Medeche. Cremona: 1749. ft Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society. London: 1749.