The practice of medicine, according to the plan most approved by the Reformed or Botanic Colleges of the U. S : embracing a treatise on materia medica and pharmacy ; illustrated with numerous engravings ; designed principally for families / by J. Kost.
- Kost, J., 1819-1904.
- Date:
- 1847
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: The practice of medicine, according to the plan most approved by the Reformed or Botanic Colleges of the U. S : embracing a treatise on materia medica and pharmacy ; illustrated with numerous engravings ; designed principally for families / by J. Kost. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library at Yale University, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library at Yale University.
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![ted throughout nearly the whole course of the diseas?. The patient moves slowly, and seemingly with great reluctance, and his answers to questions are hesitating, short and peev- ish. The stage of excitement generally continues about six or seven days, before it terminates in the stage of colapsey though this sinking stage som times supervenes [sets in,] at a much earli r period; and occasionally comes on a few days later.—(Ebcrlc.) The patient now becomes very feeble and prostrated. The tongue becomes thickly covered with a brown and, finally, black coat; th i teeth encrusted with black sordes; there is, generally, much subsultus tendinum or twitching of the mus- cles. There is also, a very peculiar biting heat of the skin, and sometimes the latter turns purple or black in spots. The discharges from the bowels, which often become thin and wa- tery, are exceedingly offensive; and as the disease advances, the patient b comes indiiier ntto all surrounding obj:cts,will not often even notice his most intimate friends whom he has not seen for a long time; when spoken to, his answers arc short and unintelligent, and arc generally ended with a low mut- tering delirium. The voice becomes ] eculiarly strange and sepulchral. As the patient gets lower, tin coma or stupor becomes more constant and compl te, and it is now with dif- ficulty that the patient is aroused at all, and even when he is made to speak, it will only be a word or two, when he will again fall back into a d ep stat^ of stupor. The easiest tini3 the patient has, is, generally, in the morning. Before disso- lution, the poor sufferer usually experiences a r: spite, lasting longer or shorter, but generally several hours, in which he possesses his senses, and mental faculties, nearly as well as in health. This is certainly a great blessing; the dying man may know his danger, and his friends and relatives may en- joy the gr^at satisfaction of conversing with a friend whom they shall shortly see no more on earth. This relief is well calculated to deceive many, who are flattered thereby to ex- pect a speedy recovery, whereas, it is only the precursor or forerunner of death. After this respite, the patient again sinks rapidly into tin former condition, and continues grow- ing worse until he dies. Cause.—The cause of typhus fever is by some referred en- tirely to a specific contagion, and it is obvious that under some circumstances it may be communicated in this way. In densely populated cities, where the air must of necessity be more or less contaminated with putrid effluvia arising from the decomposition of animal matter; and in camps, hospitals,](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b2101727x_0092.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
