The yellow fever epidemic of 1878 in Memphis, Tenn. : embracing a complete list of the dead, the names of the doctors and nurses employed, names of all who contributed money or means, and the names and history of the Howards, together with other data, and lists of the dead elsewhere / by J.M. Keating.

  • Keating, John McLeod, 1830-1906
Date:
1879
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The yellow fever epidemic of 1878 in Memphis, Tenn. : embracing a complete list of the dead, the names of the doctors and nurses employed, names of all who contributed money or means, and the names and history of the Howards, together with other data, and lists of the dead elsewhere / by J.M. Keating. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    from twenty to ninety hours. When it has passed off the blankets should be gradually withdrawn from the patient; stimulants, such as ale, porter, pure rum, and French brandy should be freely given. I prefer Cook's Imperial St. Louis native wine to any stimulant I have ever used. Nourishment, such as rice-water, or corn-meal gruel, or chicken-water should be given cautiously and sparingly. Should there be a spontaneous movement of the bowels, as will occur in many cases from the irritation of the mucous coat of the stomach and bowels, that tissue which is first assaulted by this disease, give no opium, no preparation of opium, nor any thing to check that action. It is the crisis of the disease as it is in measles. The fever will pass off in five hours, and the patient will recover rapidly without fear of a relapse. Should the perspiration have a glutinous, gummy touch, you may expect your patient to recover with watchful and careful nursing. But should the perspiration have a sensation like that of pure water, showing that there is no vicarious action by the skin, which gives relief to the liver and kidneys, you may know that your patient is in great danger. You will find upon an examination the tongue red and trem- ulous, covered with a short white fur, with great gastric fetor of the breath. It is then all important to apply the cups or leeches to the pit of the stomach in order to prevent that degree of inflammation which destroys the coat of the stomach. If neither cups, leeches, nor blisters be applied, the patient will com- plain of the sensation of a ball in his stomach in thirty-six hours. And in twelve hours thereafter he will throw off blood that is exuded into the stomach, known as black vomit, which has the appearance of coffee-grounds floating in an amber-colored fluid. If there be any doubt as to the character of the matter ejected from the stomach, you can at once decide upon its character by dipping a white handkerchief or linen cloth into the matter ejected from the stomach, and exposing it to the sun for a few moments. If it be the voviito, or genuine black vomit of yellow fever, it will impart a sanguine or bloody tinge to the cloth or handkerchief. If it be bile, which never occurs in yellow fever, it will impart a yellow tinge. Dr. Marvin Huse, Physician of the Yellow Fever Hospital, of Louisville, where nearly two hundred cases were treated, *' found that there Avere two classes of cases : one in which the temperature ranged from 100° to 106°, Avith a hot dry skin; and a second, where the temperature ranged between 97° and 100°, Avith a cold, clammy, and much yellower skin. The latter variety Avas more fatal. The symptoms were, in the main, like those of former epidemics, but a number of interesting characteristics Averc noted. The pulse Avas always so irregular as to be of help in the diagnosis. It ranged from thii'ty-five to one hundred and forty beats a minute. It bore no relation to the temi)erature. The fever Avas a continued one. It had remissions, but not intermissions. The fauces Avere red and swollen; the tongue, CA'cntually, dry and cracked, unlike the fla])by and enlarged tongue of malarial fever. From the skin there exhaled the peculiar rotten-hay odor always noticed. Herpetic eruptions about the mouth and nose Avere frequent. The urine had at first a high specific gravity, falling as the disease progi-essed. It was small in amount at first, also, and suppression Avitli uraemia Avaa always to be looked out for. It generally contained bile, and