Observations on the condition of the body after death from cholera / By Wm. Frederick Barlow.
- Barlow, W. F. (William Frederick), 1817-1853
- Date:
- 1850
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Observations on the condition of the body after death from cholera / By Wm. Frederick Barlow. 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.
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![An exti'enie apathy has, as might have been anticipated, long since succeeded to the intense excitement which pre- vailed wliUst the cholera was raging ; and there are many wlio may think it an injudicious moment to ask attention to anything respecting it; but I ventm'e to addi'ess myself to those who, not behaving as though it were absolutely certain never to return, still contem- plate its phenomena, and confess how much many of them need more re- search. Dming October last I read an ac- count in the Times of an exti-aordi- naiy case of cholera, which hapj)ened at Bristol. It was described as a sup posed case of catalepsy, and subse- quently as one of suspended anima- tion. It was reported to have ex- hibited, perhaps, some of the most singular phenomena on record. It was afSi-med, too, that the subject of it had been heard to say, that if he should die of cholera, he should like to be stabbed in the heart, so that he might be certain not to be bmled alive. Riunours of eveiy sort were spread on all sides: the public listened readily, as it always does,—was alaimed need- lessly, as it often is. The death which so many fancied to be simulated was, in truth, real all the while, as real as any death ever was, whether by cholera or other malady. An inquest was held upon the body after decomposition had become evi- dent, and the fact of dissolution could be denied no longer. At this inquest the utmost interest was manifested, and the juiy-room was crowded, as well as the approaclies to it. A great check must have been given to the appetite of the marvelling, by tiie Coroner observing that the usual signs of death were well known, and, though some of these signs were want- ing, it did not follow that death had not taken place. The body had very long remained warm, and rigor , mortis had been ex- tremely tardy, and the Coroner re- mai'ked, on these points, that the ab sence of coldness and rigidity fi-equently occurred, but there could be no doubt that death had taken j)lace.* Dr. Wallis and Mr. Kelson, two of the medical attendants of the deceased, gave evidence during the inquiry which went to prove how little true cause had existed for the extravagant excite- ment which the case had occasioned; but at tiie same time there were circum- stances stated by them of considerable medico-legal interest. Desii'ous of the fullest pai-ticulai's, I wrote to Dr. Green, Surgeon to the Bristol Infii-mary, who also was con- sulted respecting the case, and he was so kind as to send me am account, which I have taken the liberty of abridging. It appears that Mr. B. B h went to bis counting-bouse at 9 a.m., Oct. 12, 1849, and retm-ned at 10, feeling ill, with severe pain, vomiting, and frequent watei-y evacuations. Some medicine and brandy were prescribed him. At 4 o'clock there was great jjain in the abdomen and legs; the voice was feeble; there was no pulse at the wiist; the face was pale and collapsed; the eyes half closed and sunken; the mind undistm-bed. No urine was passed; there were vomiting and the charac- teristic rice-water evacuations; he would roU in bed with the intensity of the cram]^. The tongue, however, felt warm; so did the skin and exti'emities. A scruple of calomel was ordered to bo taken, and a draught containing opium and ammonia, acetate of lead with small doses of morphia, external warmth, a mustard poultice to the whole abdomen, &c., were subsequently had recourse to. When seen by Dr. Wallis, Dr. Green, and Mr. Kelson, at a later period of the day, there was a relief obtained from the vomiting, purging, and some from the cramps, whilst the skin kept warm; but still there was no pulse at the * The words absence of coldness and ri- gidity are evidently intended to imply only un- usually Ions (lelai/.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21364734_0005.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
