Remarks on a case of suicide, published by Dr. P.D. Handyside, in no. 134 of the Edinburgh medical and surgical journal : intended to show that he has erroneously ascribed the cause of death to air in the organs of circulation, with some strictures upon the theoretical doctrines advocated in his memoir / by John Rose Cormack.

  • Cormack, John Rose, Sir, 1815-1882.
Date:
1838
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Remarks on a case of suicide, published by Dr. P.D. Handyside, in no. 134 of the Edinburgh medical and surgical journal : intended to show that he has erroneously ascribed the cause of death to air in the organs of circulation, with some strictures upon the theoretical doctrines advocated in his memoir / by John Rose Cormack. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

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    the heart being empty of blood, and all the large vessels nearly so, and also from the paleness of all the organs, we are naturally led to believe that the quantity of blood lost is far under-estimated when stated to have been not more than a pound and a half. It is worth noting that the blood was on a carpet, a circumstance apt to lead to an under-estimate, as a good deal must have been absorbed, and consequently not apparent to the eye. However, admitting that the hemorrhage was to no greater extent than this, it was, I think, in the circumstances of the case, quite sufficient to cause death. In the first place, it is important to bear in mind, that the blood was rapidly poured out from a number of vessels, simulta- neously, or almost simultaneously, divided. Of the rapidity of the effusion there can be no doubt, for Dr. Handyside tells us, that when he arrived ten minutes after the incisions had been made, the blood lay partially coagulated upon three different jjarts of the floor of the apartment. Now, all writers on physiology state, that a small quantity of blood suddenly lost may induce fatal syncope ; and every one in the habit of performing ve- nesection must have been struck with the remarkable differ- ence which exists between patients, in the amount of blood which they can lose before fainting takes place. When the body of the Princess Charlotte, who died of uterine hemor- rhagy, was examined, only twenty ounces of blood were found in-the uterus. A woman, says M. Velpeau, was bled in the arm ; but eight ounces of blood had hardly flowed, when the patient uttered a plaintive cry and died ! Nothing was found upon post mortem examination. What can we say of a case like this ? If death was not caused in this instance by the entrance of air into the veins, cries M. Maugeis, what could have caused itWere I in this practitioner's place, my answer would be an easy one. I should content myself with saying, / know nothing abojit z7.* But there is a circumstance connected with the case of M * As translated in Medical Gazette, Mth March, 1838, p. 958.