The medical companion, or, Family physician : treating of the diseases of the United States, with their symptoms, causes, cure, and means of prevention : common cases in surgery, as fractures, dislocations, &c. : the management and diseases of women and children : a dispensatory, for preparing family medicines, and a glossary explaining technical terms : to which are added a brief anatomy and physiology of the human body showing, on rational principles, the cause and cure of diseases : an essay on hygieine [sic], or the art of preserving health without the aid of medicine : an American materia medica, pointing out the virtues and doses of our medicinal plants : also, the nurse's guide / by James Ewell.
- Ewell, James, 1773-1832.
- Date:
- 1847
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: The medical companion, or, Family physician : treating of the diseases of the United States, with their symptoms, causes, cure, and means of prevention : common cases in surgery, as fractures, dislocations, &c. : the management and diseases of women and children : a dispensatory, for preparing family medicines, and a glossary explaining technical terms : to which are added a brief anatomy and physiology of the human body showing, on rational principles, the cause and cure of diseases : an essay on hygieine [sic], or the art of preserving health without the aid of medicine : an American materia medica, pointing out the virtues and doses of our medicinal plants : also, the nurse's guide / by James Ewell. 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.)
![promised him a thousand rupees in the morning, provided he could find means to remove some of his people into another place of confinement. The sergeant, allured by the promise of so mighty a reward, assured him that he would use his utmost endeavours, and retired for that purpose. What must have been the impatience, at this time, of these unfortunate objects? In a few moments the sergeant returned with the woful tidings, that the viceroy was asleep, and no man durst disturb his repose! The despair of the prisoners now became outrageous. They en- deavoured to force open the door, that they might rush on the swords of the monsters, by whom they were surrounded, and who derided their sufferings; but all their efforts proved ineffectual. They then used execrations and abuse to provoke the guard to fire upon them. The captain of the guard was at length moved to compassion. He ordered his soldiers to bring some skins containing water, which by enraging the appetite, only served to increase the general agitation. There was no other way of conveying it through the windows, but by hats; and this mode proved ineffectual, from the eagerness of the wretched prisoners who struggled for it in the fits of delirium. The cry of water] water! issued from every mouth. The consequence of this eagerness was, that very little fell to the lot even of those who stood nearest the window; and the most fortunate, instead of finding their thirst assuaged, grew more impatient. The confusion soon became general and horrid: all was clamour and contest; those who were at a distance, endeavoured to force their passage to the window, and the weak were pressed down to the ground, never to rise again. Colonel Holwell, observing now his dearest friends in the agonies of death, or dead, and inhumanly trampled on by the living, finding himself wedged up so closely as to be deprived of all motion, begged as the last mark of their regard, that they would for one moment remove the pressure; and allow him to retire from the window, and die in quiet. Even in such dreadful circumstances, which might be supposed to have levelled all distinction, the poor delirious wretches, mani- festing a respect to his rank and character, immediately gave way, and he forced his passage into the centre of the place, which was less crowded, because, by this time, about one-third of the number had perished, while the rest still pressed to both windows. He retired to a platform at the farther end of the room, and lying down upon some of his dead friends, recommended his soul to the mercy of its Creator. Here his thirst grew insupportable; his difficulty in breathing increased and he was seized with a strong palpitation at the heart. These violent symptoms, which he could not bear, urged him to make another effort. He forced his way back to the window, and cried aloud, Water! for God's sake, a little waterV](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21118577_0078.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
