The extraordinary case of Sarah Hawkes : one of extreme deformity, cured by a method founded upon simple principles / by Edward Harrison ; printed for the benefit of the patient.
- Harrison, Edward, 1759-1838
- Date:
- 1832
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: The extraordinary case of Sarah Hawkes : one of extreme deformity, cured by a method founded upon simple principles / by Edward Harrison ; printed for the benefit of the patient. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Harvard Medical School.
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![vertebree rubbing against each other, that she frequently turned the child, expecting to see an evident movement in some particular part, and thus ascertain the exact spot whence the noise proceeded : but these examinations al- ways ended in disappointment; for neither she nor any other person, after bestowing the greatest care and vigil- ance, could perceive the slightest disturbance, either in the spine or ribs. Both were, at all times, tranquil. No unusual motion could be observed (»r felt, although the crackling was audible enough, and, apparently, confined to a particular spc^t, to v/hich eyes and fingers were both directed. This perplexing symptom had scarcely taken its depar- ture, before she became constipated in her bowels. Dur- ing twenty-nine successive days no alvine evacuation took place: the belly became exceedingly swollen, and was very painful, while there was a remarkable glistening of the integuments. About the same time she was attacked with frequent spasms in the face, eyes, and right hand, but most of all in the mouth ; the chin being now drawn down upon the sternum, where it remained fixed for fifteen weeks and three days. During this period she lay speech- less, with her mouth continually open, excepting when forcibly closed with a bandage. It at last suddenly and spontaneously shut; and in the course of an hour she was able to speak a few words. This attack was scarcely over, before the body, and, after it, the limbs began to bend backwards; but there was no return of the fits, cramps or spasms. Her defor- mity continuing, however, to increase, attained its present magnitude, which, in fact, it ac(]uired within the first three months. From that time matters have remained nearly c 2](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21057060_0035.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
