Pathological researches on phthisis / Tr. from the French, with introduction, notes, additions, and an essay on treatment, by Charles Cowan. Rev. and altered by Henry I. Bowditch.

Louis, P. C. A. (Pierre Charles Alexandre), 1787-1872.

Date:: 1836

Credit: Pathological researches on phthisis / Tr. from the French, with introduction, notes, additions, and an essay on treatment, by Charles Cowan. Rev. and altered by Henry I. Bowditch. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library at Yale University, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library at Yale University.

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$during ]ife and that of the stomach after death, and to test the value of the assertions which are daily made on this subject. The stomach appeared sound in 19 cases out of 97, in which it was examined with extreme attention ; in 77 it presented various lesions. In 9 out of J!) in whom it was sound, the tongu n dirin; life more or less red. In one of these )a ind dryn --of the tongue were extremely i ! ed Bin ntinuedfr m l!:e ] ntirnl's admission into the hospital until death, which I e thirty-two days after, and the stomach ;i- found perfect]; healthy in ev< ry re- spect. Of the 77 oilier cases in which thi a simple softening with il ling ol the mucous membrane, or a more or less extensive redness, eitliei n I or nut. Sic, the I was red during life in 35 only, and in .> of these bul verj slightly so. The result, therefore, is that redness baa been observed about the same number of limes in individuals in whom the stomach was healthy, and in those in whom it presented some serious lesion. The diagnosis of phthisis is eaaj at anadvaneed period; everyone knows how uncertain it is daring the first stage, and sometimes for a very long interval. i\l. Louis has particularly directed his attention to determining, by the comparison of the tacts that have come under his observation, the signs by the aid of which we can at first suspect, and afterwards recognise this disease. A dry cough, which continues for many months, a shortness of breath easily brought on by walking or speaking, pains of greater or less acuteness in the back or in the sides of the chest, a remarkable diminution of flesh and strength ought to create strong suspicions of the existence of tubercles in the lungs ; if one or more luemoplyscs occur, it is almost a certainty that the patient is phthisical. Percussion and auscultation are then very suitable for removing our doubts; if the sound of the chest be dull below one of the clavicles to a small extent, if the respiratory murmur there be more feeble and accompanied by some rales, these two phenomena occurring at this point only, where tubercles generally first develop themselves, their existence can no longer be doubted. M. Louis under this head, relates the case of a patient, in whom, by means of these signs, the disease was recognised seventeen days after the appearance of the first symptoms. u 3$