Cases of morbid anatomy : read before the Literary and Philosophical Society of New-York, on the eighth of June, 1815 / by John W. Francis.

  • Francis, John W. (John Wakefield), 1789-1861.
Date:
1815
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Cases of morbid anatomy : read before the Literary and Philosophical Society of New-York, on the eighth of June, 1815 / by John W. Francis. 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.)

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    of blood. In 1812 he fractured one of the ribs of his left side. In the winter of 1813—4, he again laboured under a severe pneumonic affection, but had not recourse to medical advice. His susceptibility to inflammatory diseases of the thoracic viscera being increased, and his professional employment exposing him to sudden changes of heat and cold, he, from this period to the time of his present illness', frequently suffered from attacks of pneumonia, and as often neglected the means of relief. The weak condition of his digestive organs, which was first occa- sioned by the yellow fever of 1798, was often made manifest, more particularly for the last ten years of his life. He was frequently reduced to the necessity of rejecting the contents of his stomach immediately after eating either animal or vegetable food; and fish, though prepared in the most delicate manner, and taken in very small quantity, was so obnoxious to him as to cause excessive vomiting. For the last two years there has been an increase both in the frequency and in the severity of the disorder of his gastric region : the assimilating powers of the stomach being much impaired, he often complained of headach, heart-burn, flatulence, and other symptoms of dyspepsia, with a costive state of his intestinal canal. During the early part of the summer of 1814, he at times stated to his friends, that he found considerable diffi- culty in swallowing; that repeated efforts wTere necessary, in order to make substances, in any degree hard, pass down into the stomach ; that these efforts produced a sensation of choking, and were attended with some pain ; and that even fluids were not taken in with the same facility as formerly. From this period, finding the symptoms of his complaint gradually becoming more alarming, and his constitution evidently more impaired, he judged it expedient to solicit medical advice, and was accordingly