Some account of the last yellow fever epidemic of British Guiana / by Daniel Blair, surgeon general of British Guiana ; edited by John Davy, inspector general of army hospitals, etc.

  • Blair, Daniel.
Date:
1852
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Some account of the last yellow fever epidemic of British Guiana / by Daniel Blair, surgeon general of British Guiana ; edited by John Davy, inspector general of army hospitals, etc. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by King’s College London. The original may be consulted at King’s College London.

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    in 139 ascertained cases, the former preceded the latter in 51 instances, appeared simultaneous in 46, and succeeded it in 42 instances. The double symptom of yellow skin and black vomit was of all others the most dangerous, and especially when the latter succeeded the former, and within twenty-four hours. The coexistence of these two symptoms was observed in 144 cases, being 6-95 per cent, of the 2071 mitior and gravior cases admitted to Seaman's Hospital. Out of these 144 cases, 122 died, making the mortality of the conjoined symptom 84*72 per cent. The following Table shows the day of disease on which yellow skin and black vomit occurred simultaneously, also the number of cases in which the former preceded or succeeded the latter, and the number of days it so preceded or succeeded.* Yellow Skik and Black Vomit. 122 Deaths. 22 Recoveries. 40 Cases simuU 4.; Cases preceded. 32 Cases succeeded. 6 Cases simul. 6 Cases preceded. 10 Cases succeeded. Day of Disease. No. of Cases. No. of Days preceded. No. of Cases. No. of Days suc- ceeded. No. of Cases. Day of Disease. No. of Cases. No. of Days preceded. No. of Cases. No. of Days. No. of Cases. 3d 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 3 14 9 10 3 1 1 2 3 4 5 0 28 10 5 1 1 0 1 2 3 7 25 4 2 1 3 4 5 6 1 1 2 2 1 2 4 3 2 1 1 2 3 4 5 2 2 1 Black vomit may continue several days. Thus, case 2038, admitted 26th June, 1841, has black vomit on 29th, which lasts for three or four days, convalesces on thirteenth day of * [By some inciuirers it has been conjectured, that the yellowisli hue of the skin in this disease is not, like that which occurs in jaundice, ])roduced by the staining effect of bile in the blood, but is rather owing to the blood itself, analogous to that kind of discoloration the result of a contusion with ecchymosis. I am not aware that this opinion is supported by any facts; and many circumstances seem to militate against it, and to favour tiic more commonly received conclusion, that bile is the cause of the discoloration. Often in yellow fever when the skin is yellow, the urine contains bile, judging from its colour and its becoming greenish on the addition of an acid. In convalescence from yellow fever the skin clears rapidly, more rapidly than from that discoloration which follows a bruise. The subject is not undeserving of experimental inquiry; what is doubtful may probably be made clear by a few chemical experiments judiciously conducted.]—Ed.