A report to the Indiana State Medical Society, on Asiatic cholera, as it prevailed within the state of Indiana, during the years 1849, 1850, 1851 & 1852 : with observations on the laws which govern its progress / by George Sutton.

  • Sutton, George, 1812-1886
Date:
1854
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A report to the Indiana State Medical Society, on Asiatic cholera, as it prevailed within the state of Indiana, during the years 1849, 1850, 1851 & 1852 : with observations on the laws which govern its progress / by George Sutton. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

    65/72 (page 65)
    ally commenced with diarrhea, which was followed by vomit- ing and as it advanced we had the same profuse discharges from the bowels of a light watery or sero-albuminous charac- ter described by authors; the same shrunken and blue appear- ance of the skin; coldness of the surface, with profuse per- spiration; failure of the pulse; cramps of the muscles; sup- pression of urine; oppression of the chest; failure of the voice, with but little derangement of the intellectual faculties. Sometimes the disease passed rapidly to a fatal termination with but little vomiting or purging; the other symptoms, how- ever, being present, this would constitute a variety of malig- nant cholera. It appears to me that I have observed premonitory nervous symptoms belonging to cholera which I have never seen described in any of our medical works. They do not always precede an attack of cholera, or always present the same ap- pearance. I divide them for the sake of description into those of exaltation^ those of depression^ and those of a pecu- liar or an anomalous character. When the disease com- mences with what we consider symptoms of nervous excite- ment, there is generally an unusual exhilaration of spirits; the mind is clear, the thoughts are vivid, and the person in com- mon language, seems full of life; This exalted condition of the nervous system is followed by a sudden attack of cholera. I do not think this excitement is accidental, or that cholera is the consequence of it, for, I have seen it in many instances, and particularly amongst children* My son had these exhil- arated feelings the day before he was attacked, and appeared unusually full of sport until a late hour at night. The opposite symptom to this, the feeling of depression, or lassitude, which very often precedes an attack of cholera, isdescribed by med- ical writers, and I believe is generally accompanied with diarrhea. The other premonitory symptom, the one I wish particular- ly to direct attention to, is a peculiar nervous feeling which pases over the whole system and more resembles what I under- stand by the epileptic aura than anything else that I can com- pare it to. It is generally accompanied with an oppressive sensation at the stomach; difficulty of breathing and a desire for fresh air. Sometimes this symptom, accompanied with the oppressive sensation at the stomach and the other symptoms, comes on before the diarrhea and in those cases where they are present add greatly to the sufferings of the patient. I felt these symptoms myself, and have since observed them in oth- ers, frequently in children, who, while laboring under what I consider the same feelings, cannot lay still, they appear dis- 9