Report on the epidemic cholera as it has appeared in the territories subject to the presidency of Fort St. George / drawn up by order of the government, under the superintendence of the Medical Board, by William Scot.

  • Scot, William, -1863.
Date:
1824
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report on the epidemic cholera as it has appeared in the territories subject to the presidency of Fort St. George / drawn up by order of the government, under the superintendence of the Medical Board, by William Scot. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    11/592 (page 3)
    1787, but which, being confined to a manuscript entry in the records of an office accessible only to its members, it became, as has been observed, a dead letter. A disease having in October last prevailed at Arcot similar to an Endemic that raged amongst the natives about Paliconda in the Ambore valley in in an army of observation in January 1783, arid in the Bengal detach¬ ment, at. Ganjam in 1781, and several other places at different times, as well as Epidemic over the whole coast in 1783, under the appearance of Dysentery, Cho¬ lera Morbus, or Mordyxim, but attended with spasms at the praecordia, and sudden prostration of strength as characteristic marks ; seeing this Board is ordered to be a record, the Physician General recommends as a guide to future practitioners, that a letter from Mr. Thompson, Surgeon of the 4th Regiment, containing an account of the dissection of one of the patients who died of the disease, describing the state of the viscera, may be entered on the face of the proceedings* together with two letters from Mr. Baffin, Head Surgeon at Vellore ; and one from Mr. Davis, Member of the Hospital Board, containing an account c.f the causes, symptoms, aud successful treatment, of the sick, by the use of the hot bath, and fomentations, supporting the vis vitae with wine, <&c., and removing the putrid colluvies from the intestines. The Hospital Board, sensible of the advantages that may result to the service from, the mode proposed by the Physi¬ cian General, direct their Secretary to enter the Letters he has mentioned, as follows/* These letters will be found in the extracts, page 239.. Cholera has been supposed to be described in the medical writings of the Hindoos, some of which are of great antiquity, as may be inferred from their being attributed to Dhanwantari, a mythological personage, coinciding in cha¬ racter with the Esculapius of the Greeks. hi a work of this author, styled the Chi'ntamani, the disease resembling cholera is classed under the generic term Sannipata, which includes all paralytic and spasmodic affections. The species of Sannipata supposed to be the spasmodic, or epidemic cholera, is called Sitanga* and is thus described. “ Chilliness like the coldness of the Moon over the whole body, cough and difficulty of breathing, hiccup, pains all over the body, vomiting, thirst, tainting, great looseness of the bowels, trembling of the limbs/* Cholera is supposed by others* to be classed under the generic term Ajirna, or Dyspepsia. The species, which is considered to correspond with the spasmodic, or epidemic cholera, is called Vidhumar Vishuehr, and is thus< described. The Vishuchi is most rapid in its effects its symptoms are, dimness of sight in both eyes, per¬ spiration,sudden swooning, loss of understanding, derangement of the external and internal senses, pains in the knees and calves of the legs, griping pains in the belly, extreme thirst, lowness of the bilious and windy pulses, and coldness in the hands, feet, and the whole body/’ The first of the&e descriptions would apply more perfectly to the epidemic Gholera, were it not that in a commentary thereon,, in a Tamil work styled the Yugumani Chintamani, the Sitanga is stated to be incurable, and fatal in 15 days. The latter description is perhaps less applicable, as not noticing either vomiting or purging, amongst the symptoms. An attempt has been made to reconcile these two opinions by supposing,, that the Vishuchi is in fact the Sitanga in a more virulent, or epidemic from but it is not contended that the Vishuchi itself is always epidemic; on the contrary, it is said to be by no means uncommon, and to be described in these familiar, but emphatic words, ff being seized with vomiting and purging, he immediately died/* These obser¬ vations are drawn from a letter which appeared in the Madras Courier, dated 2d' January 1819, and which was very generally attributed to the pen of a Gentle¬ man well known for his partiality to, and deep knowledge of* Hindoo Literature. Tiiis paper being altogether curious, is given ia the appendix, together with a very interesting letter from a respectable and learned native. Ram Ra®, attached to the College, to whom the paper in question was submitted, in order to be com¬ pared with the most authentic copies of the medical works, from which the ex?» tracts purport to have been taken* Supposed be noticed in Hindoo- writings.