Case of hydrophobia : with remarks / by P. Redfern.

  • Redfern, Peter, 1821-1912.
Date:
1851
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Case of hydrophobia : with remarks / by P. Redfern. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    5/8 (page 5)
    The papillae circumvallatae appear a little larger than usual. No vesicles exist under the tongue. Pleurae healthy; lungs both crepitant throughout; lower lobes of both slightly congested ; bronchi contain a reddish frothy fluid. Heart and pericardium healthy. Abdomen.—Two reddened spots, about the size of the end of the little finger, exist on the mucous membrane of the back of the stomach near the oesophagus. The stomach contains two ounces of dark fluid like coffee-grounds. The small intestines are distended with gas, and the ileum contains a large quan¬ tity of very dark-greenish matter of considerable consistence. Along- the whole length of the small intestine the solitary glands are of large size, closed, and they project considerably, appearing to be in equal number in the jejunum and ileum. The patches of Peyer are not unusually prominent. The large intestines are healthy, and contain dark feculent matter in small quantity. The liver appears very large, but cannot conveniently be weighed ; it is of a pale yellow colour, mottled, and has all its cells full of very large oil globules, as in an extreme state of fatty degeneration. Pancreas healthy. Spleen small, firm, and healthy in structure. Kidneys pale but healthy. Bladder contains three and a-half ounces of very turbid urine. jRemarks.—The very decided madness of the dog which caused the wounds in the subject of this case,—the complete inoculation which such extensive wounds on a part not covered with clothes were calculated to produce,—the total absence of the slightest sus¬ picion that the disease owed its origin to the influence of the ima¬ gination, or to any other cause than the bite of a rabid dog,—the gradual and insidious commencement of the symptoms after an in¬ terval of perfect health and the healing of the wounds,—the occur¬ rence of redness in the neighbourhood of the injuries,—the steady, determined, and dreadful increase in the intensity of the symptoms as time wore away,—the inexpressibly horrible nature of the symp¬ toms themselves, and their termination in death without the indica¬ tion of any physical change capable of producing or explaining them, alike lead to the conclusion, that the disease was the most horrible of all human afflictions—hydrophobia. The certainty attending the nature of the case rendered me doubly anxious to make a careful examination of the body, and I was enabled to do this under the most favourable circumstances by the kindness of my friends, Drs A. and G. Rainy. The post-mortem appearances most worthy of notice are the slight congestion of the pia mater of the brain and cord, the more considerable congestion of the velum interpositum, the quan¬ tity of the fluid in the posterior sub-arachnoid space, and at the base of the brain, and the slight extravasations outside the dura mater of the cord in two circumscribed spots. The thinness of the clots of extravasated blood, and their existence outside the dura mater, pre¬ clude the idea of their having been in any way concerned in the production of the symptoms. It is impossible to state with certainty how they were produced, but the conjecture that they resulted from the convulsions appears liable to fewer objections than any other. What influence may have been exerted by the slight congestion of the pia mater of the brain and cord, of the velum interpositum, and of the substance of the cerebrum and cerebellum, it seems quite im-