Sex in Relation to Society
CHAPTER XV.
19976 words | Chapter 33
ANOMALOUS TYPES AND INSTANCES OF DISEASE.
Tumors.--In discussing tumors and similar growths no attempt will be
made to describe in detail the various types. Only the anomalous
instances or examples, curious for their size and extent of
involvement, will be mentioned. It would be a difficult matter to
decide which was the largest tumor ever reported. In reviewing
literature so many enormous growths are recorded that but few can be
given here. Some of the large cystic formations have already been
mentioned; these are among the largest tumors. Scrotal tumors are
recorded that weighed over 200 pounds; and a limb affected with
elephantiasis may attain an astonishing size. Delamater is accredited
with a report of a tumor that weighed 275 pounds, the patient only
weighing 100 pounds at death. Benign tumors will be considered first.
Pure adenoma of the breast is a rare growth. Gross was able to collect
but 18 examples; but closely allied to this condition is what is known
as diffuse hypertrophy of the breast. In some parts of the world,
particularly in India and Africa, long, dependent breasts are signs of
beauty. On the other hand we learn from Juvenal and Martial that, like
ourselves, the Greeks detested pendant and bulky breasts, the signs of
beauty being elevation, smallness, and regularity of contour. In the
Grecian images of Venus the breasts are never pictured as engorged or
enlarged. The celebrated traveler Chardin says that the Circassian and
Georgian women have the most beautiful breasts in the world; in fact
the Georgians are so jealous of the regular contour and wide interval
of separation of their breasts that they refuse to nourish their
children in the natural manner.
The amount of hypertrophy which is sometimes seen in the mammae is
extraordinary. Borellus remarks that he knew of a woman of ordinary
size, each of whose mammae weighed about 30 pounds, and she supported
them in bags hung about her neck. Durston reports a case of sudden
onset of hypertrophy of the breast causing death. At the postmortem it
was found that the left breast weighed 64 pounds and the right 40
pounds. Boyer successfully removed two breasts at an interval of
twenty-six days between the two operations. The mass excised was
one-third of the total body-weight.
Schaeffer speaks of hypertrophied mammae in a girl of fourteen, the
right breast weighing 3900 grams (136 1/2 oz.) and the right 3500 grams
(122 1/2 oz.). Hamilton reports a case of hypertrophied glands in a
woman of thirty-two, which, within the short space of a year, reached
the combined weight of 52 pounds. They were successfully excised.
Velpeau, Billroth, and Labarracque have reported instances of the
removal of enormously hypertrophied mammae. In 1886 Speth of Munich
described a hypertrophy of the right breast which increased after every
pregnancy. At the age of twenty-six the woman had been five times
pregnant in the space of a little over five years, and at this time the
right breast hung down to the anterior superior spine of the ilium. It
weighed 20 pounds, and its greatest circumference was 25 inches. There
was no milk in this breast, although the left was in perfect lactation.
This case was one of pure hypertrophy and not an example of
fibro-adenoma, as illustrated by Billroth. Warren figures a case of
diffused hypertrophy of the breast which was operated on by Porter. The
right breast in its largest circumference measured 38 inches and from
the chest-wall to the nipple was 17 inches long, the circumference at
the base being 23 inches; the largest circumference of the left breast
was 28 inches; its length from the chest-wall to the nipple was 14
inches, and its circumference at the base 23 inches. The skin was
edematous and thickened. Throughout both breasts were to be felt
hardened movable masses, the size of oranges. Microscopic examination
showed the growth to be a diffused intracanalicular fibroma. A peculiar
case was presented before the Faculty at Montpellier. The patient was a
young girl of fifteen and a half years. After a cold bath, just as the
menses were appearing, it was found that the breasts were rapidly
increasing in size; she was subsequently obliged to leave service on
account of their increased size, and finally the deformity was so great
as to compel her to keep from the public view. The circumference of the
right breast was 94 cm. and of the left 105 cm.; the pedicle of the
former measured 67 cm. and of the latter 69 cm.; only the slightest
vestige of a nipple remained. Removal was advocated, as applications of
iodin had failed; but she would not consent to operation. For eight
years the hypertrophy remained constant, but, despite this fact, she
found a husband. After marriage the breasts diminished, but she was
unable to suckle either of her three children, the breasts becoming
turgid but never lactescent. The hypertrophy diminished to such a
degree that, at the age of thirty-two, when again pregnant, the
circumference of the right breast was only 27 cm. and of the left 33
cm. Even thus reduced the breasts descended almost to the navel. When
the woman was not pregnant they were still less voluminous and seemed
to consist of an immense mass of wrinkled, flaccid skin, traversed by
enormous dilated and varicose blood-vessels, the mammary glands
themselves being almost entirely absent.
Diffuse hypertrophy of the breast is occasionally seen in the male
subject. In one case reported from the Westminster Hospital in London,
a man of sixty, after a violent fall on the chest, suffered enormous
enlargement of the mammae, and afterward atrophy of the testicle and
loss of sexual desire.
The names goiter, struma, and bronchocele are applied indiscriminately
to all tumors of the thyroid gland; there are, however, several
distinct varieties among them that are true adenoma, which, therefore,
deserves a place here. According to Warren, Wolfler gives the following
classification of thyroid tumors: 1. Hypertrophy of the thyroid gland,
which is a comparatively rare disease; 2. Fetal adenoma, which is a
formation of gland tissue from the remains of fetal structures in the
gland; 3. Gelatinous or interacinous adenoma, which consists in an
enlargement of the acini by an accumulation of colloid material, and an
increase in the interacinous tissue by a growth of round cells. It is
this latter form in which cysts are frequently found. The accompanying
illustration pictures an extreme ease of cystic goiter shown by Warren.
A strange feature of tumors of the thyroid is that pressure-atrophy and
flattening of the trachea do not take place in proportion to the size
of the tumor. A small tumor of the middle lobe of the gland, not larger
that a hen's egg, will do more damage to the trachea than will a large
tumor, such as that shown by Senn, after Bruns. When a tumor has
attained this size, pressure-symptoms are often relieved by the weight
of the tumor making traction away from the trachea. Goiter is endemic
in some countries, particularly in Switzerland and Austria, and appears
particularly at the age of childhood or of puberty. Some communities in
this country using water containing an excess of calcium salt show
distinct evidences of endemic goiter. Extirpation of the thyroid gland
has in recent years been successfully practiced. Warren has extirpated
one lobe of the thyroid after preliminary ligation of the common
carotid on the same side. Green practiced rapid removal of the tumor
and ligated the bleeding vessels later. Rose tied each vessel before
cutting, proceeding slowly. Senn remarks that in 1878 he witnessed one
of Rose's operations which lasted for four hours. Although the operatic
technic of removal of the thyroid gland for tumor has been greatly
perfected by Billroth, Lucke, Julliard, Reverdin, Socin, Kocher, and
others, the current opinion at the present day seems to be that
complete extirpation of the thyroid gland, except for malignant
disease, is unjustifiable. Partial extirpation of the thyroid gland is
still practiced; and Wolfler has revived the operation of ligating the
thyroid arteries in the treatment of tumors of the thyroid gland.
Fibromata.--One of the commonest seats of fibroma is the skin.
Multiple fibromata of the skin sometimes occur in enormous numbers and
cover the whole surface of the body; they are often accompanied by
pendulous tumors of enormous size. Virchow called such tumors fibroma
molluscum. Figure 237 represents a case of multiple fibromata of the
skin shown by Octerlony. Pode mentions a somewhat similar case in a man
of fifty-six, under the care of Thom. The man was pale and emaciated,
with anxious expression, complaining of a tumor which he described as a
"wishing-mark." On examination he was found to be covered with a number
of small tumors, ranging in size from that of a small orange to that of
a pin's head; from the thoracic wall over the lower true ribs of the
right side was situated a large pendulous tumor, which hung down as far
as the upper third of the thigh. He said that it had always been as
long as this, but had lately become thicker, and two months previously
the skin over the lower part of the tumor had ulcerated. This large
tumor was successfully removed; it consisted of fibrous tissue, with
large veins running in its substance. The excised mass weighed 51
pounds. The patient made an early recovery.
Keloids are fibromata of the true skin, which may develop spontaneously
or in a scar. Although the distinction of true and false keloid has
been made, it is generally discarded. According to Hebra a true typical
keloid is found once in every 2000 cases of skin-disease. It is,
however, particularly the false keloid, or keloid arising from
cicatrices, with which we have mostly to deal. This tumor may arise
from a scar in any portion of the body, and at any age. There seems to
be a disposition in certain families and individuals to
keloid-formations, and among negroes keloids are quite common, and
often of remarkable size and conformation. The form of injury causing
the cicatrix is no factor in the production of keloid, the sting of an
insect, the prick of a needle, and even the wearing of ear-rings having
been frequent causes of keloid-formations among the negro race.
Collins describes a negress of ninety, born of African parents, who
exhibited multiple keloids produced by diverse injuries. At fourteen
she was burned over her breasts by running against a shovelful of hot
coals, and several months later small tumors appeared, which never
suppurated. When a young girl a tumor was removed from the front of her
neck by operation, and cicatricial tumors then spread like a band
encircling one-half her neck. There were keloids over her scapulae,
which followed the application of blisters. On her back, over, and
following the direction of the ribs, were growths attributed to the
wounds caused by a flogging. This case was quite remarkable for the
predisposition shown to keloid at an early age, and the variety of
factors in causation.
About 1867 Duhring had under his observation at the Philadelphia
Hospital a negro whose neck was encircled by enormous keloids, which,
although black, otherwise resembled tomatoes. A photograph of this
remarkable case was published in Philadelphia in 1870.
A lipoma is a tumor consisting of adipose tissue. When there is much
fibrous tissue in the tumor it is much firmer, and is known as a
fibro-lipoma. Brander describes a young native of Manchuria, North
China, from whom he removed a fibro-lipoma weighing 50 pounds. The
growth had progressively enlarged for eleven years, and at the time of
extirpation hung as an enormous mass from beneath the left scapula. In
operating the tumor had to be swung on a beam. The hemorrhage was
slight and the patient was discharged in five days.
The true lipoma must be distinguished from diffuse accumulations of fat
in different parts of the body in the same way that fibroma is
distinguished from elephantiasis. Circumscribed lipoma appears as a
lobulated soft tumor, more or less movable, lying beneath the skin. It
sometimes reaches enormous size and assumes the shape of a pendulous
tumor.
Diffuse lipoma, occurring in the neck, often gives the patient a
grotesque and peculiar appearance. It is generally found in men
addicted to the use of alcohol, and occurs between thirty-five and
forty-five years of age; in no case has general obesity been described.
In one of Madelung's cases a large lobe extended downward over the
clavicle. The growth has been found between the larynx and the pharynx.
Black reports a remarkable case of fatty tumor in a child one year and
five months old which filled the whole abdominal cavity, weighing nine
pounds and two ounces. Chipault mentions a case of lipoma of the
parietal region, observed by Rotter. This monstrous growth was three
feet three inches long, descending to the knees. It had its origin in
the left parietal region, and was covered by the skin of the whole left
side of the face and forehead. The left ear was plainly visible in the
upper third of the growth.
Chondroma, or enchondroma, is a cartilaginous tumor occurring
principally where cartilage is normally found, but sometimes in regions
containing no cartilage. Enchondroma may be composed of osteoid tissue,
such as is found in the ossifying callous between the bone and the
periosteum, and, according to Virchow, then takes the name of
osteochondroma. Virchow has divided chondromata into two forms--those
which he calls ecchondromata, which grow from cartilage, and those that
grow independently from cartilage, or the enchondromata, which latter
are in the great majority. Enchondroma is often found on the long
bones, and very frequently upon the bones of the hands or on the
metatarsal bones.
Figure 244 represents an enchondroma of the thumb. Multiple
enchondromata are most peculiar, and may attain enormous sizes.
Whittaker describes a farmer of forty who exhibited peculiar tumors of
the fingers, which he calls multiple osteoecchondromata. His family
history was negative. He stated that at an early age he received a
stroke of lightning, which rendered him unconscious for some time. He
knows of nothing else that could be in possible relation with his
present condition. Nine months after this accident there was noticed
an enlargement of the middle joint of the little finger, and about the
same time an enlargement on the middle finger. Gradually all the joints
of the right hand became involved. The enlargement increased so that at
the age of twelve they were of the size of walnuts, and at this time
the patient began to notice the same process developing in the left
hand. The growths continued to develop, new nodules appearing, until
the fingers presented the appearance of nodulated potatoes.
One of the most frequent of the fibro-cartilaginous tumors is the
"mixed cartilaginous" tumor of Paget, which grows in the interstitial
tissues of the parotid gland, and sometimes attains enormous size.
Matas presented the photograph of a negress having an enormous fibroma
growing from the left parotid region; and there is a photograph of a
similar case in the Mutter Museum of the College of Physicians,
Philadelphia.
The hyaline enchondroma is of slow growth, but may at times assume
immense proportions, as is shown in the accompanying illustration,
given by Warren, of a patient in whom the growth was in the scapula.
In 1824 there is quoted the description of a peculiar growth which,
though not definitely described, may be spoken of here. It was an
enormous encysted tumor, springing from the clavicle of a Veronese
nobleman. Contrary to general expectations it was successfully removed
by Portalupi, a surgeon of Venice. It weighed 57 pounds, being 20 1/2
inches long and 30 inches in circumference. It is said this tumor
followed the reception of a wound.
Among the benign bone tumors are exostoses--homologous outgrowths
differing from hypertrophies, as they only involve a limited part of
the circumference. When developmental, originating in childhood, the
outgrowths may be found on any part of the skeleton, and upon many and
generally symmetric parts at the same time, as is shown in Figure 248.
Barwell had a case of a girl with 38 exostoses. Erichsen mentions a
young man of twenty-one with 15 groups of symmetric exostoses in
various portions of the body; they were spongy or cancellous in nature.
Hartmann shows two cases of multiple exostoses, both in males, and
universally distributed over the body.
Macland of the French navy describes an affection of the bones of the
face known as anakhre or goundron (gros-nez). It is so common that
about one per cent of the natives of certain villages on the Ivory
Coast, West Africa, are subject to it. As a rule the earliest symptoms
in childhood are: more or less persistent headache, particularly
frontal, sanguineous and purulent discharge from the nostrils, and the
formation of symmetric swellings the size of an almond in the region of
the nasal processes of the superior maxilla. The cartilage does not
seem to be involved, and, although it is not so stated, the nasal duct
appears to remain intact.
The headache and discharge continue for a year, and the swelling
continually increases through life, although the symptoms gradually
disappear, the skin not becoming involved, and no pain being present.
It has been noticed in young chimpanzees. The illustration represents a
man of forty who suffered from the disease since puberty. Pressure on
the eyeball had started and the native said he expected that in two
years he would lose his sight. Figure 251 shows an analogous condition,
called by Hutchinson symmetric osteomata of the nasal processes of the
maxilla. His patient was a native of Great Britain.
Among neuromata, multiple neurofibroma is of considerable interest,
chiefly for the extent of general involvement. According to Senn,
Heusinger records the case of a sailor of twenty-three in whom all the
nerves were affected by numerous nodular enlargements. Not a nerve in
the entire body was found normal. The enlargement was caused by
increase in the connective tissue, the axis-cylinders being normal. In
this case there was neither pain nor tenderness.
Prudden reports the case of a girl of twenty-five who, during
convalescence from variola, became paraplegic, and during this time
multiple neuromata appeared. At the postmortem more than a thousand
tumors were found affecting not only the peripheral branches and the
sympathetic, but also the cranial nerves and the pneumogastric. Under
the microscope these tumors showed an increase in the interfascicular
as well as perivascular fibers, but the nerve-fibers were not increased
in size or number. Virchow collected 30 cases of multiple
neurofibromata. In one case he found 500, in another from 800 to 1000
tumors.
Plexiform neuroma is always congenital, and is found most frequently in
the temporal region, the neck, and the sides of the face, but almost
any part of the body may be affected. Christot reports two cases in
which the tumors were located upon the cheek and the neck. Czerny
observed a case in which the tumor involved the lumbar plexus. Quoted
by Senn, Campbell de Morgan met with a plexiform neuroma of the
musculo-spiral nerve and its branches. The patient was a young lady,
and the tumor, which was not painful, had undergone myxomatous
degeneration.
Neuroma of the vulva is a pathologic curiosity. Simpson reports a case
in which the tumor was a painful nodule situated near the urinary
meatus. Kennedy mentions an instance in which the tumor appeared as
extremely tender tubercles.
Tietze describes a woman of twenty-seven who exhibited a marked type of
plexiform neurofibroma. The growth was simply excised and recovery was
promptly effected.
Carcinomatous growths, if left to themselves, make formidable
devastations of the parts which they affect. Warren pictures a case of
noli-me-tangere, a destructive type of epithelial carcinoma. The
patient suffered no enlargement of the lymphatic glands. The same
absence of glandular involvement was observed in another individual, in
whom there was extensive ulceration. The disease had in this case
originated in the scar of a gunshot wound received during the Civil
War, and had destroyed the side of the nose, the eye, the ear, the
cheek, including the corresponding half of the upper and lower lips.
Harlan reports a most extraordinary epithelioma of the orbit in a boy
of about five years. It followed enucleation, and attained the size
depicted in a few months.
Sarcomata, if allowed full progress, may attain great size. Plate 10
shows an enormous sarcoma of the buttocks in an adult negro. Fascial
sarcomata are often seen of immense size. Senn shows a tumor of this
variety which was situated between the scapulae.
Schwimmer records a curious case of universal small sarcomata over the
whole body of a teacher of the age of twenty-one, in the Hungarian
lowlands. The author called the disease sarcomata pigmentosum diffusum
multiplex.
The bones are a common seat of sarcomatous growths, the tumor in this
instance being called osteosarcoma. It may affect any bone, but rarely
involves an articulation; at times it skips the joint and goes to the
neighboring bone.
A case of nasal sarcoma is shown by Moore. The tumor was located in the
nasal septum, and caused a frightful deformity. In this case pain was
absent, the sense of smell was lost, and the sight of the right eye
impaired. Moore attempted to remove the tumor, but in consequence of
some interference of respiration the patient died on the table.
Tiffany reports several interesting instances of sarcoma, one in a
white female of nineteen following a contusion of tibia. The growth had
all the clinical history of an osteosarcoma of the tibia, and was
amputated and photographed after removal. In another case, in a white
male of thirty, the same author successfully performed a hip-amputation
for a large sarcoma of the left femur. The removed member was sent
entire to the Army Medical Museum at Washington.
The fatality and incurability of malignant growths has done much to
stimulate daring and marvelous operations in surgery. The utter
hopelessness of the case justifies almost any means of relief, and many
of the visceral operations, resections of functional organs, and
extraordinary amputations that were never dreamed of in the early
history of medicine are to-day not only feasible and justifiable, but
even peremptorily demanded.
Varicose veins sometimes become so enlarged and distorted as to
simulate the appearance of one varicose tumor. Adams describes a
curious case of congenital dilatation of the arteries and veins in the
right lower limb, accompanied by an anastomosis with the interior of
the os calcis. The affected thigh exceeded the other in size by
one-third, all the veins being immensely swelled and distorted. The
arteries were also distorted and could be felt pulsating all over the
limb. The patient died at thirty from rupture of the aneurysm.
Abbe shows a peculiar aneurysmal varix of the finger in a boy of nine.
When a babe the patient had, on the dorsum of the little finger, a
small nevus, which was quiescent for many years. He received a deep cut
at the base of the thumb, and immediately after this accident the nevus
began to enlarge rapidly. But for the local aneurysmal thrill at the
point of the scar the condition would have been diagnosed as angioma,
but as a bruit could be heard over the entire mass it was called an
aneurysmal varix, because it was believed there was a connection
between a rather large artery and a vein close to the mass. There is a
curious case reported of cirsoid tumor of the ear of a boy of thirteen.
Figure 259 shows the appearance before and after operation.
Jessop records a remarkable case of multiple aneurysm. This case was
particularly interesting as it was accompanied by a postmortem
examination. Pye-Smith reports an extremely interesting case in which
death occurred from traumatic aneurysm of an aberrant subclavian
artery. The patient fell from a height of 28 feet, lost consciousness
for a few minutes, but soon recovered it. There was no evidence of any
fracture, but the man suffered greatly from dyspnea, pain between the
shoulders, and collapse. The breath-sounds on auscultation and the
difficulty in swallowing led to the belief that one of the bronchi was
blocked by the pressure of a hematoma. Dyspnea continued to increase,
and eighteen days after admission the man was in great distress, very
little air entering the chest. He had no pulse at the right wrist, and
Pye-Smith was unable to feel either the temporal or carotid beats on
the right side, although these vessels were felt pulsating on the left
side. Laryngotomy was done with the hope of removing a foreign body,
but the man died on the tenth day. A postmortem examination disclosed
the existence of an aberrant right subclavian artery in the posterior
mediastinum, and this was the seat of a traumatic aneurysm that had
ruptured into the esophagus.
Relative to the size of an aneurysm, Warren reported a case of the
abdominal aorta which commenced at the origin of the celiac axis and
passed on to the surfaces of the psoas and iliac muscles, descending to
the middle of the thigh The total length of the aneurysm was 19 inches,
and it measured 18 inches in circumference.
A peculiar sequence of an aortic aneurysm is perforation of the sternum
or rib. Webb mentions an Irish woman who died of aneurysm of the aorta,
which had perforated the sternum, the orifice being plugged by a large
clot. He quotes 17 similar cases which he has collected as occurring
from 1749 to 1874, and notes that one of the patients lived seven weeks
after the rupture of the aneurysmal sac.
Large Uterine Tumors.--Before the meeting of the American Medical
Association held in Washington, D.C., 1891, McIntyre a reported a case
of great interest. The patient, a woman of thirty-eight, five feet 5
1/2 inches in height, coarse, with masculine features, having hair on
her upper lip and chin, and weighing 199 1/2 pounds, was found in a
poor-house in Trenton, Missouri, on November 26, 1890, suffering from a
colossal growth of the abdomen. The accompanying illustration is from a
photograph which was taken at the time of the first interview. The
measurements made at the time were as follows: circumference at the
largest part, just below the umbilicus, 50 inches; circumference just
below the mammae, 35 inches; from the xiphoid cartilage to the
symphysis pubis, 32 inches, not including the appendum, which is shown
in the picture. Percussion suggested a fluid within a sac. The uterus
was drawn up to the extent of from 12 to 14 inches. The woman walked
with great difficulty and with a waddling gait, bending far backward
the better to keep "the center of gravity within the base," and to
enable her to sustain the enormous weight of the abdomen. She was
compelled to pass her urine while standing. Attempts had been made six
and two years before to tap this woman, but only a few drops of blood
followed several thrusts of a large trocar. A diagnosis was made of
multilocular ovarian cyst or edematous myoma of the uterus, and on the
morning of December 7, 1890, an operation was performed. An incision 14
inches in length was first made in the linea alba, below the umbilicus,
and afterward extended up to the xiphoid cartilage. The hemorrhage
from the abdominal wall was very free, and the enormously distended
vessels required the application of a large number of pressure-forceps.
Adhesions were found almost everywhere the most difficult to manage
being those of the liver and diaphragm. The broad ligaments and
Fallopian tubes were ligated on either side, the tumor turned out, the
thick, heavy pedicle transfixed and ligated, and the enormous growth
cut away. After operation the woman was immediately placed on platform
scales, and it was found that she had lost 93 1/2 pounds.
Unfortunately the patient developed symptoms of septicemia and died on
the fifth day. In looking over the literature on this subject McIntyre
found no mention of any solid tumor of this size having been removed.
On April 18, 1881, Keith, late of Edinburgh, now of London,
successfully removed an edematous myoma, together with the uterus,
which was 42 pounds in weight. In a recent work Tait remarks that the
largest uterine myoma which he ever removed weighed 68 pounds, and adds
that it grew after the menopause. McIntyre believes that his tumor,
weighing 93 1/2 pounds, is the largest yet reported. Eastman reports
the removal of a fibroid tumor of the uterus weighing 60 pounds. The
patient recovered from the operation.
It is quite possible for a fibrocyst of the uterus to attain an
enormous size, equaling the ovarian cysts. Stockard describes an
instance of this nature in a negress of fifty, the mother of several
children. About twelve years before a cyst in the right iliac region
was tapped. The woman presented the following appearance: The navel
hung below her knees, and the skin near the umbilicus resembled that of
an elephant. The abdomen in its largest circumference measured 68
inches, and 27 inches from the ensiform cartilage to the umbilicus. The
umbilicus was five inches in diameter and three inches in length. Eight
gallons and seven pints of fluid were removed by tapping, much
remaining. The whole tumor weighed 135 pounds. Death from exhaustion
followed on the sixth day after the tapping.
Ovarian cysts, of which by far the greater number are of the glandular
variety, form extremely large tumors; ovarian dropsies of enormous
dimensions are recorded repeatedly throughout medical literature. Among
the older writers Ford mentions an instance of ovarian dropsy from
which, by repeated operations, 2786 pints of water were drawn.
Martineau describes a remarkable case of twenty-five years' duration,
in which 80 paracenteses were performed and 6630 pints of fluid were
withdrawn. In one year alone 495 pints were withdrawn. Tozzetti
mentions an ovarian tumor weighing 150 pounds. Morand speaks of an
ovarian cyst from which, in ten months, 427 pounds of fluid were
withdrawn. There are old records of tubal cysts weighing over 100
pounds. Normand speaks of an ovary degenerating into a scirrhous mass
weighing 55 pounds. Among recent operations Briddon describes the
removal of an ovarian cyst which weighed 152 pounds, death resulting.
Helmuth mentions an ovarian cyst from which, in 12 tappings, 559 pounds
of fluid were withdrawn. Delivery was effected by instrumental aid. The
tumor of 70 pounds was removed and death followed. McGillicuddy
mentions a case of ovarian cyst containing 132 pounds of fluid. The
patient was a woman of twenty-eight whose abdomen at the umbilicus
measured 69 inches in circumference and 47 inches from the sternum to
the pubes. Before the operation the great tumor hung down as far as the
knees, the abdominal wall chafing the thighs. Figure 263 shows the
appearance of a large ovarian cyst weighing 149 pounds. The emaciation
of the subject is particularly noticeable. Reifsnyder describes a
native Chinese woman affected with an ovarian tumor seen at the
Margaret Williamson Hospital at Shanghai. She was four feet eight
inches in height, and twenty-five years of age. The tumor had been
growing for six years until the circumference at the umbilicus measured
five feet 7 3/4 inches; 88 quarts of fluid were drawn off and the woman
recovered. In the College of Physicians, Philadelphia, there are
photographs of this case, with an inscription saying that the patient
was a young Chinese woman who measured but four feet eight inches in
height, while her girth was increased by an ovarian cyst to five feet 9
1/8 inches. The tumor was removed and weighed 182 1/2 pounds; it
contained 22 gallons of fluid. Figure 265 shows the appearance of the
woman two months after the operation, when the girth was reduced to
normal. Stone performed ovariotomy on a girl of fifteen, removing a
tumor weighing 81 1/2 pounds. Ranney speaks of the successful removal
of a unilocular tumor weighing 95 pounds; and Wall tells of a death
after removal of an ovarian tumor of the same weight. Rodenstein
portrays the appearance of a patient of forty-five after death from an
enormous glandular ovarian cystoma. The tumor was three feet high,
covered the breasts, extended to the knees, and weighed 146 pounds.
Kelly speaks of a cyst weighing 116 pounds; Keith one of 89 1/2 pounds;
Gregory, 80 pounds; Boerstler, 65 pounds; Bixby, 70 pounds; and Alston
a tumor of 70 pounds removed in the second operation of ovariotomy.
Dayot reports the removal of an enormous ovarian cyst from a girl of
seventeen. The tumor had been present three years, but the patient and
her family refused an operation until the size of the tumor alarmed
them. Its largest circumference was five feet 11 inches. The distance
from the xiphoid to the symphysis pubis was three feet. The tumor was
covered with veins the size of the little finger. The apex of the heart
was pushed to the 3d interspace and the umbilicus had disappeared.
There were 65 quarts of a thick, brown fluid in the tumor. The patient
recovered in twenty-five days.
Cullingworth of St. Thomas Hospital, London, successfully removed from
a girl of sixteen an ovarian cyst weighing over 80 pounds. The patient
was admitted to the hospital April 30, 1895. She gave a history of a
single menstruation, which took place in March or April, 1893, and said
that in the latter month she noticed that she was growing large. She
was tapped at Christmas, 1893, when a large quantity of fluid was
removed, and again in February, 1894, and a third time in May, 1894,
but without useful results. For the previous six months she had been
almost entirely bedridden because of the great size of the tumor. There
were no symptoms referring to the bladder and rectum. At the time she
entered the hospital she was much emaciated, the eyes were sunken, and
her cheeks had a livid hue. The chest was thin and the lower ribs were
everted; dulness began at the lower border of the 3d cartilage, and the
apex-beat was best felt in the third space. Liver-dulness began at the
4th rib cartilage in the nipple line. The abdomen was enormously
distended, and covered by large veins running from below upward to the
thorax. About 3 1/2 inches above the umbilicus there was a sulcus with
its convexity downward. There was dulness over the whole abdomen,
except at the sides parallel with the lumbar spines, and a resonant
band over the stomach. The greatest girth was 54 1/2 inches. By vaginal
examination the cervix was found to be pulled up and obliterated; the
anterior vaginal wall was bulged downward by the tumor. On May 3d
abdominal section was performed. An incision eight inches long was made
in the mid-line of the abdomen. A cystic tumor, formed of small cysts
in its upper part and of somewhat larger ones in the lower part, was
revealed. It was adherent to the abdominal wall, liver, spleen, and
omentum. The adhesions were separated and the cyst tapped with a large
trocar, and then the septa between the cysts were broken down with the
fingers. The pedicle was rather small and was tied in the usual way,
and the tumor was removed. Its seat of origin was the left ovary. The
right ovary and the uterus were healthy, but poorly developed. The
tumor weighed between 80 and 90 pounds,--the patient having weighed 170
pounds on the night before the operation and 79 1/2 pounds a week after
the operation. Alarming symptoms of collapse were present during the
night after the operation, but the patient responded to stimulation by
hypodermic injections of 1/20 grain of strychnin and of brandy, and
after the first twenty-four hours the recovery was uninterrupted.
Cullingworth thinks that the most interesting points in the case are:
the age of the patient, the enormous size of the tumor, and the advice
given by the surgeon who first attended the patient (insisting that no
operation should be performed). This case shows anew the uselessness of
tapping ovarian cysts.
In the records of enormous dropsies much material of interest is to be
found, and a few of the most interesting cases on record will be cited.
In the older times, when the knowledge of the etiology and pathology of
dropsies was obscure, we find the records of the most extraordinary
cases. Before the Royal Society, in 1746, Glass of Oxford read the
report of a case of preternatural size of the abdomen, and stated that
the dropsy was due to the absence of one kidney. The circumference of
the abdomen was six feet four inches, and the distance from the xiphoid
to the os pubis measured four feet 1/2 inch. In this remarkable case 30
gallons of fluid were drawn off from the abdomen after death.
Bartholinus mentions a dropsy of 120 pounds; and Gockelius one of 180
pounds; there is recorded an instance of a dropsy of 149 pounds. There
is an old record of a woman of fifty who had suffered from ascites for
thirty years. She had been punctured 154 times, and each time about 20
pints were drawn off. During each of two pregnancies she was punctured
three or four times; one of her children was still living. It has been
said that there was a case in Paris of a person who was punctured 300
times for ascites. Scott reports a case of ascites in which 928 pints
of water were drawn off in 24 successive tappings, from February, 1777,
to May, 1778. Quoted by Hufeland, Van Wy mentions 1256 pounds of fluid
being drawn from the abdomen of a woman in five years. Kaltschmid
describes a case of ascites in which, in 12 paracenteses, 500 pounds of
fluid were removed. In 1721 Morand reported two cases of ascites in one
of which, by the means of 57 paracenteses, 970 pounds of fluid were
drawn off in twenty-two months. In the other case 1708 pounds of fluid
issued in ten months. There is a record of 484 pounds of "pus" being
discharged during a dropsy.
The Philosophical Transactions contain the account of a case of
hydronephrosis in which there were 240 pounds of water in the sac.
There are several cases on record in which ovarian dropsies have
weighed over 100 pounds; and Blanchard mentions a uterine dropsy of 80
pounds.
The Ephemerides contains an account of a case of hydrocephalus in which
there were 24 pounds of fluid, and similar cases have been noted.
Elliotson reports what he calls the largest quantity of pus from the
liver on record. His patient was a man of thirty-eight, a victim of
hydatid disease of the liver, from whom he withdrew one gallon of
offensive material.
Lieutaud cites a case, reported by Blanchard, in which, in a case of
hydatid disease, the stomach contained 90 pounds of fluid.
Ankylosis of the articulations, a rare and curious anomaly, has been
seen in the human fetus by Richaud, Joulin, Bird, and Becourt.
Ankylosis of all the joints, with muscular atrophy, gives rise to a
condition that has been popularly termed "ossified man." A case of this
nature is described, the patient being a raftsman, aged seventeen, who
suffered with inflammatory symptoms of the right great toe, which were
followed in the next ten years by progressive involvement of all the
joints of the extremities, and of the vertebrae and temporo-maxillary
articulations, with accompanying signs of acute articular rheumatism.
At the age of thirty-one the pains had subsided, leaving him completely
disabled. All the joints except the fingers and toes had become
ankylosed, and from nonusage the muscles had atrophied. There were no
dislocations, anesthesia, or bedsores, and the viscera were normal;
there were apparently no gouty deposits, as an examination of the urine
was negative.
J. R. Bass, the well-known "ossified man" of the dime museums, has been
examined by many physicians, and was quite intelligent and cheerful in
spite of his complete ankylosis. Figure 269 represents his appearance
in 1887.
Percy speaks of a man named Simoore, born in 1752, who at the age of
fifteen was afflicted with ankylosis of all the joints, and at
different angles He was unable to move even his jaw, and his teeth had
to be extracted in order to supply him with nourishment. Even his ribs
were ankylosed; his chest puffed up, and the breathing was entirely
abdominal. In spite of his infirmities, after his pains had ceased he
lived a comparatively comfortable life. His digestion was good, and his
excretory functions were sufficient. The urine always showed
phosphates, and never the slightest sign of free phosphoric acid. He
still retained his sexual feeling, and occasionally had erections. This
man died in 1802 at the age of fifty, asphyxia being the precursor of
death. His skeleton was deposited in the Museum of the ecole de
Medecine de Paris. In the same Museum there was another similar
skeleton, but in this subject there was motion of the head upon the
first vertebra, the lower jaw was intact, and the clavicle, arms, and
some of the digits of the right hand were movable.
An ossified man has been recently found and exhibited to the Paris
Academy of Medicine. He is a Roumanian Jew of thirty who began to
ossify twelve years ago, first up the right side of his back, then down
the left side. He has hardened now to the nape of the neck, his head is
turned to the left, and the jaws are ankylosed. He can still move his
arms and legs a little with great difficulty.
Akin to the foregoing condition is what is known as petrifaction or
ossification of portions of the living human body other than the
articulations. Of the older writers Hellwigius, Horstius, and Schurig
speak of petrifaction of the arm. In the Philosophical Transactions
there was a case recorded in which the muscles and ligaments were so
extensively converted into bone that all the joints were fixed, even
including the vertebrae, head, and lower jaw. In a short time this man
was, as it were, one single bone from his head to his knees, the only
joints movable being the right wrist and knee. For over a century there
has been in the Trinity College at Dublin the skeleton of a man who
died about 20 miles from the city of Cork. The muscles about the
scapula, and the dorsum of the ilium (the glutei) were converted into
great masses of bone, equal to the original muscles in thickness and
bulk. Half of the muscles of the hips and thighs were converted into
bone, and for a long time this specimen was the leading curiosity of
the Dublin Museum. In the Isle of Man, some years ago, there was a case
of ossification which continued progressively for many years. Before
death this man was reduced to almost a solid mass of bony substance.
With the exception of one or two toes his entire frame was solidified.
He was buried in Kirk Andreas Churchyard, and his grave was strictly
guarded against medical men by his friends, but the body was finally
secured and taken to Dublin by Dr. McCartney.
Calculi.--In reviewing the statistics of vesical calculi, the strangest
anomalies in their size and weight have been noticed. Among the older
writers the largest weights have been found. Le Cat speaks of a
calculus weighing over three pounds, and Morand is accredited with
having seen a calculus which weighed six pounds. In his statistics in
1883 Cross collected reports on 704 stones, and remarked that only nine
of these weighed above four ounces, and only two above six, and that
with the last two the patient succumbed. Of those removed successfully
Harmer of Norwich reports one of 15 ounces; Kline, one of 13 ounces 30
grains; Mayo of Winchester, 14 ounces two drams; Cheselden, 12 ounces;
and Pare in 1570 removed a calculus weighing nine ounces. Sir Astley
Cooper remarks that the largest stone he ever saw weighed four ounces,
and that the patient died within four hours after its removal. Before
the Royal Society of London in 1684 Birch reported an account of a
calculus weighing five ounces. Fabricius Hildanus mentions calculi
weighing 20 and 21 ounces; Camper, 13 ounces; Foschini, 19 ounces six
drams; Garmannus, 25 ounces; Greenfield, 19 ounces; Heberden, 32
ounces; Wrisberg, 20 ounces; Launai, 51 ounces; Lemery, 27 ounces;
Paget, in Kuhn's Journal, 27 ounces (from a woman); Pauli, 19 ounces;
Rudolphi, 28 ounces; Tozzetti, 39 ounces; Threpland, 35 ounces; and
there is a record of a calculus weighing over six pounds. There is
preserved in Trinity College, Cambridge, a stone weighing 34 ounces
taken from the bladder of the wife of Thomas Raisin, by Gutteridge, a
surgeon of Norwich. This stone was afterward sent to King Charles II
for inspection. In his "Journey to Paris" Dr. Lister said that he saw a
stone which weighed 51 ounces; it had been taken from one of the
religious brothers in June, 1690, and placed in the Hopital de la
Charite. It was said that the monk died after the operation. There is a
record of a calculus taken from the bladder of an individual living in
Aberdeen. This stone weighed two pounds, three ounces, and six drams.
In the Hunterian Museum in London there is a stone weighing 44 ounces,
and measuring 16 inches in circumference. By suprapubic operation
Duguise removed a stone weighing 31 ounces from a patient who survived
six days. A Belgian surgeon by the name of Uytterhoeven, by the
suprapubic method extracted a concretion weighing two pounds and
measuring 6 1/2 inches long and four wide. Frere Come performed a high
operation on a patient who died the next day after the removal of a
24-ounce calculus. Verduc mentions a calculus weighing three pounds
three ounces. It was said that a vesical calculus was seen in a dead
boy at St. Edmund's which was as large as the head of a new-born child.
It has been remarked that Thomas Adams, Lord Mayor of London, who died
at the age of eighty-two, had in his bladder at the time of his death a
stone which filled the whole cavity, and which was grooved from the
ureters to the urethral opening, thus allowing the passage of urine.
Recent records of large calculi are offered: by Holmes, 25 ounces;
Hunter, 25 ounces; Cayley, 29 ounces; Humphrys, 33 ounces; Eve, 44
ounces; and Janeway, 51 ounces. Kirby has collected reports ol a number
of large vesical calculi.
Barton speaks of stone in the bladder in very young children. There is
a record of a stone at one month, and another at three years. Todd
describes a stone in the bladder of a child of sixteen months. May
removed an enormous stone from a young girl, which had its nucleus in a
brass penholder over three inches long.
Multiple Vesical Calculi.--Usually the bladder contains a single
calculus, but in a few instances a large number of stones have been
found to coexist. According to Ashhurst, the most remarkable case on
record is that of the aged Chief Justice Marshal, from whose bladder
Dr. Physick of Philadelphia is said to have successfully removed by
lateral lithotomy more than 1000 calculi. Macgregor mentions a case in
which 520 small calculi coexisted with a large one weighing 51 ounces.
There is an old record of 32 stones having been removed from a man of
eighty-one, a native of Dantzic, 16 of which were as large as a
pigeon's egg. Kelly speaks of 228 calculi in the bladder of a man of
seventy-three, 12 being removed before death. The largest weighed 111
grains. Goodrich took 96 small stones from the bladder of a lad. Among
the older records of numerous calculi Burnett mentions 70; Desault,
over 200; the Ephemerides, 120; Weickman, over 100; Fabricius Hildanus,
2000 in two years; and there is a remarkable case of 10,000 in all
issuing from a young girl. Greenhow mentions 60 stones removed from the
bladder. An older issue of The Lancet contains an account of lithotrity
performed on the same patient 48 times.
Occasionally the calculi are discharged spontaneously. Trioen mentions
the issue of a calculus through a perineal aperture, and there are many
similar cases on record. There is an old record of a stone weighing
five ounces being passed by the penis. Schenck mentions a calculus
perforating the bladder and lodging in the groin. Simmons reports a
case in which a calculus passed through a fistulous sore in the loins
without any concomitant passage of urine through the same passage.
Vosberg mentions a calculus in a patent urachus; and calculi have
occasionally been known to pass from the umbilicus. Gourges mentions
the spontaneous excretion of a five-ounce calculus; and Thompson speaks
of the discharge of two calculi of enormous size.
Of the extravesical calculi some are true calculi, while others are
simply the result of calcareous or osseous degeneration. Renal and
biliary calculi are too common to need mention here. There are some
extraordinary calculi taken from a patient at St. Bartholomew's
Hospital and deposited in the museum of that institution. The patient
was a man of thirty-eight. In the right kidney were found a calculus
weighing 36 1/2 ounces, about 1000 small calculi, and a quantity of
calcareous dust. In the left kidney there was a calculus weighing 9 3/4
ounces, besides a quantity of calcareous dust. The calculi in this case
consisted chiefly of phosphate of magnesium and ammonium. Cordier of
Kansas City, Mo., successfully removed a renal calculus weighing over
three ounces from a woman of forty-two. The accompanying illustration
shows the actual size of the calculus.
At the University College Hospital, London, there are exhibited 485
gall-stones that were found postmortem in a gall-bladder. Vanzetti
reports the removal of a preputial calculus weighing 224 grams.
Phillipe mentions the removal of a calculus weighing 50 grams from the
prepuce of an Arab boy of seven. Croft gives an account of some
preputial calculi removed from two natives of the Solomon Islands by an
emigrant medical officer in Fiji. In one case 22 small stones were
removed, and in the other a single calculus weighing one ounce 110
grains. Congenital phimosis is said to be very common among the natives
of Solomon Islands.
In September, 1695, Bernard removed two stones from the meatus
urinarius of a man, after a lodgment of twenty years. Block mentions a
similar case, in which the lodgment had lasted twenty-eight years.
Walton speaks of a urethral calculus gradually increasing in size for
fifty years. Ashburn shows what he considers the largest calculus ever
removed from the urethra. It was 2 1/8 inches long, and 1 1/4 inches
in diameter; it was white on the outside, very hard, and was shaped and
looked much like a potato. Its dry weight was 660 grains. At one end
was a polished surface that corresponded with a similar surface on a
smaller stone that lay against it; the latter calculus was shaped like
a lima bean, and weighed 60 grains. Hunt speaks of eight calculi
removed from the urethra of a boy of five. Herman and the Ephemerides
mention cases of calculi in the seminal vesicles.
Calcareous degeneration is seen in the ovary, and Peterman speaks of a
stone in the ovary. Uterine calculi are described by Cuevas and Harlow;
the latter mentions that the calculus he saw was egg-shaped. There is
an old chronicle of a stone taken from the womb of a woman near Trent,
Somersetshire, at Easter, 1666, that weighed four ounces. The
Ephemerides speaks of a calculus coming away with the menstrual fluid.
Stones in the heart are mentioned by medical writers, and it is said
that two stones as large as almonds were found in the heart of the Earl
of Balcarres.
Morand speaks of a calculus ejected from the mouth by a woman.
An old record says that stones in the brain sometimes are the cause of
convulsions. D'Hericourt reports the case of a girl who died after six
months' suffering, whose pineal gland was found petrified, and the
incredible size of a chicken's egg. Blasius, Diemerbroeck, and the
Ephemerides, speak of stones in the location of the pineal gland.
Salivary calculi are well known; they may lodge in any of the buccal
ducts. There is a record of the case of a man of thirty-seven who
suffered great pain and profuse salivation. It was found that he had a
stone as large as a pigeon's egg under his tongue.
Umbilical calculi are sometimes seen, and Deani reports such a case.
There is a French record of a case of exstrophy of the umbilicus,
attended with abnormal concretions.
Aetius, Marcellus Donatus, Scaliger, and Schenck mention calculi of the
eyelids.
There are some extraordinary cases of retention and suppression of
urine on record. Actual retention of urine, that is, urinary secretion
passed into the bladder, but retention in the latter viscus by
inanition, stricture, or other obstruction, naturally cannot continue
any great length of time without mechanically rupturing the vesical
walls; but suppression of urine or absolute anuria may last an
astonishingly extended period. Of the cases of retention of urine,
Fereol mentions that of a man of forty-nine who suffered absolute
retention of urine for eight days, caused by the obstruction of a uric
acid calculus. Cunyghame reports a ease of mechanic obstruction of the
flow of urine for eleven days. Trapenard speaks of retention of urine
for seven days. Among the older writers Bartholinus mentions ischuria
lasting fourteen days; Cornarius, fourteen days; Rhoclius, fifteen
days; the Ephemerides, ten, eleven, and twelve days. Croom notes a case
of retention of urine from laceration of the vagina during first
coitus. Foucard reports a case of retention of urine in a young girl of
nineteen, due to accumulation of the menstrual fluid behind an
imperforate hymen.
The accumulation of urine in cases of ischuria is sometimes quite
excessive. De Vilde speaks of 16 pints being drawn off. Mazoni cites a
case in which 15 pounds of urine were retained; and Wilson mentions 16
pounds of urine being drawn off. Frank reports instances in which both
12 and 30 pounds of urine were evacuated. There is a record at the
beginning of this century in which it is stated that 31 pounds of urine
were evacuated in a case of ischuria.
Following some toxic or thermic disturbance, or in diseased kidneys,
suppression of urine is quite frequently noticed. The older writers
report some remarkable instances: Haller mentions a case lasting
twenty-two weeks; Domonceau, six months; and Marcellus Donatus, six
months.
Whitelaw describes a boy of eight who, after an attack of scarlet
fever, did not pass a single drop of urine from December 7th to
December 20th when two ounces issued, after vesication over the
kidneys. On January 2d two ounces more were evacuated, and no more was
passed until the bowel acted regularly. On January 5th a whole pint of
urine passed; after that the kidneys acted normally and the boy
recovered. It would be no exaggeration to state that this case lasted
from December 5th to January 5th, for the evacuations during this
period were so slight as to be hardly worthy of mention.
Lemery reports observation of a monk who during eight years vomited
periodically instead of urinating in a natural way. Five hours before
vomiting he experienced a strong pain in the kidneys. The vomitus was
of dark-red color, and had the odor of urine. He ate little, but drank
wine copiously, and stated that the vomiting was salutary to him, as he
suffered more when he missed it.
Bryce records a case of anuria of seventeen days' standing. Butler
speaks of an individual with a single kidney who suffered suppression
of urine for thirteen days, caused by occlusion of the ureter by an
inspissated thrombus. Dubuc observed a case of anuria which continued
for seventeen days before the fatal issue. Fontaine reports a case of
suppression of urine for twenty-five days. Nunneley showed the kidneys
of a woman who did not secrete any urine for a period of twelve days,
and during this time she had not exhibited any of the usual symptoms of
uremia. Peebles mentions a case of suspension of the functions of the
kidneys more than once for five weeks, the patient exhibiting neither
coma, stupor, nor vomiting. Oke speaks of total suppression of urine
during seven days, with complete recovery; and Paxon mentions a case in
a child that recovered after five days' suppression. Russell reports a
case of complete obstructive suppression for twenty days followed by
complete recovery. Scott and Shroff mention recovery after nine days'
suppression.
The most persistent constipation may exist for weeks, or even months,
with fair health. The fact seemed to be a subject of much interest to
the older writers. De Cabalis mentions constipation lasting
thirty-seven days; Caldani, sixty-five days; Lecheverel, thirty-four
days; and Pomma, eight months; Sylvaticus, thirty months; Baillie,
fifteen weeks; Blanchard, six weeks; Smetius, five mouths; Trioen,
three months; Devilliers, two years; and Gignony, seven years. Riverius
mentions death following constipation of one month, and says that the
intestines were completely filled. Moosman mentions death from the same
cause in sixty days. Frank speaks of constipation from intestinal
obstructions lasting for three weeks, and Manget mentions a similar
case lasting three months.
Early in the century Revolat reported in Marseilles an observation of
an eminently nervous subject addicted to frequent abuse as regards
diet, who had not had the slightest evacuation from the bowel for six
months. A cure was effected in this case by tonics, temperance,
regulation of the diet, etc. In Tome xv of the Commentaries of Leipzig
there is an account of a man who always had his stercoral evacuations
on Wednesdays, and who suffered no evil consequences from this
abnormality. This state of affairs had existed from childhood, and, as
the evacuations were abundant and connected, no morbific change or
malformation seemed present. The other excretions were slightly in
excess of the ordinary amount. There are many cases of constipation on
record lasting longer than this, but none with the same periodicity and
without change in the excrement. Tommassini records the history of a
man of thirty, living an ordinary life, who became each year more
constipated. Between the ages of twenty and twenty-four the evacuations
were gradually reduced to one in eight or ten days, and at the age of
twenty-six, to one every twenty-two days. His leanness increased in
proportion to his constipation, and at thirty his appetite was so good
that he ate as much as two men. His thirst was intense, but he secreted
urine natural in quantity and quality. Nothing seemed to benefit him,
and purgatives only augmented his trouble. His feces came in small,
hard balls. His tongue was always in good condition, the abdomen not
enlarged, the pulse and temperature normal.
Emily Plumley was born on June 11,1850, with an imperforate anus, and
lived one hundred and two days without an evacuation. During the whole
period there was little nausea and occasional regurgitation of the
mother's milk, due to over-feeding. Cripps mentions a man of forty-two
with stricture of the rectum, who suffered complete intestinal
obstruction for two months, during which time he vomited only once or
twice. His appetite was good, but he avoided solid food. He recovered
after the performance of proctotomy.
Fleck reports the case of a Dutchman who, during the last two years, by
some peculiar innervation of the intestine, had only five or six bowel
movements a year. In the intervals the patient passed small quantities
of hard feces once in eight or ten days, but the amount was so small
that they constituted no more than the feces of one meal. Two or three
days before the principal evacuation began the patient became ill and
felt uncomfortable in the back; after sharp attacks of colic he would
pass hard and large quantities of offensive feces. He would then feel
better for two or three hours, when there would be a repetition of the
symptoms, and so on until he had four or five motions that day. The
following day he would have a slight diarrhea and then the bowels would
return to the former condition. The principal fecal accumulations were
in the ascending and transverse colon and not only could be felt but
seen through the abdominal wall. The patient was well nourished and had
tried every remedy without success. Finally he went to Marienbad where
he drank freely of the waters and took the baths until the bowel
movements occurred once in two or three days.
There is a record of a man who stated that for two years he had not
passed his stool by the anus, but that at six o'clock each evening he
voided feces by the mouth. His statement was corroborated by
observation. At times the evacuation took place without effort, but was
occasionally attended with slight pain in the esophagus and slight
convulsions. Several hours before the evacuation the abdomen was hard
and distended, which appearance vanished in the evening. In this case
there was a history of an injury in the upper iliac region.
The first accurate ideas in reference to elephantiasis arabum are given
by Rhazes, Haly-Abas, and Avicenna, and it is possibly on this account
that the disease received the name elephantiasis arabum. The disease
was afterward noticed by Forestus, Mercurialis, Kaempfer, Ludoff, and
others. In 1719 Prosper Alpinus wrote of it in Egypt, and the medical
officers of the French army that invaded Egypt became familiar with it;
since then the disease has been well known.
Alard relates as a case of elephantiasis that of a lady of Berlin,
mentioned in the Ephemerides of 1694, who had an abdominal tumor the
lower part of which reached to the knees. In this case the tumor was
situated in the skin and no vestige of disease was found in the
abdominal cavity and no sensible alteration had taken place in the
veins. Delpech quotes a similar case of elephantiasis in the walls of
the abdomen in a young woman of twenty-four, born at Toulouse.
Lymphedema, or elephantiasis arabum, is a condition in which, in the
substance of a limb or a part, there is diffused dilatation of the
lymphatics, with lymphostasis. Such a condition results when there is
obstruction of so large a number of the ducts converging to the root of
the extremity or part that but little relief through collateral trunks
is possible. The affected part becomes swollen and hardened, and
sometimes attains an enormous size. It is neither reducible by position
nor pressure. There is a corresponding dilatation and multiplication of
the blood-vessels with the connective-tissue hypertrophy. The muscles
waste, the skin becomes coarse and hypertrophied. The swollen limb
presents immense lobulated masses, heaped up at different parts,
separated from one another by deep sulci, which are especially marked
at the flexures of the joints. Although elephantiasis is met with in
all climates, it is more common in the tropics, and its occurrence has
been repeatedly demonstrated in these localities to be dependent on the
presence in the lymphatics of the filaria sanguinis hominis. The
accompanying illustration shows the condition of the limb of a girl of
twenty-one, the subject of lymphedema, five years after the inception
of the disease. The changes in the limb were as yet moderate. The
photograph from which the cut was made was taken in 1875 At the present
time (seventeen years later) the case presents the typical condition of
the worst form of elephantiasis. Repeated attacks of lymphangitis have
occurred during this period, each producing an aggravation of the
previous condition. The leg below the knee has become enormously
deformed by the production of the elephantoid masses; the outer side of
the thigh remains healthy, but the skin of the inner side has developed
so as to form a very large and pendant lobulated mass. A similar
condition has begun to develop in the other leg, which is row about in
the condition of the first, as shown in the figure. Figure 273
represents this disease in its most aggravated form, a condition rarely
observed in this country. As an example of the change in the weight of
a person after the inception of this disease, we cite a case reported
by Griffiths. The patient was a woman of fifty-two who, five years
previous, weighed 148 pounds. The elephantoid change was below the
waist, yet at the time of report the woman weighed 387 pounds. There
was little thickening of the skin. The circumference of the calf was 28
inches; of the thigh, 38 inches; and of the abdomen, 80 inches; while
that of the arm was only 15 inches.
The condition commonly known as "Barbadoes leg" is a form of
elephantiasis deriving its name from its relative frequency in
Barbadoes.
Figure 275 represents a well-known exhibitionist who, from all
appearances, is suffering from an elephantoid hypertrophy of the lower
extremities, due to a lymphedema. Quite a number of similar
exhibitionists have been shown in recent years, the most celebrated of
whom was Falmy Mills, one of whose feet alone was extensively involved,
and was perhaps the largest foot ever seen.
Elephantiasis seldom attacks the upper extremities. Of the older cases
Rayer reports four collected by Alard. In one case the hard and
permanent swelling of the arm occurred after the application of a
blister; in another the arm increased so that it weighed more than 200
Genoese pounds, 40 of which consisted of serum. The swellings of the
arm and forearm resembled a distended bladder. The arteries, veins,
and nerves had not undergone any alteration, but the lymphatics were
very much dilated and loaded with lymph.
The third case was from Fabricius Hildanus, and the fourth from Hendy.
Figure 276 represents a remarkable elephantoid change in the hand of an
elderly German woman. Unfortunately there is no medical description of
the case on record, but the photograph is deemed worthy of reproduction.
Terry describes a French mulatto girl of eleven whose left hand was
enormously increased in weight and consistency, the chief enlargement
being in the middle finger, which was 6 1/2 inches long, and 5 1/2
inches about the nail, and 8 1/2 around the base of the finger. The
index finger was two inches thick and four inches long, twisted and
drawn, while the other fingers were dwarfed. The elephantiasis in this
case slowly and gradually increased in size until the hand weighed 3
1/2 pounds. The skin of the affected finger, contrary to the general
appearance of a part affected with elephantiasis, was of normal color,
smooth, shiny, showed no sensibility, and the muscles had undergone
fatty degeneration. It was successfully amputated in August, 1894. The
accompanying illustration shows a dorsal view of the affected hand.
Magalhaes of Rio Janeiro reports a very interesting case of
elephantiasis of the scalp, representing dermatolysis, in which the
fold of hypertrophied skin fell over the face like the hide of an
elephant, somewhat similar in appearance to the "elephant-man." Figure
279 represents a somewhat similar hypertrophic condition of the scalp
and face reported in the Photographic Review of Medicine and Surgery,
1870.
Elephantiasis of the face sometimes only attacks it on one side. Such
a case was reported by Alard, in which the elephantiasis seems to have
been complicated with eczema of the ear. Willier, also quoted by Alard,
describes a remarkable case of elephantiasis of the face. After a
debauch this patient experienced violent pain in the left cheek below
the zygomatic arch; this soon extended under the chin, and the
submaxillary glands enlarged and became painful; the face swelled and
became erythematous, and the patient experienced nausea and slight
chills. At the end of six months there was another attack, after which
the patient perceived that the face continued puffed. This attack was
followed by several others, the face growing larger and larger. In
similar cases tumefaction assumes enormous proportions, and Schenck
speaks of a man whose head exceeded that of an ox in size, the lower
part of the face being entirely covered with the nose, which had to be
raised to enable its unhappy owner to breathe.
Rayer cites two instances in which elephantiasis of the breast enlarged
these organs to such a degree that they hung to the knees. Salmuth
speaks of a woman whose breasts increased to such a size that they hung
down to her knees. At the same time she had in both axillae glandular
tumors as large as the head of a fetus. Borellus also quotes the case
of a woman whose breasts became so large that it was necessary to
support them by straps, which passed over the shoulders and neck.
Elephantiasis is occasionally seen in the genital regions of the
female, but more often in the scrotum of the male, in which location it
produces enormous tumors, which sometimes reach to the ground and
become so heavy as to prevent locomotion. This condition is curious in
the fact that these immense tumors have been successfully removed, the
testicles and penis, which had long since ceased to be distinguished,
saved, and their function restored. Alibert mentions a patient who was
operated upon by Clot-Bey, whose scrotum when removed weighed 110
pounds; the man had two children after the disease had continued for
thirteen years, but before it had obtained its monstrous development--a
proof that the functions of the testicles had not been affected by the
disease.
There are several old accounts of scrotal tumors which have evidently
been elephantoid in conformation. In the Ephemerides in 1692 there was
mentioned a tumor of the scrotum weighing 200 pounds. In the West
Indies it was reported that rats have been known to feed on these
enormous tumors, while the deserted subjects lay in a most helpless
condition. Larrey mentioned a case of elephantiasis of the scrotum in
which the tumor weighed over 200 pounds. Sir Astley Cooper removed a
tumor of 56 pounds weight from a Chinese laborer. It extended from
beneath the umbilicus to the anterior border of the anus; it had begun
in the prepuce ten years previously. Clot-Bey removed an elephantoid
tumor of the scrotum weighing 80 pounds, performing castration at the
same time. Alleyne reports a case of elephantiasis, in which he
successfully removed a tumor of the integuments of the scrotum and
penis weighing 134 pounds.
Bicet mentions a curious instance of elephantiasis of the penis and
scrotum which had existed for five years. The subject was in great
mental misery and alarm at his unsightly condition. The parts of
generation were completely buried in the huge mass. An operation was
performed in which all of the diseased structures that had totally
unmanned him were removed, the true organs of generation escaping
inviolate. Thebaud mentions a tumor of the scrotum, the result of
elephantiasis, which weighed 63 1/2 pounds. The weight was ascertained
by placing the tumor on the scales, and directing the patient to squat
over them without resting any weight of the body on the scales. This
man could readily feel his penis, although his surgeons could not do
so. The bladder was under perfect control, the urine flowing over a
channel on the exterior of the scrotum, extending 18 inches from the
meatus. Despite his infirmity this patient had perfect sexual desire,
and occasional erections and emissions. A very interesting operation
was performed with a good recovery.
Partridge reports an enormous scrotal tumor which was removed from a
Hindoo of fifty-five, with subsequent recovery of the subject. The
tumor weighed 111 1/2 pounds. The ingenious technic of this operation
is well worth perusal by those interested. Goodman successfully
removed an elephantiasis of the scrotum from a native Fiji of
forty-five. The tumor weighed 42 pounds, without taking into
consideration the weight of the fluid which escaped in abundance during
the operation and also after the operation, but before it was weighed.
Van Buren and Keyes mention a tumor of the scrotum of this nature
weighing 165 pounds. Quoted by Russell, Hendy describes the case of a
negro who had successive attacks of glandular swelling of the scrotum,
until finally the scrotum was two feet long and six feet in
circumference. It is mentioned that mortification of the part caused
this patient's ultimate death.
Figure 281 is taken from a photograph loaned to the authors by Dr.
James Thorington. The patient was a native of Fiji, and was
successfully operated on, with preservation of the testes. The tumor,
on removal, weighed 120 pounds.
W. R. Browne, Surgeon-General, reports from the Madras General Hospital
an operation on a patient of thirty-five with elephantoid scrotum of
six years' duration. The proportions of the scrotum were as follows:
Horizontally the circumference was six feet 6 1/2 inches, and
vertically the circumference was six feet ten inches. The penis was
wholly hidden, and the urine passed from an opening two feet 5 1/2
inches from the pubis. The man had complete control of his bladder, but
was unable to walk. The operation for removal occupied one hour and
twenty minutes, and the tumor removed weighed 124 3/4 pounds. Little
blood was lost on account of an elastic cord tied about the neck of the
tumor, and secured by successful removal of a scrotal tumor weighing 56
pounds.
Fenger describes a case of the foregoing nature in a German of
twenty-three, a resident of Chicago. The growth had commenced eight
years previously, and had progressively increased. There was no pain or
active inflammation, and although the patient had to have especially
constructed trousers he never ceased his occupation as a driver. The
scrotum was represented by a hairless tumor weighing 22 pounds, and
hanging one inch below the knees. No testicles or penis could be made
out. Fenger removed the tumor, and the man was greatly improved in
health. There was still swelling of the inguinal glands on both sides,
but otherwise the operation was very successful. The man's mental
condition also greatly improved. Fenger also calls especial attention
to the importance of preserving the penis and testes in the operation,
as although these parts may apparently be obliterated their functions
are undisturbed.
The statistics of this major operation show a surprisingly small
mortality. Fayrer operated on 28 patients with 22 recoveries and six
deaths, one from shock and five from pyemia The same surgeon collected
193 cases, and found the general mortality to be 18 per cent. According
to Ashhurst, Turner, who practiced as a medical missionary in the
Samoan Islands, claims to have operated 136 times with only two deaths.
McLeod, Fayrer's successor in India, reported 129 cases with 23 deaths.
Early in this century Rayer described a case of elephantiasis in a boy
of seventeen who, after several attacks of erysipelas, showed marked
diminution of the elephantoid change; the fact shows the antagonism of
the streptococcus erysipelatis to hypertrophic and malignant processes.
Acromegaly is a term introduced by Marie, and signifies large
extremities. It is characterized by an abnormally large development of
the extremities and of the features of the face,--the bony as well as
the soft parts. In a well-marked case the hands and feet are greatly
enlarged, but not otherwise deformed, and the normal functions are not
disturbed. The hypertrophy involves all the tissues, giving a curious
spade-like appearance to the hands. The feet are similarly enlarged,
although the big toe may be relatively much larger. The nails also
become broad and large. The face increases in volume and becomes
elongated, in consequence of the hypertrophy of the superior and
inferior maxillary bones. The latter often projects beyond the upper
teeth. The teeth become separated, and the soft parts increase in size.
The nose is large and broad, and the skin of the eyelids and ears is
enormously hypertrophied. The tongue is greatly hypertrophied. The
disease is of long duration, and late in the history the bones of the
spine and thorax may acquire great deformity. As we know little of the
influences and sources governing nutrition, the pathology and etiology
of acromegaly are obscure. Marie regards the disease as a systemic
dystrophy analogous to myxedema, due to a morbid condition of the
pituitary body, just as myxedema is due to disease of the thyroid. In
several of the cases reported the squint and optic atrophy and the
amblyopia have pointed to the pituitary body as the seat of a new
growth of hypertrophy. Pershing shows a case of this nature. The
enlargement of the face and extremities was characteristic, and the
cerebral and ocular symptoms pointed to the pituitary body as the seat
of the lesion. Unverricht, Thomas, and Ransom report cases in which the
ocular lesions, indicative of pituitary trouble, were quite prominent.
Of 22 cases collected by Tamburini 19 showed some change in the
pituitary body, and in the remaining three cases either the diagnosis
was uncertain or the disease was of very short duration. Linsmayer
reported a case in which there was a softened adenoma in the pituitary
body, and the thymus was absent.
Hersman reports an interesting case of progressive enlargement of the
hands in a clergyman of fifty. Since youth he had suffered with pains
in the joints. About three years before the time of report he noticed
enlargement of the phalangeal joint of the third finger of the right
hand. A short time later the whole hand became gradually involved and
the skin assumed a darker hue. Sensation and temperature remained
normal in both hands; acromegaly was excluded on account of the absence
of similar changes elsewhere. Hersman remarks that the change was
probably due to increase in growth of the fibrous elements of the
subcutaneous lesions about the tendons, caused by rheumatic poison.
Figure 283 shows the palmer and dorsal surfaces of both hands.
Chiromegaly is a term that has been applied by Charcot and Brissaud to
the pseudoacromegaly that sometimes occurs in syringomyelia. Most of
the cases that have been reported as a combination of these two
diseases are now thought to be only a syringomyelia. A recent case is
reported by Marie. In this connection it is interesting to notice a
case of what might be called acute symptomatic transitory
pseudoacromegaly, reported by Potovski: In an insane woman, and without
ascertainable cause, there appeared an enlargement of the ankles,
wrists, and shoulders, and later of the muscles, with superficial
trophic disturbances that gradually disappeared. The author excludes
syphilis, tuberculosis, rheumatism, gout, hemophilia, etc., and
considers it to have been a trophic affection of cerebral origin.
Cases of pneumonia osteoarthropathy simulating acromegaly have been
reported by Korn and Murray.
Megalocephaly, or as it was called by Virchow, leontiasis ossea, is due
to a hypertrophic process in the bones of the cranium. The cases
studied by Virchow were diffuse hyperostoses of the cranium. Starr
describes what he supposes to be a case of this disease, and proposes
the title megalocephaly as preferable to Virchow's term, because the
soft parts are also included in the hypertrophic process. A woman of
fifty-two, married but having no children, and of negative family
history, six years before the time of report showed the first symptoms
of the affection, which began with formication in the finger-tips. This
gradually extended to the shoulders, and was attended with some
uncertainty of tactile sense and clumsiness of movement, but actual
anesthesia had never been demonstrated. This numbness had not invaded
the trunk or lower extremities, although there was slight uncertainty
in the gait. There had been a slowly progressing enlargement of the
head, face, and neck, affecting the bone, skin, and subcutaneous
tissues, the first to the greatest degree. The circumference of the
neck was 16 inches; the horizontal circumference of the head was 24
inches; from ear to ear, over the vertex, 16 inches; and from the root
of the nose to the occipital protuberance, 16 inches. The cervical
vertebrae were involved, and the woman had lost five inches in height.
It may be mentioned here that Brissaud and Meige noticed the same loss
in height, only more pronounced, in a case of gigantism, the loss being
more than 15 inches. In Starr's case the tongue was normal and there
was no swelling of the thyroid.
Cretinism is an endemic disease among mountainous people who drink
largely of lime water, and is characterized by a condition of physical,
physiologic, and mental degeneracy and nondevelopment, and possibly
goiter. The subjects of this disease seldom reach five feet in height,
and usually not more than four. The word cretin is derived from the
Latin creatura. They are found all over the world. In Switzerland it is
estimated that in some cantons there is one cretin to every 25
inhabitants. In Styria, the Tyrol, and along the Rhine cretins are
quite common, and not long since cases existed in Derbyshire. These
creatures have been allowed to marry and generate, and thus extend
their species. In "Le Medicin de Campagne," Balzac has given a vivid
picture of the awe and respect in which they were held and the way in
which they were allowed to propagate. Speaking of the endemic cretins,
Beaupre says: "I see a head of unusual form and size, a squat and
bloated figure, a stupid look, bleared, hollow, and heavy eyes, thick,
projecting eyelids, and a flat nose. His face is of a leaden hue, his
skin dirty, flabby, covered with tetters, and his thick tongue hangs
down over his moist, livid lips; his mouth, always open and full of
saliva, shows teeth going to decay. His chest is narrow, his back
curved, his breath asthmatic, his limbs short, misshapen, without
power. The knees are thick and inclined inward, the feet flat. The
large head droops listlessly on the breast; the abdomen is like a bag."
The cretin is generally deaf and dumb, or only able to give a hoarse
cry. He is indifferent to heat and cold, and even to the most revolting
odors. The general opinion has always been that the sexual desire and
genital organs are fully developed.
A quotation under our observation credits Colonel Sykes with the
following statistics of cretinism, which show how in some locations it
may be a decided factor of population. In December, 1845, in a
population of 2,558,349 souls (the locality not mentioned), there were
18,462 people with simple goiter. Of the cretins without goiter there
were 2089. Of cretins with goiter there were 3909; and cretins in which
goiter was not stated 962, making a total of 6960. Of these 2185 had
mere animal instincts; 3531 possessed very small intellectual
faculties; 196 were almost without any; 1048 not classified. Of this
number 2483 were born of healthy and sane fathers; 2285 from healthy
mothers; 961 from goitrous fathers; 1267 from goitrous mothers; 49 from
cretin fathers; 41 from cretin mothers; 106 from cretin fathers with
goiter; 66 from cretin mothers with goiter; 438 fathers and 405 mothers
were not specified.
Sporadic cretinism, or congenital myzedema, is characterized by a
congenital absence of the thyroid, diminutiveness of size, thickness of
neck, shortness of arms and legs, prominence of the abdomen, large size
of the face, thickness of the lips, large and protruding tongue, and
imbecility or idiocy. It is popularly believed that coitus during
intoxication is the cause of this condition. Osler was able to collect
11 or 12 cases in this country. The diagnosis is all-important, as the
treatment by the thyroid extract produces the most noteworthy results.
There are several remarkable recoveries on record, but possibly the
most wonderful is the case of J. P. West of Bellaire, Ohio, the
portraits of which are reproduced in Plate 11. At seventeen months the
child presented the typical appearance of a sporadic cretin. The
astonishing results of six months' treatment with thyroid extract are
shown in the second figure. After a year's treatment the child presents
the appearance of a healthy and well-nourished little girl.
Myxedema proper is a constitutional condition due to the loss of the
function of the thyroid gland. The disease was first described by Sir
William Gull as a cretinoid change, and later by William Ord of London,
who suggested the name. It is characterized clinically by a
myxedematous condition of the subcutaneous tissues and mental failure,
and anatomically by atrophy of the thyroid gland. The symptoms of
myxedema, as given by Ord, are marked increase in the general bulk of
the body, a firm, inelastic swelling of the skin, which does not pit on
pressure; dryness and roughness which tend, with swelling, to
obliterate the lines of expression in the face; imperfect nutrition of
the hair; local tumefaction of the skin and subcutaneous tissues,
particularly in the supraclavicular region. The physiognomy is
remarkably altered; the features are coarse and broad, the lips thick,
the nostrils broad and thick, and the mouth enlarged. There is a
striking slowness of thought and of movement; the memory fails, and
conditions leading to incipient dementia intervene. The functions of
the thoracic and abdominal organs seem to be normal, and death is
generally due to some intercurrent disease, possibly tuberculosis. A
condition akin to myxedema occurs after operative removal of the
thyroid gland.
In a most interesting lecture Brissaud shows the intimate relation
between myxedema, endemic cretinism, sporadic cretinism, or
myxedematous idiocy, and infantilism. He considers that they are all
dependent upon an inherited or acquired deficiency or disease of the
thyroid gland, and he presents cases illustrating each affection.
Figure 285 shows a case of myxedema, one of myxedema in a case of
arrested development--a transition case between myxedema of the adult
and sporadic cretinism--and a typical case of sporadic cretinism.
Cagots are an outcast race or clan of dwarfs in the region of the
Pyrenees, and formerly in Brittany, whose existence has been a
scientific problem since the sixteenth century, at which period they
were known as Cagots, Gahets, Gafets, Agotacs, in France; Agotes or
Gafos, in Spain; and Cacous, in Lower Brittany. Cagot meant the dog of
a Goth; they were of supposed Gothic origin by some, and of Tartar
origin by others. These people were formerly supposed to have been the
descendants of lepers, or to have been the victims of leprosy
themselves. From the descriptions there is a decided difference between
the Cagots and the cretins. In a recent issue of Cosmos a writer
describes Cagots as follows:--
"They inhabit the valley of the Ribas in the northwestern part of the
Spanish province now called Gerona. They never exceed 51 1/2 inches in
height, and have short, ill-formed legs, great bellies, small eyes,
flat noses, and pale, unwholesome complexions. They are usually stupid,
often to the verge of idiocy, and much subject to goiter and scrofulous
affections. The chief town of the Ribas Valley is Ribas, a place of
1500 inhabitants, about 800 feet above sea-level. The mountains rise
about the town to a height of from 6000 to 8000 feet, and command an
amazingly beautiful panorama of mountain, plain, and river, with
Spanish cities visible upon the one side and French upon the other. The
region is rich, both agriculturally and minerally, and is famous for
its medicinal springs. In this paradise dwell the dwarfs, perhaps as
degraded a race of men and women as may be found in any civilized
community. They are almost without education, and inhabit wretched huts
when they have any shelter. The most intelligent are employed as
shepherds, and in summer they live for months at an elevation of more
than 6000 feet without shelter. Here they see no human creature save
some of their own kind, often idiots, who are sent up every fifteen or
twenty days with a supply of food.
"It is said that formal marriage is almost unknown among them. The
women in some instances are employed in the village of Ribas as nurses
for children, and as such are found tender and faithful. Before
communication throughout the region was as easy as it is now, it was
thought lucky to have one of these dwarfs in a family, and the dwarfs
were hired out and even sold to be used in beggary in neighboring
cities. There are somewhat similar dwarfs in other valleys of the
Pyrenees, but the number is decreasing, and those of the Ribas Valley
are reduced to a few individuals."
Hiccough is a symptom due to intermittent, sudden contraction of the
diaphragm. Obstinate cases are most peculiar, and sometimes exhaust the
physician's skill. Symes divides these cases into four groups:--
(1) Inflammatory, seen particularly in inflammatory diseases of the
viscera or abdominal membranes, and in severe cases of typhoid fever.
(2) Irritative, as in direct stimulus of the diaphragm in swallowing
some very hot substance; local disease of the esophagus near the
diaphragm, and in many conditions of gastric and intestinal disorder,
more particularly those associated with flatus.
(3) Specific or idiopathic, in which there are no evident causes
present; it is sometimes seen in cases of nephritis and diabetes.
(4) Neurotic, in which the primary cause is in the nervous
system,--hysteria, epilepsy, shock, or cerebral tumors.
The obstinacy of continued hiccough has long been discussed. Osler
calls to mind that in Plato's "Symposium" the physician, Eryximachus,
recommended to Aristophanes, who had hiccough from eating too much,
either to hold his breath or to gargle with a little water; but if it
still continued, "tickle your nose with something and sneeze, and if
you sneeze once or twice even the most violent hiccough is sure to go."
The attack must have been a severe one, as it is stated subsequently
that the hiccough did not disappear until Aristophanes had excited the
sneezing.
Among the older medical writers Weber speaks of singultus lasting for
five days; Tulpius, for twelve days; Eller and Schenck, for three
months; Taranget, for eight months; and Bartholinus, for four years.
At the present day it is not uncommon to read in the newspapers
accounts of prolonged hiccoughing. These cases are not mythical, and
are paralleled by a number of instances in reliable medical literature.
The cause is not always discernible, and cases sometimes resist all
treatment.
Holston reports a case of chronic singultus of seven years' standing.
It had followed an attack of whooping-cough, and was finally cured
apparently by the administration of strychnin. Cowan speaks of a
shoemaker of twenty-two who experienced an attack of constant singultus
for a week, and then intermittent attacks for six years. Cowan also
mentions instances of prolonged hiccough related by Heberden, Good,
Hoffman, and Wartmouth. Barrett is accredited with reporting a case of
persistent hiccough in a man of thirty-five. Rowland speaks of a man of
thirty-five who hiccoughed for twelve years. The paroxysms were almost
constant, and occurred once or twice a minute during the hours when the
man was not sleeping. There was no noise with the cough. There is
another case related in the same journal of a man who died on the
fourth day of an attack of singultus, probably due to abscess of the
diaphragm, which no remedy would relieve. Moore records a case of a
child, injured when young, who hiccoughed until about twenty years of
age (the age at the time of report). Foot mentions a lad of fifteen
who, except when asleep, hiccoughed incessantly for twenty-two weeks,
and who suffered two similar, but less severe, attacks in the summer of
1879, and again in 1880. The disease was supposed to be due to the
habit of pressing the chest against the desk when at school. Dexter
reports a case of long-continued singultus in an Irish girl of
eighteen, ascribed to habitual masturbation. There was no intermission
in the paroxysm, which increased in force until general convulsions
ensued. The patient said that the paroxysm could be stopped by firm
pressure on the upper part of the external genital organs. Dexter
applied firm pressure on her clitoris, and the convulsions subsided,
and the patient fell asleep. They could be excited by firm pressure on
the lower vertebrae. Corson speaks of a man of fifty-seven who, after
exposure to cold, suffered exhausting hiccough for nine days; and also
records the case of an Irish servant who suffered hiccough for four
months; the cause was ascribed to fright. Stevenson cites a fatal
instance of hiccough in a stone-mason of forty-four who suffered
continuously from May 14th to May 28th. The only remedy that seemed to
have any effect in this case was castor-oil in strong purgative doses.
Willard speaks of a man of thirty-four who began to hiccough after an
attack of pneumonia, and continued for eighty-six hours. The treatment
consisted of the application of belladonna and cantharides plasters,
bismuth, and lime-water, camphor, and salts of white hellebore inhaled
through the nose in finest powder. Two other cases are mentioned by the
same author. Gapper describes the case of a young man who was seized
with loud and distressing hiccough that never ceased for a minute
during eighty hours. Two ounces of laudanum were administered in the
three days without any decided effect, producing only slight languor.
Ranney reports the case of an unmarried woman of forty-four who
suffered from paroxysms of hiccough that persisted for four years. A
peculiarity of this attack was that it invariably followed movements of
the upper extremities. Tenderness and hyperesthesia over the spinous
processes of the 4th, 5th, and 6th cervical vertebrae led to the
application of the thermocautery, which, in conjunction with the
administration of ergot and bromide, was attended with marked benefit,
though not by complete cure. Barlow mentions a man with a rheumatic
affection of the shoulder who hiccoughed when he moved his joints.
Barlow also recites a case of hiccough which was caused by pressure on
the cicatrix of a wound in the left hand.
Beilby reports a peculiar case in a girl of seventeen who suffered an
anomalous affection of the respiratory muscle, producing a sound like a
cough, but shriller, almost resembling a howl. It was repeated every
five or six seconds during the whole of the waking moments, and
subsided during sleep. Under rest and free purgation the patient
recovered, but the paroxysms continued during prolonged intervals, and
in the last six years they only lasted from twenty-four to forty-eight
hours.
Parker reports four rebellious cases of singultus successfully treated
by dry cups applied to the abdomen. In each case it was necessary to
repeat the operation after two hours, but recovery was then rapid.
Tatevosoff reports a brilliant cure in a patient with chronic chest
trouble, by the use of common snuff, enough being given several times
to induce lively sneezing. Griswold records a successful treatment of
one case in a man of fifty, occurring after a debauch, by the
administration of glonoin, 1/150 of a grain every three hours.
Heidenhain records a very severe and prolonged case caused, as shown
later at the operation and postmortem examination, by carcinoma of the
pancreas. The spasms were greatly relieved by cocain administered by
the mouth, as much as 15 grains being given in twelve hours. Laborde
and Lepine report the case of a young girl who was relieved of an
obstinate case of hiccough lasting four days by traction on her tongue.
After the tongue had been held out of the mouth for a few minutes the
hiccoughs ceased. Laborde referred to two cases of a similar character
reported by Viand.
Anomalous Sneezing.--In the olden times sneezing was considered a good
omen, and was regarded as a sacred sign by nearly all of the ancient
peoples. This feeling of reverence was already ancient in the days of
Homer. Aristotle inquired into the nature and origin of the
superstition, somewhat profanely wondering why sneezing had been
deified rather than coughing. The Greeks traced the origin of the
sacred regard for sneezing to the days of Prometheus, who blessed his
man of clay when he sneezed. According to Seguin the rabbinical
account says that only through Jacob's struggle with the angel did
sneezing cease to be an act fatal to man. Not only in Greece and Rome
was sneezing revered, but also by races in Asia and Africa, and even by
the Mexicans of remote times. Xenophon speaks of the reverence as to
sneezing, in the court of the King of Persia. In Mesopotamia and some
of the African towns the populace rejoiced when the monarch sneezed. In
the present day we frequently hear "God bless you" addressed to persons
who have just sneezed, a perpetuation of a custom quite universal in
the time of Gregory the Great, in whose time, at a certain season, the
air was filled with an unwholesome vapor or malaria which so affected
the people that those who sneezed were at once stricken with
death-agonies. In this strait the pontiff is said to have devised a
form of prayer to be uttered when the paroxysm was seen to be coming
on, and which, it was hoped, would avert the stroke of the death-angel.
There are some curious cases of anomalous sneezing on record, some of
which are possibly due to affections akin to our present "hay fever,"
while others are due to causes beyond our comprehension. The
Ephemerides records a paroxysm of continual sneezing lasting thirty
days. Bonet, Lancisi, Fabricius Hildanus, and other older observers
speak of sneezing to death. Morgagni mentions death from congestion of
the vasa cerebri caused by sneezing. The Ephemerides records an
instance of prolonged sneezing which was distinctly hereditary.
Ellison makes an inquiry for treatment of a case of sneezing in a white
child of ten. The sneezing started without apparent cause and would
continue 20 or 30 times, or until the child was exhausted, and then
stop for a half or one minute, only to relapse again. Beilby speaks of
a boy of thirteen who suffered constant sneezing (from one to six times
a minute) for one month. Only during sleep was there any relief. The
patient recovered under treatment consisting of active leeching,
purgation, and blisters applied behind the ear, together with the
application of olive oil to the nostrils.
Lee reports a remarkable case of yawning followed by sneezing in a girl
of fifteen who, just before, had a tooth removed without difficulty.
Half an hour afterward yawning began and continued for five weeks
continuously. There was no pain, no illness, and she seemed amused at
her condition. There was no derangement of the sexual or other organs
and no account of an hysteric spasm. Potassium bromid and belladonna
were administered for a few days with negative results, when the
attacks of yawning suddenly turned to sneezing. One paroxysm followed
another with scarcely an interval for speech. She was chloroformed once
and the sneezing ceased, but was more violent on recovery therefrom.
Ammonium bromid in half-drachm doses, with rest in bed for psychologic
reasons, checked the sneezing. Woakes presented a paper on what he
designated "ear-sneezing," due to the caking of cerumen in one ear.
Irritation of the auricular branch of the vagus was produced, whence an
impression was propagated to the lungs through the pulmonary branches
of the vagus. Yawning was caused through implication of the third
division of the 5th nerve, sneezing following from reflex implication
of the spinal nerves of respiration, the lungs being full of air at the
time of yawning. Woakes also speaks of "ear-giddiness" and offers a new
associate symptom--superficial congestion of the hands and forearm.
A case of anomalous sneezing immediately prior to sexual intercourse is
mentioned on page 511.
Hemophilia is an hereditary, constitutional fault, characterized by a
tendency to uncontrollable bleeding, either spontaneous or from slight
wounds. It is sometimes associated with a form of arthritis (Ogler).
This hemorrhagic diathesis has been known for many years; and the fact
that there were some persons who showed a peculiar tendency to bleed
after wounds of a trifling nature is recorded in some of the earliest
medical literature. Only recently, however, through the writings of
Buel, Otto, Hay, Coates, and others, has the hereditary nature of the
malady and its curious mode of transmission through the female line
been known. As a rule the mother of a hemophile is not a "bleeder"
herself, but is the daughter of one. The daughters of a hemophile,
though healthy and free from any tendency themselves, are almost
certain to transmit the disposition to the male offspring. The
condition generally appears after some slight injury in the first two
years of life; but must be distinguished from the hemorrhagic
affections of the new-born, which will be discussed later. The social
condition of the family does not alter the predisposition; the old Duke
of Albany was a "bleeder"; and bleeder families are numerous, healthy
looking, and have fine, soft skins.
The duration of this tendency, and its perpetuation in a family, is
remarkable. The Appleton-Swain family of Reading, Mass., has shown
examples for two centuries. Osler has been advised of instances already
occurring in the seventh generation. Kolster has investigated
hemophilia in women, and reports a case of bleeding in the daughter of
a hemophilic woman. He also analyzes 50 genealogic trees of hemophilic
families, and remarks that Nasse's law of transmission does not hold
true. In 14 cases the transmission was direct from the father to the
child, and in 11 cases it was direct from the mother to the infant.
The hemorrhagic symptoms of bleeders may be divided into external
bleedings, either spontaneous or traumatic; interstitial bleedings,
petechiae, and ecchymoses; and the joint-affections. The external
bleedings are seldom spontaneous, and generally follow cuts, bruises,
scratches, and often result seriously. A minor operation on a hemophile
may end in death; so slight an operation as drawing a tooth has been
followed by the most disastrous consequences.
Armstrong, Blagden, and Roberts, have seen fatal hemorrhage after the
extraction of teeth. MacCormac observed five bleeders at St. Thomas
Hospital, London, and remarks that one of these persons bled twelve
days after a tooth-extraction. Buchanan and Clay cite similar
instances. Cousins mentions an individual of hemorrhagic diathesis who
succumbed to extensive extravasation of blood at the base of the brain,
following a slight fall during an epileptic convulsion. Dunlape reports
a case of hemorrhagic diathesis, following suppression of the
catamenia, attended by vicarious hemorrhage from the gums, which
terminated fatally. Erichsenf cites an instance of extravasation of
blood into the calf of the leg of an individual of hemophilic
tendencies. A cavity was opened, which extended from above the knee to
the heel; the clots were removed, and cautery applied to check the
bleeding. There was extension of the blood-cavity to the thigh, with
edema and incipient gangrene, necessitating amputation of the thigh,
with a fatal termination.
Mackenzie reports an instance of hemophilic purpura of the retina,
followed by death. Harkin gives an account of vicarious bleeding from
the under lip in a woman of thirty-eight. The hemorrhage occurred at
every meal and lasted ten minutes. There is no evidence that the woman
was of hemophilic descent.
Of 334 cases of bleeding in hemophilia collected by Grandidier, 169
were from the nose, 43 from the mouth, 15 from the stomach, 36 from the
bowels, 16 from the urethra, 17 from the lungs, and a few from the skin
of the head, eyelids, scrotum, navel, tongue, finger-tips, vulva, and
external ear. Osler remarks that Professor Agnew knew of a case of a
bleeder who had always bled from cuts and bruises above the neck, never
from those below. The joint-affections closely resemble acute
rheumatism. Bleeders do not necessarily die of their early bleedings,
some living to old age. Oliver Appleton, the first reported American
bleeder, died at an advanced age, owing to hemorrhage from a bed-sore
and from the urethra. Fortunately the functions of menstruation and
parturition are not seriously interfered with in hemophilia.
Menstruation is never so excessive as to be fatal. Grandidier states
that of 152 boy subjects 81 died before the termination of the seventh
year. Hemophilia is rarely fatal in the first year.
Of the hemorrhagic diseases of the new-born three are worthy of note.
In syphilis haemorrhagica neonatorum the child may be born healthy, or
just after birth there may appear extensive cutaneous extravasations
with bleeding from the mucous surfaces and from the navel; the child
may become deeply jaundiced. Postmortem examination shows extensive
extravasations into the internal viscera, and also organic syphilitic
lesions.
Winckel's disease, or epidemic hemoglobinuria, is a very fatal
affection, sometimes epidemic in lying-in institutions; it develops
about the fourth day after birth. The principal symptom is hematogenous
icterus with cyanosis,--the urine contains blood and blood-coloring
matter. Some cases have shown in a marked degree acute fatty
degeneration of the internal organs--Buhl's disease.
Apart from the common visceral hemorrhages, the results of injuries at
birth, bleeding from one or more of the surfaces is a not uncommon
event in the new-born, particularly in hospital-practice. According to
Osler Townsend reports 45 cases in 6700 deliveries, the hemorrhage
being both general and from the navel alone. Bleeding also occurs from
the bowels, stomach, and mouth, generally beginning in the first week,
but in rare instances it is delayed to the second or third. Out of 50
cases collected by Townsend 31 died and 19 recovered. The nature of the
disease is unknown, and postmortem examination reveals no pathologic
changes, although the general and not local nature of the affection,
its self-limited character, the presence of fever, and the greater
prevalence of the disease in hospitals, suggest an infectious origin
(Townsend). Kent a speaks of a new-born infant dying of spontaneous
hemorrhage from about the hips.
Infantile scurvy, or Barlow's disease, has lately attracted marked
attention, and is interesting for the numerous extravasations and
spontaneous hemorrhages which are associated with it. A most
interesting collection of specimens taken from the victims of Barlow's
disease were shown in London in 1895.
In an article on the successful preventive treatment of tetanus
neonatorum, or the "scourge of St. Kilda," of the new-born, Turner says
the first mention of trismus nascentium or tetanus neonatorum was made
by Rev. Kenneth Macaulay in 1764, after a visit to the island of St.
Kilda in 1758. This gentleman states that the infants of this island
give up nursing on the fourth or fifth day after birth; on the seventh
day their gums are so clinched together that it is impossible to get
anything down their throats; soon after this they are seized with
convulsive fits and die on the eighth day. So general was this trouble
on the island of St. Kilda that the mothers never thought of making any
preparation for the coming baby, and it was wrapped in a dirty piece of
blanket till the ninth or tenth day, when, if the child survived, the
affection of the mother asserted itself. This lax method of caring for
the infant, the neglect to dress the cord, and the unsanitary condition
of the dwellings, make it extremely probable that the infection was
through the umbilical cord. All cases in which treatment was properly
carried out by competent nurses have survived. This treatment consisted
in dressing the cord with iodoform powder and antiseptic wool, the
breast-feeding of the baby from the first, and the administration of
one-grain doses of potassium bromid at short intervals. The infant
death-rate on the island of St. Kilda has, consequently, been much
reduced. The author suggests the use of a new iodin-preparation called
loretin for dressing the cord. The powder is free from odor and is
nonpoisonous.
Human Parasites.--Worms in the human body are of interest on account of
the immense length some species attain, the anomalous symptoms which
they cause, or because of their anomalous location and issue. According
to modern writers the famous Viennese collection of helminths contains
chains of tenia saginata 24 feet long. The older reports, according to
which the taenia solium (i.e., generally the taenia saginata) grew to
such lengths as 40, 50, 60, and even as much as 800 yards, are
generally regarded as erroneous. The observers have apparently taken
the total of all the fragments of the worm or worms evacuated at any
time and added them, thus obtaining results so colossal that it would
be impossible for such an immense mass to be contained in any human
intestine.
The name solium has no relation to the Latin solus, or solium. It is
quite possible for a number of tapeworms to exist simultaneously in the
human body. Palm mentions the fact of four tapeworms existing in one
person; and Mongeal has made observations of a number of cases in which
several teniae existed simultaneously in the stomach. David speaks of
the expulsion of five teniae by the ingestion of a quantity of sweet
wine. Cobbold reports the case of four simultaneous tapeworms; and
Aguiel describes the case of a man of twenty-four who expelled a mass
weighing a kilogram, 34.5 meters long, consisting of several different
worms. Garfinkel mentions a case which has been extensively quoted, of
a peasant who voided 238 feet of tapeworms, 12 heads being found.
Laveran reports a case in which 23 teniae were expelled in the same
day. Greenhow mentions the occurrence of two teniae mediocanellata.
The size of a tapeworm in a small child is sometimes quite surprising.
Even the new-born have exhibited signs of teniae, and Haussmann has
discussed this subject. Armor speaks of a fully-matured tapeworm being
expelled from a child five days old. Kennedy reports cases in which
tapeworms have been expelled from infants five, and five and one-half
months old. Heisberg gives an account of a tapeworm eight feet in
length which came from a child of two. Twiggs describes a case in which
a tapeworm 36 feet long was expelled from a child of four; and Fabre
mentions the expulsion of eight teniae from a child. Occasionally the
tapeworm is expelled from the mouth. Such cases are mentioned by Hitch
and Martel. White speaks of a tapeworm which was discharged from the
stomach after the use of an emetic. Lile mentions the removal of a
tapeworm which had been in the bowel twenty-four years.
The peculiar effects of a tapeworm are exaggerated appetite and thirst,
nausea, headaches, vertigo, ocular symptoms, cardiac palpitation, and
Mursinna has even observed a case of trismus, or lockjaw, due to taenia
solium. Fereol speaks of a case of vertigo, accompanied with epileptic
convulsions, which was caused by teniae. On the administration of
kousso three heads were expelled simultaneously. There is a record of
an instance of cardiac pulsation rising to 240 per minute, which ceased
upon the expulsion of a large tapeworm. It is quite possible for the
presence of a tapeworm to indirectly produce death. Garroway describes
a case in which death was apparently imminent from the presence of a
tapeworm. Kisel has recorded a fatal case of anemia, in a child of six,
dependent on teniae.
The number of ascarides or round-worms in one subject is sometimes
enormous. Victor speaks of 129 round-worms being discharged from a
child in the short space of five days. Pole mentions the expulsion of
441 lumbricoid worms in thirty-four days, and Fauconneau-Dufresne has
reported a most remarkable case in which 5000 ascarides were discharged
in less than three years, mostly by vomiting. The patient made an
ultimate recovery.
There are many instances in which the lumbricoid worms have pierced the
intestinal tract and made their way to other viscera, sometimes leading
to an anomalous exit. There are several cases on record in which the
lumbricoid worms have been found in the bladder. Pare speaks of a case
of this kind during a long illness; and there is mention of a man who
voided a worm half a yard long from his bladder after suppression of
urine. The Ephemerides contains a curious case in which a stone was
formed in the bladder, having for its nucleus a worm. Fontanelle
presented to the Royal Academy of Medicine of Paris several yards of
tapeworm passed from the urethra of a man of fifty-three. The following
is a quotation from the British Medical Journal: "I have at present a
patient passing in his urine a worm-like body, not unlike a tapeworm as
far as the segments and general appearance are concerned, the length of
each segment being about 1/4 inch, the breadth rather less; sometimes 1
1/2 segments are joined together. The worm is serrated on the one side,
each segment having 1 1/2 cusps. The urine pale, faintly acid at first,
within the last week became almost neutral. There was considerable
vesical irritation for the first week, with abundant mucus in the
urine, specific gravity was 1010; there were no albumin nor tube-casts
nor uric acid in the urinary sediments. Later there were pus-cells and
abundant pus. Tenderness existed behind the prostate and along the
course of left ureter. Temperature of patient oscillated from 97.5
degrees to 103.2 degrees F. There was no history at any time of
recto-vesical fistula. Can anyone suggest the name, etc., of this
helminth?"
Other cases of worms in the bladder are mentioned in Chapter XIII
Mitra speaks of the passage of round-worms through the umbilicus of an
adult; and there is a case mentioned in which round-worms about seven
inches long were voided from the navel of a young child. Borgeois
speaks of a lumbricoid worm found in the biliary passages, and another
in the air passages.
Turnbull has recorded two cases of perforation of the tympanic membrane
from lumbricoides. Dagan speaks of the issue of a lumbricoid from the
external auditory meatus. Laughton reports an instance of lumbricoid in
the nose. Rake speaks of asphyxia from a round-worm. Morland mentions
the ejection of numerous lumbricoid worms from the mouth.
Worms have been found in the heart; and it is quite possible that in
cases of trichinosis, specimens of the trichinae may be discovered
anywhere in the line of cardiac or lymphatic circulation. Quoted by
Fournier, Lapeyronnie has seen worms in the pericardial sac, and also
in the ventricle. There is an old record of a person dying of
intestinal worms, one of which was found in the left ventricle. Castro
and Vidal speak of worms in the aorta. Rake reports a case of sudden
death from round-worm; and Brown has noted a similar instance.
The echinococcus is a tiny cestode which is the factor in the
production of the well-known hydatid cysts which may be found in any
part of the body. Delafield and Prudden report the only instance of
multilocular echinococcus seen in this country. Their patient was a
German who had been in this country five years. There are only about
100 of these cases on record, most of them being in Bavaria and
Switzerland.
The filaria sanguinis hominis is a small worm of the nematode species,
the adult form of which lives in the lymphatics, and either the adult
or the prematurely discharged ova (Manson) block the lymph-channels,
producing the conditions of hematochyluria, elephantiasis, and
lymph-scrotum. The Dracunculus medinensis or Guinea-worm is a
widely-spread parasite in parts of Africa and the West Indies.
According to Osler several cases have occurred in the United States.
Jarvis reports a case in a post-chaplain who had lived at Fortress
Monroe, Va., for thirty years. Van Harlingen's patient, a man of
forty-seven, had never lived out of Philadelphia, so that the worm must
be included among the parasites infesting this country.
In February, 1896, Henry of Philadelphia showed microscopic slides
containing blood which was infested with numbers of living and active
filaria embryos. The blood was taken from a colored woman at the
Woman's Hospital, who developed hematochyluria after labor. Henry
believed that the woman had contracted the disease during her residence
in the Southern States.
Curran gives quite an exhaustive article on the disease called in olden
times "eaten of worms,"--a most loathsome malady. Herod the Great, the
Emperor Galerius, and Philip II of Spain perished from it. In speaking
of the Emperor Galerius, Dean Milman, in his "History of Latin
Christianity," says, "a deep and fetid ulcer preyed on the lower parts
of his body and ate them away into a mass of living corruption."
Gibbon, in his "Decline and Fall," also says that "his (Galerius's)
death was caused by a very painful and lingering disorder. His body,
swelled by an intemperate course of life to an unwieldy corpulence, was
covered with ulcers and devoured by immense swarms of those insects who
have given their names to this most loathsome disease." It is also said
that the African Vandal King, the Arian Huneric, died of the disease.
Antiochus, surnamed the "Madman," was also afflicted with it; and
Josephus makes mention of it as afflicting the body of Herod the Great.
The so-called "King Pym" died of this "morbus pedicularis," but as
prejudice and passion militated against him during his life and after
his death, this fact is probably more rumor than verity. A case is
spoken of by Curran, which was seen by an army-surgeon in a very aged
woman in the remote parts of Ireland, and another in a female in a
dissecting-room in Dublin. The tissues were permeated with lice which
emerged through rents and fissures in the body.
Instances of the larvae of the estrus or the bot-fly in the skin are
not uncommon. In this country Allen removed such larvae from the skin
of the neck, head, and arm of a boy of twelve. Bethune, Delavigne,
Howship, Jacobs, Jannuzzi and others, report similar cases. These
flesh-flies are called creophilae, and the condition they produce is
called myiosis. According to Osler, in parts of Central America, the
eggs of a bot-fly, called the dermatobia, are not infrequently
deposited in the skin, and produce a swelling very like the ordinary
boil. Matas has described a case in which the estrus larvae were found
in the gluteal region. Finlayson of Glasgow has recently reported an
interesting case in a physician who, after protracted constipation and
pain in the back and sides, passed large numbers of the larvae of the
flower-fly, anthomyia canicularis, and there are other instances of
myiosis interna from swallowing the larvae of the common house-fly.
There are forms of nasal disorder caused by larvae, which some native
surgeons in India regard as a chronic and malignant ulceration of the
mucous membranes of the nose and adjacent sinuses in the debilitated
and the scrofulous. Worms lodging in the cribriform plate of the
ethmoid feed on the soft tissues of that region. Eventually their
ravages destroy the olfactory nerves, with subsequent loss of the sense
of smell, and they finally eat away the bridge of the nose. The head of
the victim droops, and he complains of crawling of worms in the
interior of the nose. The eyelids swell so that the patient cannot see,
and a deformity arises which exceeds that produced by syphilis. Lyons
says that it is one of the most loathsome diseases that comes under the
observation of medical men. He describes the disease as "essentially a
scrofulous inflammation of the Schneiderian membrane, ... which finally
attacks the bones." Flies deposit their ova in the nasal discharges,
and from their infection maggots eventually arise. In Sanskrit peenash
signifies disease of the nose, and is the Indian term for the disease
caused by the deposition of larvae in the nose. It is supposed to be
more common in South America than in India.
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