Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1861-01-11
Dfptheria.

Inc 5rea5 HumDGr o. cases Oh aIptueFia III
all parts of the country, and the alarming
fatality attending the disease, make any
thing pertaining to it Of moro than ordinary
interest. Below We give an article, prepa-
red by a physician Of Delaware County,
Pennsylvania, designed more particularly
for the benefit Of medical practitioners, as it
regards certain facts disclosed by the post
naorten examination Of case which occur
red in the winters practice. The article,
however. will be found of general interest
Il is as follows:
This disease, which. for the last four or
FIVE years, has been making its way vest
ward, has appeared in various localities
through this county, and by its fatality has
caused considerable alarm in the public
mind. It is characterized by the formation
Of a membranous emulation, covering the
throat and roof of the mouth more or less
completely, and in some cases extending into
the windpipe, causing death, as in Group, by
sufocation. It is not identical with form
Of throat disease which has occasionally pre-
vailed in different parts Of the country, and
which has been variously designated as ma
llgnant sore throat, black tongue, &c. The
tendency in this form of disease is to rapid
death, or gangrene Of the parts affected; and
it lacks wholly the membranous emulation
which is the peculiar feature Of diptheria.
The disease is not altogether new. Seve-
raj epidemics have been described in which
this peculiar emulation was observed, and
physicians in every country have OCCASION
ally met with cases Of throat disease accom-
panied by membranous oxidation, bat
lacking altogether the fatal tendency that
has marked this epidemic visitation Of the
disease The danger from the extension Of
the exudation IN the windpipe has been re-
ferred to. This undoubtedly IN some cases
is the direct cause of death, but very many
cases prove fatal in which there is no affec-
ton Of the windpipe and no material OBJ
struction to the respiration. Death has been
supposed to result, Ia such cases, from the
terribly depressing effect of the disease upon
the nervous centers. Perhaps large ma
iority CT the fatal cases have been Of this
character, and until the interesting fact de-
veioped by a case that occurred In the fami-
ly Of Mr.. Rodman Prichett, Of Hast Goshen,
but little has been brought out to satisfy
the minds Of intelligent physicians as 10 the
precise cause ofdeatl in those cases in which
the difficulty about the throat is insufficient
to account for the result. Ia Mr. Prichett's
family the disease first appeared in June last,
aud at that time counted its two Victims
Last week it again appeared and added two
more to the list. In none Of these did the
exudation extend to the windpipe. nor was
there an amount Of disease Of tI.s throat to
explain the result.
The attending physicians finding them~
selves baffled in their efforts to arrest the "a
tai tendency, sought, in the last case. and
readily obtained the privilege Of making
post-aaoyteno examination, which developed
the fact that in the cavities of the heart there
had been formed a mass Of firm leathery
consistency and more or less adherence % the
cavities in the lining of the heart Much
the larger amount was found in the-right
side Of the heart, forming, when rolled to-
gether, a mass nearly an inch in diameter
The adhesion to the walls Of the heart in
some parts were SO firm as to render it i'm
possible to separate it without leaving par
ticles still attached 1t is true that gelati-
nous mass is often found in the heart, form
ed by its contracting upon the coagulated
fbrin of the blood, during the last moments
of existence; but the leathery character Of
the mass removed, and the frmness Of the
adhesion, preclude such theory Of its for
nation. A more rational explanation is
found in the altered condition Of the fbrin
of the blood, which is the remarkable fea-
ture of the disease.
The existence Of such mass would ac-
count, not only for the rapidly fatal termi-
nation, but also for the existence of an ex-
tremely feeble pulse in connection with a
violent, tumultuous action of the heart, as
is so often observed IN fatal cases Of this dis
ease. Should this condition be confirmed
by subsequent examinations, great practical
good may result in directing the attention of
physicians to another source of danger than
the local disease Of the throat, and lead them
by early and decisive measures to counter
act more successfully the blood-vce, upon
which the disease depends. One other point
may be worthy of notice, as calculated to do
away with unnecessary anxiety upon being
brought in contact with cases Of diptherla.
1t seems to be purely and simply an epide
mic disease, dependent upon cause or eau
ses existent in the atmosphere, and that it
will select localities and individuals that
have most affinity for it, without reference
to direct exposure to the disease.