Middletown transcript., 1875-07-24
For he Transevsps.
Scarlet Fever.

MN. EDlTOh a lew WOruS from me
through the medium Of your paper, pro
/ badly will not be amiss. Our Tranquil
little town has been thrown into undu,
excitement BY the appearance Of scarle
fever within the past TIVE or three weeks
which has led people to talk, and tall
they will |! and their ideas are as various
Is the colors Of the rainbow and as num-
erous az the stars Of Heaven
Having been connected with these
tv&cases. Of which I shall speak, which
have caused this itumultuous outcry, and
which has been the source Of different
notions advanced, new ideas springing
up, and which has allowed them an ep-
portunity Of passing their opinions and
rendering their diagnosis according to
their own views, based upon hearssy,
and not upon things seen. A word or
two then, IN the way Of elucidation, will
not. think. be common place. The
prevailing idea; as I.undestrand, in con-
nection with the cases, and that which
SO engrossea the minds Of the people. is
that these two boys died from being
poisoned BY Paris green. Where this
idea originated, can't tell. for / have
asked Mr.. A. and be says Mrs. b. told
him; ask Mrs. B. and she heard it
from Mr.. sC and Mr.. Somebody told
Mr.. G. /; and to End ont who this Mr..
Somebody i. forms one Of those nm
searchable and impenetrable mysteries
Of life that would make Zsnocrates or
Aristotle awoon under the attempt. I
will briefly take up the two cases and
mention. each in turn, the symptoms
that actually did occur, and then pass
my opinion upon tho casualties ip con-
nection witthe rqmared report.
Case l. Harry O., aged 6, previous
health good, Was taken on June 30th
with vomiting. slight sore throat and
feves; the next day the throat symp-
toms and fever had greatly increased,
the pulse was high but weak very
characteristic of the complaint. the
tongue coated whitish- brown. delirium
had set in and, at the expiration of the
day, a red rash made its appearance on
the neck, which spread gradually over
the rest Of the body. As the disease
advanced the eruption assumed pur-
plish hue, the delirium ran high, the
auginose or throat symptoms became
greatly augmented. the whitish- brown
coating Of the tongue gradually cleared
Of. leaving the tongue dark-red, which
finally turned purple, then black the
glands Of the neck became enormously
enlarged. the MUCOUS membrane Of the
throat highly ipaamed, and lastly gan
creme and sloughiug took place, and
then the little sufferer entered into
another world. When We take these
symptoms aud carefully compare them
with our pathology, We see at onoe, that
it is clearly well-marked and we'll
defined case 81 malignant scarlet fever.
And to be more sure. We take into &C.
count that there is at this time an cpl
demic Of the same disease prevailing all
down this peninsula and in our neigh
boring towns Ifthls q not 4 oass Of
scarlet fever. then / say our pathology
IS nothing but subtle mass Of unrelia-
bio material. that should be collected
into bon6re heaps and burned ss .
stigma upon the efforts and, endeavors
u scientific pathologists. not only Of
he present day but also Of the days of
y0re. Sas @eTssE yzsE sse 15asss
Case 2 Tommy c., aged 8, weak
delicate constitution, was taken while
,is brother was still corpse in the
house on Sunday morning, July 4th.
With severe vomiting, said bis throat
,urt him. and within an hour from the
line he was taken, was lying unoon-
cisus On the settee; fever set in. head
extremely hot, delirious; this condition
asted until o p. NJ. when conyulsions
made their appearance. which ceased for
70 hour Or two, but be was quite delirious
o the meantime. About IL p. NJ.
hey set in again and continued until
IL ceased shopt 4 o'clock next morning.
he tongue yas slightly coated ip tie
entire. tho edge and tip quite red at
rst. but during the night turned black.
BE- pulse Vas the same as 10 the other
ase, high bat weak. and the throat In
amsd about 8 o'clock next morning
pufpleish rash began to make its ap-
earanoe an tha neck and shonldafaT1
lhieh remained upon the surface; an
our lstcr and life vas gone.