Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1878-09-28
A CAR ID.

To The Editor Of The Chronicle:
DEAR SIR-In reference to the case of Mrs.
Dudley, an account of whose death you in
Guided in your editorial of last week on
sickness at st. Bethlehem" and in which
connection you introduce my name, think
it unfortunate that you did not adhere to the
course adopted by you in the Erin cases. In
these instances you thought and declared
that it would be presumption in you to make
a diagnosis adverse to that of a visiting ply
stefan, in the disease of which any person
had died, whom you did not see during the
sickness, and where you were denied any
post norton revelations. But you do this
very thing in the case under review, and
that too in way that could not aid your
purpose in allaying excitement about yellow
fever, for you say in the same article that
sfevers with symptoms analogous to yellow
fever hare occurred there.
Your stock of heart disease breaks down
too soon; you should have had supply for
all the cases, for when it was admitted that
others in the neighborhOOd died of fever
with symptoms analogous to yellow fever,
there was no reason left you for devoting
the greater part of your article to the effort
of writing Mrs. d. out of the list. What
avaiIed it? You admit the chill and three
DAYS fever, followed by prostration. know
that you do not regard these as tending to
prove your position, but suppose it were adj
mitted (which it is not that she died of
heart disease, do you expect your readers to
believe that apart from that disease she was
not sick at all? But, in truth, you sat down
in YOUR Office and attempted to tell your
readers what was the matter with lady
already dead several days, and whom you
never saw. Taking this view of the case,
medical men may not be surprised, but they
will smile at a grave attempt to base an ar
gument in proof of the existence of heart
disease on the fact and because, for sooth,
the patient had yellow skin of a few days
standing.
lido not believe that Mrs ID. died of organic
| disease of the heart, or that she was the sub
iect of organic heart affection. 1 heard the
heart sounds and 1 got no evidence of it.
Her attending physician, after being with
her throughout her sickness, did not suspect
| it during life. The manner of her death
does not prove it, nor have 1 been able to
| gather any facts in her history which satisfy
me that she was for "some years subject
| to attacks of heart disease" Possibly you
| have succeeded better; think, therefore, in
| common fairness that you should give the
/ public, to whom you have introduced my
| statement, seemingly for no other purpose
| than to cOntrovert it, the evidence of the
fact that the lady was the subject of heart
| disease, and died in consequence, If the
| public take any interest in the fact, it may
be well to add that am not responsible foT
| the diagnosis of yellow fever at st. Bethle=
| hem, have not so stated the case and only
| claim in the case of Mrs. d. that her sickness
| was in accord with the description given by
Dr.. Sypert of the Others. Very Respectfully,
| w. T. MCREYNOLDS.
We have but few remarks to
make in reference to the above letter
and shall restrict those few to the
| two points in regard to which DIR.
McReynolds considers himself per-