Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1881-08-23
The Southern Theory of fPOtOmae
Marsh Malaria.

Marsh Malaria.
New York Herald,l
DIR. Broadus, of Louisiana, who is
visiting in this city, whose practice as
leading physician in his section COW
ers a period of thirty years, and who
has been long and prominently identi
fed with the management of the How.
ard Association, was asked to-day, in
view of what Information had been
given out as to the pathology of the
case, to what he would ascribe the
present unfavorable condition of the
President. In reply the Doctor said:
II have carefully examined every.
thing bearing on the Presidents case
that has been given to the public.
Much Of my experience as a physician
has been gained in the malarial dis
tricts OF the South, and it has been a
line of my practice to which | have
necessarily been compelled to devote
much thought. More than once it has
been suggested that malarial poisoning
has been a prominent factor in the
causes which have reduced the Presi.
dent to his present condition. Case
after case of Intermittent fever has
occurred in the White House while
he has been lying wounded within the
walls, and the cases have been attrib
uted to fatigue and prostration with
nervous excitement Who can have
been as much fatiguei and Frustrated
aud who can have had as much nerv-
GUS excitement as the President him
self?
why, then, must we entertain the
idea that he has been proof against
this insidious morbifc influence? We
have been informed by the attending
physicians that suppuration is always
accompanied by fever, and that this
fever always comes on in the Afternoon.
This information is sufficient and
we'll tuned for the masses, but it is
not sufficient for the medical men of
the country. Evidently such knowl-
edge did not satisfy the physicians in
attendance, for at different times they
have administered quinia, thus mani
testing an apprehension that there
might be malarial complications. For
what other condition of things could
they have administered this drug in
what is supposed to be anti-periodic
doses?
From this fact it Is evident that
these gentlemen have concluded that
there was no malaria in the case be-
cause the quinia did not put an end to
the fever thus periodically recurring,
aud it would have been natural enough
that this conclusion should obtain but
for one or two things which seem to
have been overlooked. First, as far
as we can learn from printed reports,
whether official or otherwise, the doses
of quinia have beeu altogether too
small to Justify the belief that its use
has proved that there was no malarial
poisoning. Second, admitting that
the quinia was administered for some
other purp )se than to break the pc.
rlodicity of the fever, and that for
weeks the suppurating process was
sufficient to account for the afternoon
access of fever and excerbation of all
the symptoms, has it not been evident
for several days that the regular
march of the fever has been interrupt
ed, and that the President, instead of
being better every morning, his
fever having passed off during the
night, has really been having two
paroxysms of fever every twenty-four
hours?
''If the official bulletins may be
relied upon land we do impligilly rely
upon their truthfuness), it is plain
that the Presidents case has been
complicated with intermittent fever,
latterly if not from the beginning, and
that now the malarial poisoning is
manifesting itself in the form OF
double quotidian, with gastric conges-
ton. If in any one day Of the past
two or three weeks forty or fifty grains
Of quinia have been administered to
the Presidentwithout having produced
decidedly beneficial impression we
may safely admit that there have been
no malarial complications. But with
three grains three times a day the ex
pertinent (for it was an experiment.
has been marriage between homeop-
sthy and allopathy without issue