The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1882-10-14
An Ailing Prince.


Prince Leopold is known to suffer from
constitutional weakness, with liability to
hemorrhage-he Of this
malady he has recently had an attack.
Hematophilia ten years ago had noplace
in the College of Physicians ''Nomen-
clature of Diseases" The malady is in
teresUing for several features other than
the tendency to spontaneous hemorr-
hage, or to bleeding from slight trumatic
causes such, for example, as the great
proclivity to painful swelling of the
joints, dependent or not upon injury, the
fact of the morbid condition being in
many cases congenital, and its transmits
sion hereditary to males especially. All
these points have been fully dealt with
by writers, but it may be useful to say a
few words about them again here.
The joint affection was well illus
! trated in case communicated
to the Clinical Society by Sir
William Jenner during his presi-
dency. Sir William. in the course of his
affection in hematophilia as being of
! three vareties-viz., spontaneous
| swelling, with tenderness, and but little
| effusion; large citusion, with or without
hemorrhage; and serious eff'usion simply,
this last being the rarest. The occur
renee of blood in the cavity of the Joint
does not appear always to be related to
traumatism, but the great liability to
severe joint affection following slight
injuries accordS with the similar prone
ness to cutaneous hemorrhage. As to
the nature of this remarkable condition,
everything points to its being dependent
on some congenital defect in the vascular
system, not necessarily inherited, but at
the same time most liable to be trans
mitted by inheritance when once it APP
pears. Such observations as have been
made on the blood do not show much
marked alteration in its constitution.
Sir William Jenner, speaking on the oc-
casiOn to which we refer, seems to have
thought the blood was slow in coagulat-
ing, but this alone cannot explain the
liability of hemOrrhare. Another fact,
also alluded to by Sir William Jenner, is
that the bleedngs occur often when the
patient is most healthy, and he believed
that in these subjects blood is formed
rapidly, and there is atendency to pieth:
ora Of the smaller vessels. The most
important fact of all, however, is that
which concerns heredity in this disease
III its proneness to be transmitted by in
heritance hematophilia occupies fore
most place, and this fact of itself seems
to show that its nature is rather a defect
or abnormality in development than an
actual morbid process. 1t may be hoped
that the present indiSpoStion of the Duke
of Albany is not of serious character, and
that his Royal IIighness viii make q good
recovery; but it is abundantly evident
that the avoidance of any considerable
eXertion must be continued for some
time to come, and the Duke will need to
regard himself as an invalid. The state
of his Royal Highness' health clearly
necessitates more than ordinary caution
in the expenditure of strength. The care
which the Duke of Albany is receiving
from those about him is likely to carry
him through the present trouble, and
such self-reStraint as he must be enioined
to practice vigorously in the future will,
it is hoped, be successful in preserving a
life which, like that of every other mem
Der of the reigning family, is dear to the
heart OF Il loyal people.-Ibe Lancet,