Evening star., 1902-03-05
UNDERTAKERS.
BLED TO DEATH UNDER SKIN.
Peculiar Malady Of a Young Man in
Baltimore.

The Baltimore American of today says:
The death Of Mr.. Frank P. l.. Farmer. a
well-known young man of East Baltimore,
which occurred last Friday. has caused
much talk in the medical circles Of this
city. The cause of the young mans death
was what is known as purpura hemor-
rhagia, or hemorrhages which occur under
the skim The disease is rare and txtraor-
dinary in it's progress. Only five cases are
known to have been In this country. in
Guiding the one of young Farmer. His
case was undoubtedly the only one of the
kind ever treated in this city.
According to specialists the disease is
more calculated to affect females than
| males. This however, has not been prov
en- as only two of the five known cases
were those of females 1t is also said that
the disease is usually found among chill
dren. and seldom attacks one in the full
vigOr of life. That, also. seems to be un-
true, only one of the five cases was that
of child. The exact cause of the weak
ening of the tissues, which causes the
hemorrhages is not known and for that
reason the disease-purpura hemorrhasia-
Is still mystery. Only one Of the five
cases brought to light ever recovered. end
in that one the hemorrhages were slight.
The death of Mr.. Farmer was partcu-
larly sad. and his case is said to have been
the worst on record He was young man,
just Of age. Of magnificent physique. meas
uring six feet in height and weighing al
most ITO pounds. He had always enjoyed
the best Of health, never having had a
days illness. In fact the members of the
whole family for generations have been
strong and healthy, and such thing as
hemOrrhage was unknown. The disease
attacked the young man suddenly and it's
progress was swift.
Mr.. Farmer first displayed symptoms Of
illness about two weeks ago, when his nose
bled on several occasions. These he stopped
In l.
Of them Suddenly, one day, without any
apparent reason, blood began to issue from
his gums and then from his ears. The
hemorrhage was only slight at first, and
the young man still put off going to see a
physician. in his light manner as
suring his friends that nothing was wrong.
The first severe attack occurred last Sun
day a week In the haberdaShaTy Of Mr..
Joshua Creamer, Gay and Aisquith streets,
where the young man was employed. That
morning Mr. Creamer went to his store
and met Mr.. Farmer. The two conversed
for quite while when the young man
was seized with another hemorrhage. This
time the blood poured from the ears eyes,
nose and mouth Of the young man. Mr..
Farmer then called upon DR.. Arthur VeGs-
forth. who ordered him to bed Immediately
and began treating the patient.
The physician succeeded in checking the
flow Of the blood and the patient seemed
to be gradually improving. However. on
Tuesday morning following. blue srots.
IdHSulS III Size from d plnnea0 TO q lU-
cent piece. appeared and soon covered the
entire body. DR.. Wegeforth thea called
In Profs. William Osler and w. S. Thayer
Of the Johns Hopkins Hospital COR a con-
sultation. The young man arose from his
bed and visited Professor Thayer's Office
where the examination was made on the
following day. The three physicians as
sured Mr.. Farmer that they would cure
him and he again returned to bed The
following day, Thursday he complained of
dull feeling or numbness in his left arm.
More hemOrrhages followed and he lost a
great deal of blood. Early the following
morning he died.
Dr. Wegeforth said that the paralysis of
the brain was the exact cause Of death.
but that the brain had become paralyzed
from the pressure of blood upon it. The
blue spots were caused by the hemor-
rhages under the skin caused by the burst
ing of the tissues as in the brain. DR..
Wegeforth said that he intended to send
full report of the case to the Medical
Journal as it was no doubt the most sud
den and extreme attack yet known Mr.
Farmer was the son of Mrs. James F.
Farmer, S3S Aisquith street His funeral
took place Monday morning.