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blue areola ; conjunctivæ of a pearly white colour ; the pulse was
extremely feeble, and the urine dribbled away. He had lost flesh,
and the muscles were flabby, but a stethoscopic examination of the chest
produced no evidence of pulmonary disease.
It appears, from the statement of his mother, that he began to droop
about four months previously, became tired and inclined to sleep.
Before these symptoms were remarked he was very stout, and a very fresh
colour and clear skin. Two months after the eyes were observed to sink
in his head, the appetite failed, and nausea supervened, which was followed
by vomiting. The skin became yellow, and afterwards bronzified.
The doctors said it was jaundice or liver. The water soon began to dribble,
with wasting of the body and drowsiness. He used to fall asleep, and was
roused with difficulty ; he complained frequently of great pain in the back,
pit of the stomach, and on the clavicles, with extreme feebleness.
The vomiting ceased during the use of effervescing medicine, and the pain
in the back, with the dribbling of water, subsided when he took steel
combined with other tonics. But nothing seemed to relieve his extreme
debility and flabby state of the body, cod-liver oil being tried to no
purpose. At length his feebleness became so urgent that I recommended
him to be placed under the care of
Post-mortem examination.- Body spare, but not wasted, and having
a moderate amount of integumental fat in all parts. It was universally
discoloured, being of a brown hue, and uniformly so, no parts being
unaffected, except the palms of the hands and the soles of the feet.
There was a greater intensity of colour over the backs of hands and feet,
especially over the joints, but there were no defined patches in any part.
There was also a little pigment-deposit on the lips. The colour of the
body was of a light brown, and so universal that, unless the contrary
had been known, the boy might have been looked upon as a native of some
southern climate, or, at all events, as having some dark blood in him.
The body was opened, and no disease was found in any part save the
supra-renal bodies. There were no tubercles in the lungs, nor was there
evidence of scrofulous affection elsewhere. Peyers patches in
small intestine were much raised, and the solitary glands were very
distinct. The supra-renal bodies were both diseased in the usual
manner. They were slightly larger than natural, and were wholly converted
into a tough, yellow, amorphous matter, interspersed with some grayer and
more translucent substance. There was not a trace of the original tissue
to be found, and the change must have been progressing for a very long
period. There was no chalky matter present.
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Case 19.- The following case
1 occurred in the country, in the practice of