Observations on spasmodic cholera : its origin, nature, and treatment : with remarks on epidemic diseases generally / by Henry M'Cormac.

Date:
1832
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Observations on spasmodic cholera : its origin, nature, and treatment : with remarks on epidemic diseases generally / by Henry M'Cormac. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

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    ters, and from individuals of scientific correctness and unim- peachable veracity.* Nor did I myself yield my conviction on the subject, till the number and the urgency of the in- stances which 1 witnessed, seemed to leave no room for further hesitation.—There is no lack of negative evidence on the sub- ject, but this at best is of an ambiguous nature; for if there have been individuals who have secluded themselves, and have not taken the disease, so the instances are infinitely more numerous where there was the fullest exposure, without any ill consequences arising. To be sure, when a great number have escaped who were confined together, it seems to exalt * The earliest case of Cholera in Belfast, was that of a person who had ar- rived from Glasgow; the particulars which I witnessed myself, are fully stated in the Report of the Board of Health. Instance after instance has occurred to my own knowledge, wherein persons contracted the disease after coming in contact with those who had it. In the numerous list of English and French publications which I have consulted, and to the authors of which, I ac- knowledge my obligations in general terms, numerous cases of the transmission of the disease from person to person are given. These are too numerous to quote; but I refer the reader to Orton, Hawkins, Kennedy, Hancock, the Lancet, the Edinburgh Medical Journal, the Foreign Quarterly, the Westminster, and many others. Mr. Bell, and the conductors of many of our excellent periodicals, question the point of contagion. It is truly remarkable how such a difference of opinion can exist upon this subject.—I have seen many who were attacked, after washing the remains of their friends, or visiting their relatives in the hospitals. The woman who washed the remains of a gentleman in Belfast, (Mr. H., who died of Cholera,) came into the Hospital in collapse, and died. A man came to Belfast from Dromore; while in Belfast, he helped a Cholera patient into the vehicle used to convey the sick to the hospital; he then returned to Dromore, and died within twenty-four hours, of Cholera. His daughter, who attended him in his last moments, contracted Cholera herself, but recovered. These were the first cases in Dromore; the girl had not left home. This was related to me by an eye-witness of the events, a clergyman in Dromore, whose word is perfect authority. The first case in Portaferry was that of a man who came sick from Liverpool, by the steam-boat: he died in Portaferry. After his death, a friend performed some of the last offices to his remains. This friend was servant-man to a gentleman in Portaferry: the gentleman took the disease, but recovered. A most respectable practitioner, who attended the gentleman, related this to me. In the Cholera Hospital of Belfast, all the servants have been ill, some of them for the second or third time. One nurse narrowly es- caped dying, as she fell into collapse. The man who drove the Cholera carriage, fell into collapse and died in a few hours: he had not reported his case early.— One of the apothecaries had a smart attack, but recovered. I had the premoni- tory symptoms, with acute pains in my stomach, and faintishness, which I subdued by the timely use of medicine. In the hospital in Ballymacarrett, (a suburb of Belfast) the first physician appointed took Cholera and died: circumstances prevented me from seeing this unfortunate gentleman, who was of a delicate constitution, and, moreover, did not attend to his case early.— He did not believe in contagion; and, I was told, that when pressed with fa- tigue, he sometimes slept on beds which had been occupied by patients. Indeed, he had been known to yield his own bed to them. His successor also took ill, and recovered after the most energetic medication. These facts are known to all here, and they are only a part of those which have come to my knowledge.—The season is calm and beautiful, and the air pure: how can we suppose that any possible variation now existing in it, could, in this country produce such an epidemic? If it were so, why are not people attacked in the country—why are the attacks not simultaneous? Paris, where the disease broke out so rapidly, is a consummation of filth ; and the people have incessant inter- course in their theatres, cafis, gardens, lieux publiques, &c. I am of opinion that no case of Cholera has occurred in Europe, and I may now add America, which was not the exclusive result of contagion.