| Administrative History | McGrigor was stationed at Hailsham, Sussex with the 88th regiment during the winter of 1803-1804, transferring to the Horse Guards Blue in February 1804. |
| Description | Description of medical cases in the 88th regiment [on the title page it states that this is volume 27 or volume 2 for 1804]. Contains daily remarks noting the progress of, and treatment administered to, individual patients. Weekly remarks are also included throughout the volume, although there are many blank pages where weekly remarks should have been entered, for example 12-18 February (p.55).
Begins with weekly remarks for the 22-28 January: the condition of the sick is still very favourable and they have dismissed many more patients than they have admitted; discusses weather conditions; the cases of pneumonia have all done well: notes successful use of antiphlogistic regimen in one mild case; discusses cases of dysentery, diarrhea, catarrh and rheumatism; with the latter a tonic treatment was tried but the sudinfic and lowering system brought great relief to both patients; both the intermittent cases have done well following the use of the bark; they have admitted one case of continued fever with many low symptoms and some pneumonic affection; notes that the 'punished men' still recover very slowly for reasons they do not know; notes venereal cases and treatment of oxy-mur[iate] _ , 'acid nitrus' and nitric baths administered.
29 January-4 February (pp.19-22): notes variable weather conditions for the week; the report for this period is very favourable: no patients have died and none are in immediate danger; 'the chief diseases admitted into the hospital have been of the Catarrhal and Pneumonic kind with a few complaints of the bowels which in general have yielded to the common mode of practice'; discusses number of cases, including: Brooks, a case of inflammatory diathesis requiring the repeated abstraction of blood and adherence to the antiphlogistic regimen…; Curley, suffering from a hard dry cough attended with great difficulty of expectoration…; Brannagan, a case of dysentery, is noted 'likely to prove very troublesome' for although his symptoms yielded to the use of mercury and opium, and his stools are nearly of a natural consistency, he still discharges a quantity of pure blood with them; Monroe, the symptoms of [secondary?] lues are disappearing fast with the use of nitric acid, which the patient took largely diluted and by the bath.
5-11 February (pp.39-41): the most prevalent complaints have been diseases of the chest and the bowels with a few cases of 'itch'. Comments on weather and specific cases including: Jones: 'the pain of his right knee has been remarkably acute so that laterally he has been unable to turn it in bed; it seems considerably swelled'; Monroe, Harrington and Norman are under the nitric treatment and seem to mend very fast: 'a considerable ptyalism is induced in the two former'; but none of the usual bad symptoms arising from the use of mercury or _ have been observed apart from a slight soreness, swelling and tenderness of the [limbs?]. Also comments on cases of ulcers, several of which seem to do badly, Grimes' ulcer remaining in the same state for 6 weeks, the bottom of it covered with a dark red slough.
[Weekly remarks are not entered again until the week ending 31 March.]
Week ending 31 March
The most prevalent diseases have been fevers of the intermittent and typhoid type, cases of _ and pneumonia and a considerable number of cases of ophthalmia; discusses patient named Fisher, a case of Pneumonia Typhoidi, noting that symptoms of typhus began to appear on the 4th day after admission; describes condition of patient, progress, diet and medicines prescribed.
Week ending 7th April
Continues with report of Fisher's case and post-mortem examination.
An index at the end of the volume has been written over with daily remarks on patients. |