| Administrative History | McGrigor was appointed inspector-general of hospitals in August 1809 and in June 1811 was given the sinecure position of physician to the garrison at Portsmouth. |
| Description | 'Dissection reports and cases of disease, Spring quarter 1811'.
At the front of the volume a table, partially folded, is included entitled: 'State of the Admissions and Deaths in the Troops in the Severn and Southwest Districts from Feb 10th to May 5th 1811'. This lists the prevailing diseases and the causes of death in each regiment.
Pages 1-12 contain brief notes on individual cases, with the name, regiment, admission date, the cause and date of death and the results of the postmortem examination recorded. The page reference for the full dissection report provided later in the volume is also provided. These detailed reports, inserted into the volume, record the condition of patients during their time in hospital, the treatment administered to them, the results of the postmortem examination and sometimes if any operations were performed. The signature of the surgeon responsible for carrying out the examination is provided at the end of each report.
The volume also includes copies of letters relating to individual cases: a letter written by Assistant Surgeon Thomas Marsh addressed to the Sussex Militia in March 1811 (p.35) notes that he cannot offer detailed remarks regarding a case of phthisis 'as the nature of the district order requires' due to the 'incorrectness that had hitherto prevailed in keeping the Diary of the Hospital'. There follows an account of this case in which he notes the patient's progress and condition and offers brief remarks on the postmortem examination carried out.
On page 39 an account, undated and unsigned, is provided of the case of a Private in the 11th Regiment of Light Dragoons suffering from an aneurism. There is also a copy of a note from a Mr. Bulloch, dated 7 March 1811, stating that he was not granted leave by General Ackland to go to London until the following Monday. He hopes that Mrs McGrigor is 'perfectly recovered'.
At the end of the volume are notes on the progress and treatment of two patients in the 16th Regiment Light Dragoons, both of whom were treated successfully, and notes on a case of hydrothorax. There is also a letter, addressed to Dr. McGrigor, Inspector of Army Hospitals, Portsmouth from Dr. Robert Greig, Dorchester Depot Hospital, dated 2 May 1811. He sends a detail of the case of enteritis 'copied from the Register Books' as requested by McGrigor and also sends a report on a case of pneumonia 'which seems to me worthy of notice as affording an illustration of the good effects of Digitalis in the advanced stage of that disease…'. He comments on a case of phthisis: no dissection was carried out as the hospital is full and they do not have a dead house or dissecting room; the commanding officer of the 11th Light Dragoons was also averse to it taking place. He also describes a post-mortem examination carried out on the quarter-master and refers to travelling expenses and journey to inspect men from the Dorset Militia in Weymouth. He notes that the hospital has only 24 night capes and asks if McGrigor will sanction the purchase of two dozen more at the cost of about 20 shillings.
Various other papers have been gathered at the back of the volume including: an abstract of the cases of hydrargyria, varicella [chicken pox], and urticaria reported in the hospital of the Royal Glamorgan Militia, 10 May 1811; a report on cases of catarrh and pneumonia; a report of cases of ophthalmia, sent to McGrigor at Portsmouth, 17 May 1811, by Surgeon McNab, occurring in the Royal East Middlesex Militia from 3 March-6 April 1811 (also includes table showing the number of men admitted into hospital with the companies they belonged to and a report by John Ollive, Assistant Surgeon, regarding a case of ophthalmia 'in which the juice of the eye root was used'); a statement regarding cases of ophthalmia in the Sussex Regiment of Militia sent by Milward Rogers, Assistant Surgeon, May 1811 (on the reverse is a table showing the numbers of cases admitted from 20 April-18 May (280 in total)); a return of the sick admitted to Hilsea Hospital from 12 February-5 May 1811 (notes occurrances of different types of disease and provides details of patients who had died; signed by R. Radford, Surgeon to the Forces).
There are also extracts of orders [assumed copied by McGrigor]. The first is a general order dated 23 October 1810 stating the displeasure of the Commander of the Forces regarding the discrepancy in the numbers of men reported as sick in the General Hospital by their regiments with the number reported by the medical officers: '2. The former at present is more than double the latter and it must be owing to some existing abuse'. It also refers to reports of non-commissioned officers and soldiers on the streets of Belam and Lisbon 'quite recovered while others are doing the duty of these men before the enemy in the field'. A number of regulations are listed in an attempt to stop this from happening again. A departmental order dated Lisbon, 25 October 1810, requires officers of the medical department to be on the wards of the hospitals at all times except when they are treating sick and wounded officers. Another order, dated Lisbon, 15 October 1810, commends Bolton, the Deputy Inspector of Hospitals, and the medical officers in charge of the different General Hospital establishments in Lisbon for the way they have carried out their duties. |