On ichthyosis, with special reference to the particular forms in which it occurs / [J. Warburton Begbie].

  • Begbie, James Warburton, 1826-1876.
Date:
1882
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On ichthyosis, with special reference to the particular forms in which it occurs / [J. Warburton Begbie]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    13/18 (page 133)
    On admission, slie presents the marked aspect of a diabetic patient —greatly emaciated; skin very dry; much hair of head has fallen, it is now very thin; has double lenticular cataract, evidently symme- trically developed, and, from their colour and bulk, of soft consistence. The amount of urine passed in twenty-four hours varies from 180 to 220 ounces; of density 1036, and highly saccharine. Physical signs of tubercular deposit exist in the apices of both lungs. The chest affec- tion made rapid progress ; signs of extensive softening and excavation in the pulmonary substance on the right side became developed; and the diarrhoea resisted all endeavours to check it. This poor woman died at the close of March. An examination of the body was made within thirty hours after death. Putrefaction had advanced very rapidly; so that a careful examination of the eyes, which Mr. Walker had proposed to make, was defeated. The lungs were the seat of exten- sive tubercular deposition; several cavities existed in the right. The pancreas was small. The subject of this observation is still under my care in the Infirmary. Case 2.—Jane W—, ajt. 37, married, admitted Mai'ch, 1861. Has had four childi-en. Has been suffering from diabetes for nearly eight months. During the last three months her sight has rapidly failed; that of the right eye became earliest affected. For a few weeks she observed that she could see best during the dusk; lately, however, she has lost sight entirely. On admission, is thin and emaciated, with dry skin, constipated bowels, and much thirst. Urine has a density of i'038 to roqo; amount passed has not exceeded, on any occasion, 200 ounces in the twenty-four hours. Trommer’s, the bismuth, and Liquor Potass® tests show the presence of sugar in very characteristic degree. Has double lenticular soft cataract, precisely similar in appearance to that of the former patient. Under treatment this patient has very considerably improved. Her strength has increased, and she has gained weight. The amount of urine is diminished to seventy ounces, and has been as low as fifty-five; the density is now uniformly 1*031. Her thirst is easily controlled. Animal food, gluten bread, Yichy water, a moderate allowance of sugar*, and London porter, have constituted the dietary. Sensible benefit has resulted from the employment of the combined tinctures of the sesqui- chloride o-f iron and nux vomica. By doses of twenty drops of each, administered thrice daily, her thirst has been entirely removed. In both of these cases the development of the cataracts occurred somewhat earlier in the progress of the general disease than has been observed in other instances; still, there can be no hesitation in concluding that the diminution or entire loss of sight dependent on opacity of the crystalline lens, when it does