Notes on the medical topography of the interior of Ceylon : and on the health of the troops employed in the Kandyan Provinces, during the years 1815, 1816, 1817, 1818, 1819, and 1820 ; with brief remarks on the prevailing diseases / by Henry Marshall.

Date:
1821
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Notes on the medical topography of the interior of Ceylon : and on the health of the troops employed in the Kandyan Provinces, during the years 1815, 1816, 1817, 1818, 1819, and 1820 ; with brief remarks on the prevailing diseases / by Henry Marshall. 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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    enderaial. An inhabitant of Galle had, at regular intervals, the febrile paroxysm, and a concomitant effusion in one of his legs. He changed his place of abode from Galle to Jafna, where he re- sided about a year. While at Jafna he had not a single paroxysm of the disease. At the termination of the above period he returned to Galle, and had the usual febrile paroxysm in a few days after his amval. Elephantiasis attacks females as well as males. It seems to be as prevalent among the wealthy as it is among the poor and in- digent. The health and agility of patients labouring under this disease are, for a long period, little alFected, except during the febrile paroxysm. When the swelling is large and situated towards the ankle, the active motions of the limb become greatly retarded. In consequence of the friction of the horny or pendulous protube- rances upon other parts of the leg, exulceration occurs, followed by ill-conditioned sores. Life now becomes miserable, and the health suffers. The extent to which the leg enlarges in some cases is almost beyond beUef. I recollect being requested to visit a young woman whose mferior extremities were so enormously en- larged, that the back part of each leg projected beyond the heel, and rested upon the ground for about nine or ten inches. The fissures between the protuberances had ulcerated, and discharged an extremely offensive sanies.