68 PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS. [aNNO 1744. 



and it was near the middle of March before the discharge began to abate. In 

 this space of time he coughed up 25 shot ; had frequently hectic heats, and 

 night-sweats ; a quick feverish pulse returned constantly towards evening, with 

 great thirst ; he had lost his appetite, and was greatly emaciateil ; his chief food 

 was milk, and physic the bark. 



In order to give a free passage to the mattei* through the wound, and j^revent 

 the stench from killing him, as the poor boy expressed it, by coming through 

 the mouth, for some time a cannula was kept in the wound; but in less than a 

 fortnight, it was obliged to be left quite out; for though it answered the end of 

 giving the matter a free passage that way, and prevented its coming by the 

 mouth, yet the quantity through the wound increased daily, and his hectic heats 

 became more violent. 



Seeing no prospect of any end to the discharge of matter, it keeping up to its 

 usual quantity for a month or 6 weeks longer, and the poor boy reduced to a 

 mere skeleton, he was determined, if possible, to heal the wound, and commit 

 the event to nature; there not being one favourable symptom to give the least 

 hope of his recovery. 



About the middle of June the wound was quite cicatrized, 2 or 3 exfoliations 

 being cast off from the scapula. His cough still continued with a discharge of 

 the same fetid pus, but in 3 weeks it began to abate; and towards the latter end 

 of July, he had gained flesh, and his cough had left him ; he walked abroad 

 and was, to appearance, quite recovered. But this fair prospect did not last 

 long; for towards the latter end of August, he was called to him in the night 

 and found him supported in the bed, with a half-pint basin in his hand, almost 

 full of the same sort of stinking putrid matter, which he used to cough up : it 

 had been emptied but a quarter of an hour before, so that in less than half an 

 hour he had expectorated a full pint. This cough continued on him 1 6 hours 

 longer ; when, the load of matter being pumped up, he grew much better. 

 Two or three days before this severe attack, he had complained of being faint 

 feverish, and strait at the breast, for which he was bled, &c. In this fit of 

 coughing, he brought up with the pus 14 shot. He had three of these violent 

 returns before the summer was quite over, which reduced him nearly to his former 

 weak state, but discharged no shot. 



In November following, he laid on a caustic to the cicatrix of the wound in 

 his back ; and kept it open with a large bean, to try if a discharge, by way of 

 issue, might divert the matter from coming by the mouth : he had no such vio 

 lent seizures afterwards, but still a hectic cough on him, which expectorated a 

 small quantity of the same fetid pus: the discharge from the issue was pretty con- 

 siderable, and he weathered out the winter tolerably well. 



In March 1739, he became feverish, and complained of a great load and pain 



