A medical case book: Leeds, 1781-84.

THIS paper is based on a manuscript notebook of 281 pages, dated 1781-84, of case histories of 122 patients treated as inand out-patients at the General Infirmary at Leeds. Patients came from all over Yorkshire, and a few from Lancashire and Lincolnshire, particularly to consult Mr William Hey, FRS, senior surgeon to the Infirmary from 1773 to 1812. Patronage tickets were required. The notebook was discovered at the Liverpool Medical Institution by its archivist, Mr John A. Shepherd, FRCS, who kindly sent me a photostat copy. The Council of the Institution has given permission for publication of extracts, for which I am grateful. How the notebook reached Liverpool is not known. The notes must have been made by the apothecary (resident medical officer) at the time he examined the patients. They do not include all the patients treated during the period, and are, presumably, those of patients of interest to the author. At the relevant time, the apothecary was James Peacocke, who held the appointment from August 1781 to September 1785, when he was in practice at Driffield, Yorks.' The physicians at the Infirmary during this period were William Hird (1728-82), James Crowther (appointed 1782), William Fearne (appointed 1779), Robert Davison (1745-1810), and Joshua Walker (1746-1817). The surgeons were William Hey (1736-1819), James Lucas (1744-1814), Thomas Jones (1740-1803), and Patrick Strother (appointed 1783). Eighteenth-century clinical records are rare, and those in this notebook are unusually full. The diagnoses of the illnesses of the 122 patients recorded are shown in Table 1. The ten case histories that follow were chosen purely for their interest and variety. Many more warranted inclusion, but space prevents it. Spelling and punctuation are exactly as in the original.