Page:Lives of British Physicians.djvu/336

 314 BRITISH PHYSICIANS. this quarter was at an end, but from long lying on his back the flesh upon his loins began to ulce- rate and mortify, and the mortification spread extensively : this is a common occurrence to pa- tients who are long confined to one posture in bed, and as the ulceration arises from pressure, it is not likely to heal while the pressure continues. With a good deal of difficulty I lifted the poor fellow upon his side ; he was sadly wasted about the hips, and lest they should ulcerate too, as soon as he was tired of lying on one side, he was turned on the other. In this way I contrived to keep him from lying upon his ulcerated loins ; it is not easy to conceive, however, the difficulty of keep- ing a person in this situation continually on his side ; he lies very well when first turned upon it, but in a little time the posture gets uneasy, he ceases to support himself, and insensibly he turns into a new position ; a few hours after having placed him completely on his side, you will find him turned almost on his back, without his being aware of it. It required a good deal of care and contrivance to obviate this difficulty, but the difficulty was obviated, all pressure was taken off the sloughing surfaces, and I soon had the pleasure of seeing the wound become florid, healthy, and beginning to heal. But the time was now come for me to leave the hospital, and deliver up all my patients into the hands of an- other attendant. At the end of a fortnight I re- turned to Yarmouth to take ship for Edinburgh, and of course walked down to the hospital to see how Pierre (the poor Frenchman) and my other patients were going on. His eye happened to