| Medical term |
Description |
| Abscess |
A localized collection of pus buried in tissues, organs, or confined, spaces
of the body, often accompanied by swelling andinflammation |
| Accoucheur |
A man who acts as a midwife. |
| Accoucheuse |
A midwife. |
| Acescency |
A tendency to sourness; incipient or slight acidity. |
| Addison's disease |
A disease characterized by severe weakness, low blood pressure, and a
bronzed coloration of the skin, due to decreased secretion of cortisol. |
| Advert |
Used here in the archaic connotation: to turn one's attention toward, to
take heed of, to observe. |
| Ague |
Used to describe the recurring fever and chills of malarial infection |
| Ague-cake |
A form of enlargement of the spleen, resulting from the actionof malaria on
the system. |
| Alvine |
Of or pertaining to the bowels. |
| American Plague |
yellow fever |
| Anasarca |
Generalized massive dropsy. See dropsy. |
| Anile |
Late Middle English: of or like an old woman; imbecile. |
| Aperient |
A laxative medicine or food. |
| Aphonia |
Laryngitis |
| Aphthae |
See thrush. |
| Aphthous stomatitis |
See canker. |
| Apoplexy |
[Late Middle English, through Late Latin from Greek apoplexia] 1 A sudden
loss of sensation and movement due to a disturbance of blood supply to the
brain; a stroke. 2 With specifying word: a haemorrhage or failure of blood
supply in another organ or part. Now rare or obsolete. |
| Ascites |
See dropsy. |
| Asthenia |
See debility. |
| Atrophy of liver |
Any kind of wasting or diminshed function and could be applied to other
organs |
| Avoirdupois |
A system of weights based on a pound (avoirdupois pound) of 16 ounces or
7000 grains. |
| Azote |
Nitrogen. |
| Bad blood |
Syphilis |
| Bilious fever |
A term loosely applied to certain intestinal and malarial fevers. See
typhus. |
| Biliousness |
A complex of symptoms comprising nausea, abdominal discomfort,headache, and
constipation--formerly attributed to excessive secretion of bile from the
liver. |
| Bistoury |
A surgeon's instrument, used in making incisions, of which there are three
sorts; the blade of the first turns like that of a lancet; but the straight
bistoury has the blade fixed in the handle; the crooked bistoury is shaped
like a half moon, having the edge on the inside. [Johnson's Dictionary, 9th
Edition, 1806] |
| Blood poisoning |
Septicemia |
| Boil |
An abscess of skin or painful inflammation of the skin or a hair |
| Brain fever |
See meningitis, typhus. |
| Bright's Disease |
Glomerulonephritis (kidney inflammation) |
| Bronchial asthma |
A disorder of breathing, characterized by spasm of the bronchial tubes of
the lungs, wheezing, and difficulty in breathing air |
| Camp Fever |
Typhus |
| Cancer |
A malignant and invasive growth or tumor. In the nineteenth century,
cancerous tumors tended to ulcerate, grew constantly |
| Cancrum oris |
A severe, destructive, eroding ulcer of the cheek and lip. In he last
century it was seen in delicate, ill-fed, ill-tended children |
| Canine Madness |
Hydrophobia |
| Canker |
An ulcerous sore of the mouth and lips, not considered fatal today. |
| Catalepsy |
seizures/trances |
| Catamenia |
The menstrual discharge. |
| Cataplasm |
Poultice. |
| Catarrh |
Inflammation of a mucous membrane, especially of the air passages |
| Cerate [ |
from cera, Latin, wax] A medicine made of wax, which, with oil, or some
softer substance, makes a consistence softer than a plaster. [Johnson's
Dictionary, 9th Edition, 1806] |
| Chincough |
Whooping cough |
| Chlorosis |
Iron deficiency anemia |
| Choke-damp |
Asphyxiating gas, largely carbon dioxide, accumulated in a mine, well, etc. |
| Cholera |
An acute, infectious disease characterized by profuse diarrhea, |
| Cholera infantum |
A common, noncontagious diarrhea of young children |
| Chorea |
Any of several diseases of the nervous system, characterized by |
| Cicatrized |
Scarred. |
| Climacteric or climacterick |
Pertaining to or constituting a critical period in human life; also had a
medical sense meaning (in females) occurring at or characteristic of
menopause, or (in males) the period when fertility and libido are in
decline. Grand climateric designated the 63rd year of life, supposed to be
especially critical. |
| Close |
Used here in one of the older senses: severe, rigorous, confined, airless,
stifling. |
| Clyster I |
njection, enema. |
| Cocker |
Pamper, indulge, coddle. |
| Colic |
Paroxysmal pain in the abdomen or bowels. Infantile colic is benign |
| Congestion |
An excessive or abnormal accumulation of blood or other fluid |
| Congestive Fever |
malaria |
| Consumption |
A wasting away of the body; formerly applied especially to pulmonary
tuberculosis. |
| Convulsions |
Severe contortion of the body caused by violent, involuntary muscular
contrcations |
| Corals in their hands |
"Red coral was regarded as the proper material for a baby to cut its teeth
on from the Middle Ages until the end of the nineteenth century, when it was
supplanted by hard rubber and then by plastics. A child's teething stick was
often referred to as a coral." Thanks to Susan C. Mitchell for this
information. |
| Corruption |
Infection |
| Coryza |
A cold |
| Costive |
Here meaning constipated; elsewhere may mean reticent, slow, niggardly, etc. |
| Costiveness |
Constipation |
| Cramp Colic |
Appendicitis |
| Cretinism |
Hypothyroidism, congenital |
| Croup |
Hoarse croaking cough associated with inflammation of the larynx and trachea
in children |
| Debility |
Abnormal bodily weakness or feebleness; decay of strength. This |
| Diphtheria |
An acute infectious disease off the upper respuratory tract |
| Distemper |
Used here in the historical sense: Disturbed condition of the body or mind;
ill health, illness; a mental or physical disorder; a disease or ailment. |
| Downy |
Evidently used here in the sense of the old slang phrase To do the downy
i.e. to lie in bed. |
| Dropsy |
A contraction for hydropsy. The presence of abnormally large amounts of
fluid. Congestive heart failure |
| Dysentery |
A term given to a number of disorders marked by inflammation of the
intestines (especially of the colon) |
| Dyspepsia |
Acid indigestion |
| Eclampsia |
A form of toxemia (toxins--or poisons--in the blood) |
| Electuary |
A form of medicine made of conserves and powders, in the consistence of
honey. |
| Embrocate. |
To rub any part diseased with medicinal liquors. [Johnson's Dictionary, 9th
Edition, 1806] |
| Emphysema, pulmonary |
A chronic, irreversible disease of the lungs. |
| Empirics |
Used here with the archaic connotation: a person who practises medicine
without scientific knowledge; a quack; a charlatan. |
| Enteric fever |
See typhoid fever. |
| Epilepsy |
A disorder of the nervous system |
| Esculent |
Fit for food, eatable. |
| Extravasted Blood |
Rupture of the blood vessel |
| Faggot |
Used here in the Middle English sense of a bundle of sticks or twigs tied
together for fuel. |
| Falling Sickness |
Epilepsy |
| Farinaceous |
Consisting of, made of, or characterized by flour or meal. |
| Fatty liver |
Cirrhosis |
| Fatuity |
Used here in the older sense meaning imbecility, dementia. |
| Fecula |
[Latin faecula crust of wine, dim. of faex meaning dregs, sediment] 1
Sediment resulting from infusion of crushed vegetable matter; esp. starch
obtained in this way. 2 Faecal matter of insects or other invertebrates.
Modern usage of feculence and feculent meaning "filth, scum, containing or
of the nature of feces" is derived from the 2nd meaning. |
| Fleam |
An instrument used to bleed cattle, which is placed on the vein, and then
driven by a blow. [Johnson's Dictionary, 9th Edition, 1806] |
| Flus of Humour |
Circulation |
| Flux |
See dysentery. |
| French Pox |
Venereal disease |
| Funk. |
A stink. A low word. [Johnson's Dictionary, 9th Edition, 1806] |
| Furuncle |
See boil. |
| Fustian |
A napped fabric of a mixture of linen and cotton or wool, or a blanket made
of such material. [The New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary] |
| Gamboge |
A gum resin used as a bright yellow pigment and as a purgative; obtained
from various eastern Asian trees of the genus Garcinia. |
| Gangrene |
Death and decay of tissue in a part of the body--usually alimb-- |
| Glandular fever |
Mononucleosis |
| Glareous |
[from glarieux, French] Consisting of viscous transparent matter, like the
white of an egg. [Johnson's Dictionary, 9th Edition, 1806] |
| Gleet |
See catarrh. |
| Gravel |
A disease characterized by small stones which are formed in the kidneys, |
| Green Sickness |
Anemia |
| Griped |
With respect to the bowels: afflicted with spasmodic pain as if by
contraction or constriction. |
| Grippe |
an old term for influenza |
| Handsel |
[Late Middle English] A gift supposedly bringing good luck, given to mark
the beginning of a new year, a new enterprise, the wearing of new clothes,
etc. |
| Hectic fever |
A daily recurring fever with profound sweating, chills, and |
| Hip Gout |
Osteomylitis |
| Hives |
A skin eruption of smooth, slightly elevated areas on the skin which is
redder or paler than the surrounding skin.commonly given cause of death of
children three years andunder Because true hives does not kill, croup was
probably the actual killer |
| Hospital fever |
See typhus. |
| Hydrocephalus |
See dropsy. |
| Hydrothorax |
See dropsy. |
| Icterus |
See jaundice. |
| Inanition |
Exhaustion from lack of nourishment; starvation. |
| Intermittent Fever |
Illness marked by episodes of fever with return to completely normal
temperature; usually malaria. |
| Jail fever |
See typhus. |
| Jaundice |
Yellow discoloration of the skin, whites of the eyes, and mucous |
| Kidney stone |
See gravel. |
| Kings evil |
A popular name for scrofula. The name originated in the time of Edward the
Confessor, with the belief that the disease could be cured by the touch of
the king of England. |
| Kink |
Fit of coughing or choking |
| Lenitive |
Assuasive, emolient. [Johnson's Dictionary, 9th Edition, 1806] |
| Liberty |
Used here in a late Middle English sense: A district controlled by a city
though outside its boundary, or a district within the limits of a county but
exempt from the jurisdiction of the sheriff and having a separate commission
of the peace. |
| Little's Disease |
Spastic diplegia. |
| Lockjaw |
Tetanus, a disease in which the jaws become firmly locked |
| Lues Venera |
Venereal disease |
| Lumbago |
Back pain |
| Lung Fever |
Pneumonia |
| Lung Sickness |
Tuberculosis |
| Malignant fever |
See typhus. |
| Manna |
A gum, or honey-like juice concreted into a solid form, seldom so dry but it
adheres to the fingers: its colour is whitish, or brownish, and it has
sweetness, and with it a sharpness that renders it agreeable: manna is the
product of two different trees, both varieties of the ash: when the heats
are free from rain, these trees exudate a white juice. It is but lately that
the world were convinced of the mistake of manna being an aerial produce, by
covering a tree with sheets in the manna season, and the finding as much
manna on it as on those which were open to the air. [Johnson's Dictionary,
9th Edition, 1806] |
| Marasmus |
Malnutrition occurring in infants and young children. |
| Milk Sick |
poisoning resulting from the drinking of milk produced by a cow who had
eaten a plant known as white snake root |
| Mormal |
gangrene |
| Mortification |
Infection |
| Mostalgia |
Homesickness |
| Neuralgia |
Sharp and paroxysmal pain along the course of a sensory nerve. |
| Open winter |
A winter free from frost; may derive from the fact that ports and harbors
remain open during such a winter because they are not blocked by ice. |
| Operative |
An older usage: concerned with mechanical or manual work. |
| Panada |
Bread boiled in water to a pulp and flavoured. |
| Paristhmitis |
See quinsy. |
| Petechial fever |
See typhus. |
| Phthisic, phthisis |
[From Greek phthisikos through Latin and Old French] 1 Pulmonary
tuberculosis. 2 Any of various lung or throat affections; a severe cough;
asthma. 3 Wasting of the body or pulmonary tuberculosis |
| Phthisis |
See consumption. |
| Physic |
[From Latin physica and Greek phusike through Old French fisique] 1 Natural
science. 2 The art or practice of healing. Medical people collectively. 3
Medical treatment; fig. a healthy practice or habit; a mental, moral, or
spiritual remedy. 4 Medicine; specifically, a cathartic. 5 Medical science;
the physician's art. |
| Pilch |
A triangular piece of (usually waterproof) material worn over a baby's nappy
(diaper). |
| Pin-a-fore |
1 An apron, especially one with a bib, originally pinned to the front of a
dress; a sleeveless wraparound garment tied at the back, worn to protect the
clothes. 2 Historical A collarless sleeveless girl's garment worn over a
dress and fastened at the back. |
| Plague/Black Death |
Bubonic Plague |
| Pleurisy |
Inflammation of the pleura, the lining of the chest cavity. |
| Pneumonia |
Inflammation of the lungs |
| Podagra |
Gout |
| Podagra |
Gout |
| Pomatum |
Hair ointment, pomade. |
| Posture |
Used here in an archaic sense: position relative to that of another;
situation. |
| Pott's disease |
Tuberculosis of the spinal vertebrae |
| Pultaceous |
Semi-fluid, pulpy. |
| Purgings |
As used here, means a violent evacuation of the bowels. |
| Purlieu |
[Probably from Anglo-Norman purale] 1. historical A tract of land on the
border of a forest, esp. one formerly included within the forest boundaries,
and still partly subject to the forest laws. 2 An outlying district of a
city or town, a suburb. Also, a squalid or disreputable street or quarter. 3
The outskirts or surroundings of a place. 4 A place where a person has the
right to range at large; a person's usual haunts, bounds, limits. |
| Putrid Fever |
Dipheria |
| Putrid sore throat |
Ulceration of an acute form, attacking the tonsils |
| Pyrexia |
See dysentery. |
| Quinsy |
[Sometimes also seen as squinacy, squinancy, or variant spelling quinsey]
Pus-filled swelling in the soft palate around the tonsils, usually as a
complication of tonsillitis. |
| Remitting Fever |
Malaria |
| Rennet |
Curdled milk from the abomasum of an unweaned calf or other ruminant,
containing rennin and used in curdling milk for cheese, junket, etc. Also, a
preparation of the inner membrane of the abomasum similarly used, or a plant
or other substitute for animal rennet used to curdle milk, esp. lady's
bedstraw (Galium verum). |
| Saginate |
Fatten an animal for food. |
| Sago |
Starch prepared from the pith of several palms and cycads, used as an
article of food. |
| Salep |
A starchy preparation of the dried tubers of various orchids, esp. of the
genus Orchis, used in cookery and formerly as a tonic. |
| Sanguinous Crust |
Scab |
| Sapid |
[ L. sapidus ] 1 Of food etc.: having a distinct (esp. pleasant) taste or
flavour, savoury, palatable. 2 Of talk, writing, etc.: agreeable, mentally
stimulating. |
| Scarlatina |
Scarlet fever. A contagious disease. |
| Scarlet Fever |
Acute infectious fever caused by haemolytic streptococcus infection in the
throat |
| Scirrhus |
A large, hard, and painless swelling. Apparently refers in this case to a
carcinoma of the stomach. The closely related word scirrhous was used to
refer to a growth, often a carcinoma, that was hard and strong due to dense
fibrous tissue. |
| Scofula |
Tubercular infection of lymph glands in throat |
| Septic |
Infected, a condition of local or generalized invasion of the body |
| Ship's Fever |
Typhus |
| Softening Of The Brain |
cerebral hemorrhage/stroke |
| Spotted fever |
Rickettsial fever; typhus. |
| Spotted fever |
See typhus. |
| St. Anthony's Fire |
Erysipelas, or inflammation of the skin due to ergot poisoning. |
| Strangery |
Rupture |
| Summer Complaint |
Infant diarrhea caused by spoiled milk |
| Suppuration |
The production of pus. |
| Testaceous |
Consisting of shells; composed of shells. [Johnson's Dictionary, 9th
Edition, 1806] |
| Testaceous powders |
Medicinal powders prepared from the shells of animals. |
| Tetanus |
An infectious, often-fatal disease caused by a specific bacterium |
| Thrush |
A disease characterized by whitish spots and ulcers on the membranes of the
mouth, tongue, and fauces caused by a parasitic fungus. |
| Tire-woman |
A woman [whose] whole business is to make is to make dresses for the head.
[Johnson's Dictionary, 9th Edition, 1806] |
| Tormina |
Acute wringing pains in the abdomen; colic, gripes. |
| Toxemia of pregnancy |
Eclampsia (high blood pressure & seizures) |
| Trismus nascentium or neonatorum |
A form of tetanus seen only in infants, |
| Tumid |
Especially of a part of the body: swollen, inflated, protuberant, bulging. |
| Typhoid fever |
An infectious, often-fatal disease, usually occurring in the |
| Typhus |
An acute, infectious disease transmitted by lice and fleas. The |
| Valetudinary |
Tendency to be in poor health or to be overly concerned about one's health. |
| Variola |
smallpox |
| Venesection |
Bleeding |
| Vitriol |
As used here probably refers to sulphuric acid; also used for any of the
various sulphates of metallic elements. |
| Winter Fever |
pneumonia |
| Yellow fever |
An acute, often-fatal, infectious disease of warm climates--caused by a
virus transmitted by mosquitoes |