Lincoln Grandchildren & G-Grandchildren

[Eva Elisabeth]

Roger, there were no antibiotics in those days, and an infected wound, depending on the causative agent or the size, would easily resist healing, especially when the immune system was weakened (and the infection respectively toxics produced by the causative agents would add to the weakening, a circulus vitiosus, so to speak). Toxics can, and non-Hodgkin lymphoma (if Jack suffered from this, which I doubt) does cause thrombopenia (lack of thrombocytes). Thrombocytes are essential for wound healing.

This is the medical description (case history) summarized:

In summer 1889, at age sixteen, Jack felt something strange under his arm, an accumulation of boils formed into a nasty cluster - a carbuncle. It was a staphs infection...at first it was a mild irritant, of 'little consequence'.
It should have cleared up in a week or two, but kept growing. French doctors determined that surgery was necessary, which took place November 6.
Surgical incision was made from underarm to elbow to allow the infection to drain. Healing was expected to take a week.

11 days later [Nov. 17?], Jack continued to improve slowly, suffering a slight fever up to 102 F.

On Nov. 28 the doc thinks Jack will be able to begin sitting up out of bed in 4 or 5 days.

Ten days before Christmas, although the fever almost down to normal, Jack seemed to deteriorate, had no desire to get out of bed and couldn't even sit up. The wound refused to heal.

On Jan. 13 Jack was "slipping", having been feverish and coughing the previous night. Another ganglion had materialized on his arm. French physicians cut it away again.

On Jan. 17 Jack was transferred to England, which took 36 hours. There was no evidence of sepsis or pneumonia.

One week later on the edge of death from blood poisoning. The carbuncle had burrowed a channel into Jack's blood system, spiking his fever. His pulse grew weaker, his breathing became labored, a "pleuritic effusion" was diagnosed on the left lung.
The open wound would not heal.
On February 27, a last operation was conducted to remove tissue.
Jack died on March 3.


Lachmann respectively his sources claim a straphs infection. I would like to hear Dr. Steers' or Dr. Houmes' opinion on this.

Carbuncles caused by straphs are usually painful and filled with pus. (If Jack's carbuncle was filled with pus or painful I am sure it would have been mentioned.) Even without antibiotics they are likely to heal when opened using an aseptic instrument (according to Lachmann's sources the French physician did use such) to let the pus out.

Carbuncles caused by anthrax would not cause pain but any opening is contraindicated as pretty certain to cause blood poisoning.

Quoted from Wiki (plus additions):

Cutaneous anthrax, also known as Hide porter's disease, is the cutaneous (on the skin) manifestation of anthrax infection in humans. It presents as a boil-like skin lesion that eventually forms an ulcer with a black center (eschar) [and in German we still call this a Milzbrandkarbunkel = anthrax carbuncle]. The black eschar often shows up as a large, painless necrotic ulcer (beginning as an IRRITATING and itchy skin lesion or blister that is dark and usually concentrated as a black dot, somewhat resembling bread mold [really does look UGLY!!!]) at the site of infection . Unlike bruises or most other lesions, cutaneous anthrax infections normally do not cause pain.

Cutaneous anthrax is typically caused when B. anthracis spores enter through cuts on the skin. This form is found most commonly when humans handle infected animals and/or animal products.

Cutaneous anthrax is rarely fatal if treated [with antibiotics!!!], because the infection area is limited to the skin, preventing the lethal factor, edema factor, and protective antigen from entering and destroying a vital organ. Without treatment, about 20% of cutaneous skin infection cases progress to toxemia [respectively sepsis, which is the immune system response], and death. Sepsis goes along with severe disturbances of temperature, respiration, heart rate or white blood cell count, and may result in multiple organ dysfunction syndrome or septic shock.