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Your Patient Mr Brisbane
died about a week ago. The water had
continued encreasing from the time he
was in Edinburgh. Tho slower than for¬
merly which he attributed to the effects of
the Colchicum. As his bulk was very
inconvenient to him & to give the medicines
a better opportunity of acting he was tapped
& tho he had been three weeks longer
between this & the former operation than
between any of the preceeding ones the
quantity of water was rather less.
He bore the tapping very well & recovered
from it as usual, about ten days after
it he was exposed to cold, which brought
on a cough & Asthma which very soon
proved fatal. I had an opportunity
of opening of the Body. The Spleen was

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very much enlarged, to five or six times
its natural size, its substance did not
differ much in its appearance from that
of a healthy spleen, it was no where hard
or schirrous. The liver was Diseased tho
not enlarged, the kidneys were apparently
free from disease, tho rather small
the other viscera were all in a tolerably
healthy state. There was no water in
the chest, the lungs were loaded with
blood, but without any tubercles.
From the dissection the impossibility of
reducing the Spleen & removing the Dropsy
seemed evident, as it was rather overgrown
than in a really diseased state. As Mr Bris¬
bane has left a considerable fortune, if
you have any claim upon him, you
will be so kind as write ↑me↑ & I shall lay
it before the trustees who are to manage
his affairs for his heir. My Father has
not gained any ground since I wrote
you, he is very weak & almost entirely
confined to bed. For some time past
he has been free of the restlesness that
so much distressed him. The opiate he
now finds absolutely necessary & is indeed

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the only medicine he takes, He & my
Mother join me in respectful compliments
to you & Mrs Cullen,

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Dr Cullen
Professor of Medicine
Edinburgh

✍
Mr Hamilton
Concerning Mr. Brisbane
November 1781