VALDEMAR
I received this note within half an hour after it was written, and
in fifteen minutes more I was in the dying man's chamber. I had not
seen him for ten days, and was appalled by the fearful alteration
which the brief interval had wrought in him. His face wore a leaden
hue; the eyes were utterly lustreless; and the emaciation was so
extreme that the skin had been broken through by the cheek-bones.
His expectoration was excessive. The pulse was barely perceptible.
He retained, nevertheless, in a very remarkable manner, both his
mental power and a certain degree of physical strength. He spoke
with distinctness --took some palliative medicines without aid
--and, when I entered the room, was occupied in penciling memoranda in
a pocket-book. He was propped up in the bed by pillows. Doctors D--
and F-- were in attendance.
After pressing Valdemar's hand, I took these gentlemen aside, and
obtained from them a minute account of the patient's condition. The
left lung had been for eighteen months in a semi-osseous or
cartilaginous state, and was, of course, entirely useless for all
purposes of vitality. The right, in its upper portion, was also
partially, if not thoroughly, ossified, while the lower region was
merely a mass of purulent tubercles, running one into another.
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