March 1835

Snowed very hard all the morning & miserably cold. Went to the R. de Bouloi twice-capi. sermons. The Boulevards crowded with fools in masks.' Monday 2nd. Went to Sanson's-saw nothing new-but I hope, learned something. Saw a good case of fractured radius completely cured without deformity. He did not lecture today, nor did Chomel, I presume, on account of the Carnival. C. had a good case of dissection this morning-Pulmonary apoplexy, pneumonia, Emphysema & a small cavity all in the same lung. Breschet was not arrived2 at 8V2 so did not wait for him. Ribail on cleaning teeth, Broussais on Neuralgia-Andral continuation of Phthysis /49r/ some excellent & most curious observations. The greasy state of the liver he said was most common in Phthysical females 4 in 5. In London & Paris deaths from Phthysis formed a 1/5th in Marseilles 1/4. In Munich there are fewer deaths from Phthysis than in any other town in Germany-because as a German mentd. afterwards to me, it was the most loft[y] town & therefore approached in tempe. & other respects the cities farther north-such as Copenhagen, in which there is the least mortality. Tuesday 3rd. Went to Roquet this morning-a case of Pericarditis3-rational symptoms but not the physical present. Very bad case of peripneumony probably in stage of grey hepatization most extensive. Nothing in dead house, no lecture. Case of Pulmonary Apoplexy dead-to be examined tomorrow. At two o'clock went up on the Boulevards to see the people make fools of themselves.4 I was very glad to see so few respectable persons mixing themselves up with such nonsense. It was almost entirely confined to the 'March 1 was the start of Carnival, the season immediately preceding Lent in Roman Catholic countries. It was devoted to revelry and riotous amusement of which the diarist did not approve. Carnival could last for a week and included Jeudi gras, Dimanche gras, Lundi gras and Mardi gras (Shrove Tuesday). 2The diarist is almost certainly translating literally from French in observing the non-arrival of Breschet: II n'eait pas arrive'. 3Pericarditis: inflammation of the pericardium, the membraneous sac containing the heart. If the inflammation is confined to the sac there is pain in the region of the heart. When it extends to the membrane reflected around the heart itself there is pain in the region ofthe heart, a feeling of anxiety, difficulty in breathing, a cough, irregular pulse, palpitation …