been engaged at stone-mining.
At the age of thirty he was obliged to desist work, on account of a
difficulty in his breathing, which he considered to be asthma, and he
was occupied above ground, as the engine-man, during the latter part of
his life. The slightest exertion produced exhaustion and palpitation of
the heart; his bowels were obstinate, and his urinary secretion small in
quantity. His cough was particularly troublesome in the morning, and was
relieved by a free expectoration of frothy mucus. In this condition he
continued, with the cough gradually increasing, for nearly twenty
years, as I understand, when he began to void black sputa, which daily
augmented in quantity till his decease, August 1836.

For some weeks previous to his death, his pulse had become slow and
thready, 36 in the minute. The oedema of the upper and lower
extremities was extensive; the dyspnoea increased considerably; the
countenance was livid; and the body remarkably cold. Stimulants in
considerable quantity were administered without the smallest effect.
Drowsiness supervened; and he was for some days previous to dissolution
in a torpid condition, while at the same time he was quite collected
when roused.

_Post-mortem examination._--On examining the body, the chest was large
and well formed. The effusion into the cellular substance was very
general. The cartilages of ribs were ossified, and both lungs were
adhering strongly to the pleura costalis. There was large effusion into
both cavities of the chest, to the extent of three English pints in
whole. The pleura pulmonalis was much thickened and rough, with false
membrane, and many patches of puckering. Several lymphatic glands in the
anterior part of the mediastinum contained black fluid. The left lung
was carbonaceous throughout its substance. The upper lobe partially
excavated and ragged; the inferior lobe infiltrated and emphysematous.
The right lung was of corresponding black appearance. The lower lobe had
a firm and condensed feel, and when divided, exhibited a mass resembling
indurated blacking. The middle lobe was in part permeable to air; and
there were several small cysts containing liquid carbon, connected with
minute bronchial ramifications. Various indurated knotty bodies were
extended throughout its substance. In the upper lobe, the carbon was
confined principally to the interlobular cellular tissue, and when
pressed in the hand, gave out thick, black, frothy serum. The mu