CIVIL WAR MEDICAL TERMINOLOGY HAS FADED -'Putrid Fever, Galloping Consumption, Screws"

(02/14/2026)

By Bob Weaver The 21st Century public is well educated on medical terminology by TV and magazine ads, publicizing the latest prescription medications for every disease and malady. With over 150 years since the Civil War, it is fascinating to look at a list of medical conditions and terminology, most that have faded with time. Abcpsia - Blindness Aphonia - Loss of voice Bad Blood - Used to avoid the Syphilis word Chin Cough - Whooping cough Consumption - Tuberculosis Cramp Colic - Appendicitis Delirium Tremens - Hallucinations from alcohol withdraw Dyspepsia - Acid indigestion Flux- Discharge of body fluid Galloping Consumption - Pulmonary TB Grip - Influenza Jail Fever - Typhus Miasma - Poisonous vapors thought to fill the air Paronychia - Painful puss-producing inflammation at end of toe or finger Parotitis - Mumps Putrid Fever - Diphtheria/Typhus St. Vitis Dance - Nervous twitches Screws - Rheumatism

Hur Herald ®from Sunny Cal The information on these pages, to the extent the law allows, remains the exclusive property of Bob Weaver and Dianne Weaver The Hur Herald. All information may be freely used but must not be sold or used in any type of commercial endeavor, or used on any web site without the express permission of the owners ©Bob and Dianne Weaver, The Hur Herald, 1999, 2000, 2001