Old disease "dripcee"??

Question

Got an 1880 census entry that for an illness had the entry "dripcee".

My gut feeling is that it is a misspelling of "dropsy" which is kind of what we call endema these days. Given the very rural nature of the area, I assume this is a home diagnosis vice a diagnosis by a "doctor" so maybe either the census taker just didn't know how to spell it or the family said this was the "disease".

But before I just write this off to misspelling, has anyone actually heard of a medical term used in the late 1800s call DRIPCEE?

Answer 1

Have a look at this very short list taken from the ' D' section of the web site link below there, it's an excellent site.

day fever a fever lasting one day, sweating sickness
decrepitude feebleness due to old age
delirium tremens hallucinations due to alcoholism
dengue infectious fever endemic to East Africa
dentition cutting of the teeth
deplumation tumor of the eyelids which causes hair loss
diary fever a fever lasting one day
diptheria contagious disease of the throat
dock fever yellow fever
dropsy congestive heart failure
dropsy of the brain encephalitis
dry bellyache lead poisoning
dyscrasy an abnormal body condition
dysorexy reduced appetite
dyspepsia bad digestion
dysury difficulty in urination
eclampsy symptoms of epilepsy, convulsions during labor

http://rmhh.co.uk/medical.html
I had a look at another site there is something called Drip, that I dont think would be a very nice thing to have, I suppose it's getting closer.
Dorsal Related to or at the back
Drear Gloomy, sad, depressed etc.
Dreary Gloomy, sad, depressed etc. Of course, it may also have the modern meaning i.e. tiresome, boring etc.
Dresser Name given to a recently qualified doctor (usually less than one year) working in the team of a hospital surgeon
Drip Gonorrhoea
Dropsy (or Dropsey) Contraction of hydropsy, which means oedema (fluid retention), often due to

Heart failure
Kidney disease

Dropsy Of The Brain Encephalitis
Dry Bellyache Abdominal pains due to lead poisoning from medicines containing lead or other sources of lead. Was apparently common in the Caribbean from drinking "green rum" (result of the first distillation) as lead pipes were used between the boiling coppers
Dry Gangrene
http://www.paul_smith.doctors.org.uk/ArchaicMedicalTerms.htm
Hope this helps.

Answer 2

I would agree with everyone that it's really dropsy.
Are you holding a copy of the actual page, or someone's transliteration (you know, entering the info on the computer by typing instead of scanning?). That's how I found a realtive's census report; the name had been mangled 2x--once by the original record taker & the other by the person who had typed it in decades later. When I looked at the scan, I could tell it was the right person. If you don't have the copy of the actual page, try & find it--it might have more helpful info.

Answer 3

I looked on a few websites and could not find "dripcee" anywhere, so I am thinking you are right about it being misspelled. Below is the definition of the condition (see the last paragraph especially)



Definition of Dropsy

Dropsy: An old term for the swelling of soft tissues due to the accumulation of excess water.

In years gone by, a person might have been said to have dropsy. Today one would be more descriptive and specify the cause. Thus, the person might have edema due to congestive heart failure.

Edema is often more prominent in the lower legs and feet toward the end of the day as a result of pooling of fluid from the upright position usually maintained during the day. Upon awakening from sleeping, people can have swelling around the eyes referred to as periorbital edema.

The Middle English dropesie came through the Old French hydropsie from the Greek hydrops which in turn came from the Greek hydor meaning water

Answer 4

Sounds like dropsy which is fluid retention due to congestive cardiac failure. I've seen some pretty strange things on those census forms.

Answer 5

I concur, it's probably a misspelling or local dialect corruption of "dropsy."

Answer 6

http://members.aol.com/AdamCo9991/medicalterminolgy.html
http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgwkidz/oldmedterm.htm

Here's a couple of websites for you