Scope and Contents Holograph essay defines dropsy and cites three cases of an anomalous form of the disease which Kane had seen while in residence at Philadelphia Hospital (18401841). Kane maintains that this "local dropsy" does not occur with typical symptoms or respond to accepted treatment. Essay addressed to the U.S. Navy’s Board of Medical Examiners.Also published as Horrocks, Thomas A. "Elisha Kent Kane’s Unpublished Treatise on Dropsy," Transactions & Studies of the College of Physicians of...