Hi James, I couldn't find anything on Paul Smith's site at http://www.paul_smith.doctors.org.uk/ArchaicMedicalTerms.htm but going from OED definitions - nates = (1) buttocks or haunches (2) the anterior and larger pair of the optic lobes of the brain. slough = Of diseased skin, tissue, etc.: (a) To come away or off, to be shed, as a slough. 1720 Quincy tr. Hodges' Loimologia 138 Those which went no further than the skin, would oftentimes slough off. 1787 Med. Comm. II. 160 A large portion of the integuments.. sloughed away. 1813 J. Thomson Lect. Inflamm. 269 The injured part of the artery sloughed off with the ligature. 1847 W. C. L. Martin Ox 160/2 The diseased part..sloughs away, and new and healthy skin is reproduced. (b) To become covered or encrusted with a slough; to form or develop necrosed tissue. 1787 Med. Comm. II. 160 It was evident that some part of the urethra had also sloughed. 1804 Abernethy Surg. Obs. 54 The exposed tumour inflamed and sloughed progressively, till it entirely came away. 1846 F. Brittan tr. Malgaigne's Man. Oper. Surg. 319 The columna.. sloughed from the fourth day, and was removed with the scissors. 1880 MacCormac Antiseptic Surg. 14 In the other case of protracted recovery, a large portion of skin sloughed. fig. 2. trans. To eat away, to throw off, by the formation of a slough or sloughs. 1762 R. Guy Pract. Obs. Cancers 48 Four large Ulcers were sloughing the Breast away. 1844 H. Stephens Bk. Farm II. 612 The portion of the vertebra which has been cut through will have to be sloughed off before the wound can heal. So, did he die of bed sores or a brain tumour?? Perhaps an email to Paul Smith will help with this too!! Cheers, Liz in Melbourne On Friday, September 12, 2003 9:44 AM, James Harrison [SMTP:jh004e4234@blueyonder.co.uk] wrote: > Has anyone come across 'Sloughing of the Nates'. This is what my great great great great grandfather was certified as dying fom in 1860. > > James Harrison > Halesowen > West Midlands. > > > ==== ENG-NORTH-YORKS Mailing List ==== > ROLL CALLS? Not permitted unless instituted by the List Admin. But post > your interests and areas of search often. New members join every day. > > ============================== > To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237