The water-cure in chronic diseases : an exposition of the causes, progress, and terminations of various chronic diseases of the digestive organs, lungs, nerves, limbs, and skin, and of their treatment by water, and other hygenic means

Front matter

i

THE WATER CURE

IN

Preface

TO THE FIEST EDITION".

Every -miter supposes that his work is to supply some want. My object in publishing this treatise, is to afford a truthful and rational exposition of the value of the water-treatment in certain chronic diseases. I apprehend that it Is wanted, because the Avorks on the subject of the water cure which have hitherto appeared in this country contain, so far as my experience informs me, much overstatement a.s to its operation, and are moreover written rather to catch the hopeful invalid, than to enlighten him as to the nature of his disease, or the mode in which the water plan is to relieve it. From this remark I except the work of Dr. E. Johnson, entitled "Hydropathy," wherein the manner in which the water cure operates on the cherni.stry of the living body is very ably traced. Tlie other works have not the slightest claim to be called scientific.

In the First Part of this work, the origin, progress, extension, and terminations of Clironic Disease in general, are delineated and explained, and one general deduction from the facts made— namely, that no disease becomes chronic unless the central organs of nutrition are aflcctcd.

vi

PREFACE.

In the Second Part, this is further developed in the history of individual chronic diseases, the explanation of the pathology and symptoms of each of which is given, and also of the reasons for the water-treatment applicable to each. In an-anging the diseases, those are fii'st treated of which affect the primary organs of nutrition, the organs in which the fii-st step in bloodmaldng from food, and therefore of nutrition, is taken. The next step of bloodmatmg being affected by the lungs and heart, their maladies are then treated of The -cu-culation of the perfected blood being under the control of the nervous system, the diseases of that system come the next in order. One portion of the general nervous system— namely, the brain and spinal cord and their nerves, having control over the locomotive organs, the diseases of the limbs come the next in order to be treated of FuiaUy, the blood having been made and circidated, certain elements of it are thrown off in the shape of secretions from the bowels, kidneys, and skin— the diseases of which are the last to be mentioned. The whole ai-rangement of these individual maladies is thus strictly physiological, beginning with the formation of blood, and ending witli the excretion of its useless portions.

Part Thii-d treats, in the first place, of the mode in which the water cm-e operates in producing its beneficial results, the rationale being given imder twelve sections. The subject is treated generally, as that of Chronic Disease was in the Fii-at Part. But, in the second place, tlie details of the water cure are brought forward, the rationale of each process given, and the crcumstances which regulate their application stated.

Throughout the volume, the great pathological fact of

PREFACE.

vii the existence of visceral disorder in all chronic disease, is kept in ^iew ; and the attentive reader will find that, from l-ieginuing to end, it forms the base of the practice recommended, and of its explanation.

Tlie AppencUx contains tacts and arguments in answer to certain accnsations brought orally against the water-treatment, chiefly by medical men, although none has ever yet ventured to print them. This portion of the volume is a reprint from a former work of mine.

I put this work foru'ard as an attempt in the right way of handling the subject of the water cure, with a hope that it will be cai'ried out by more able observers and writers. Until it is treated gravely, earnestly, and truthfully, as a matter of scientific importance, it never Avill obtain the footing in the opinion of the public which it ought to have; for in this land of thmking heads, nothing endures unless it addresses itself to tlie sober thought.

The cases recoimted were all treated by me at Malvern ; anil, altogether, what I have stated is of my o^Ti exi^erience in an extensive field of practical observation during four years of a busy professional life at that place.

J. G.

Malveu.n-, Sqjtemher 20t/i, 181G. '

PREFACE

TO THE SECOND EDITION.

WiTHix nine months from the publication of the first edition of this work, another one has become necessary. A large eflition has also been pruited and sold in America. Books on medical subjects do not frequently meet with so much good fortune. I believe it to be attributable, in the present instance, to the growing interest of the community in the subject of which this volume treats ; and also to the fulfilment of my resolution to speak fairly, not flatteringly, of the water cure. I have, further, abundant reason to know that the exposition it contains of the manner in which that mode of treatment produces its results has been instrumental in removing the prejudices of many non-profe.ssional, and not a few medical readers. On these several accounts it appears desirable to issue the present edition. It is well in all legitimate ways to leaven the ignoranf;e and prejudice which exist on the water treatment with reasonable views and explanations of its principles, its powers, and its application.

To the ample First Edition but little has been added in the present one. Facts of recent observation arc scattered in various parts of the pages, but are too minierous and

X

PEEFACE.

too lirief to 1)e desi,£,T]ated in a preface ; they are chiefly in the Third Part. The Second Part contaius some additional cases and elucidations of disease.

The ceaseless exigencies of medical practice have retarded the completion of this edition beyond the ordinary period for similar reproductions. I have no other and need no more sufficient apology for the many inquiries concerning it at the publisher's.

My hope is, that this book may open the eyes of all who read it, to the destructive tendency of the drugging and nnnatm-al stimulation on which such numbers of the English public maintain a feverish vitality for a few years, to sink at last into the condition of hopeless valetudinarians. The past history and present state of many such who are under my observation are perfectly terrific. It is no aftec tation to say that my mind has been oppressed, weighed d(wn, by accounts which invalids have given of the process by which they became the shattered beings they are; a process almost invariably including years of monstrous di'ugging and its unvarjdng accompaniment, intense .suffering of mind and body. Most sincerely do I hope that these pages may be the means of efl'ectual warning from that destroying plan of treatment, even though they should fail to establish the more rational system which they profess to teach. But almost every case of eveiy practitioner of the Water Ciire is establishing it daily on a broader and deeper basis ; and the once most sceptical axe now obliged to aclcnowdedge tliat, at the least, it is a vast addition to the remedial ai-t.

J. il. G.

Part II. Of Particular Chronic Diseases And Their Treatment

CiiAr-TEii 1. Diseases of the Primary Nutritive Organs, . 68 Sect. 1. Mucous and N(!r\-ous Indigestion, . . .71

2. Treatment of Nervous Indigestion, . . 88 C.'we of Nervous Indigestion, . . . .93

3. Treatment of Mucous Indigestion, . . .90 Case of Mucous Indigestion, .... 100 xu CONTENTS.

PAGE

Sect. 4. Combination of Nervous and Mucous Dyspepsia, 105

Case of Nervous and Mucous Dyspepsia, . 105

Anotlier case of Nervous and Mucous Dyspepsia, 109

5. Gastro-enteritis — Clironic Inflammation of tlie

Stomach and small Bowel — Atrophy, . . 118

Case of Atrophy or Wasting, .... 122

6. Disorders of the Liver and Duodenum, . . 124 Case of Nervous Disorder of the Liver, . .138 Case of Congested and Swollen Liver, . . 140 Case of Obstructed Liver, .... 143

Chapter II. Diseases of the Secondary Nutritive Organs — Diseases of the Lungs and Heart, . . . 148

Sect. 1. Nervous Cough — Stomach Cough. . . 149 Case of Stomach Cougli, . . . .151

2. Chronic Inflammation of the Air Tubes of tlie

Lungs — Bronchitis, 152

Case of Chronic Bronchitis, .... 155

3. Pulmonarj' Consumption, .... 159 Case of threatening Consumptive Disorder of

the Lungs — Intense Stomach Irritation, . 161

Case of Pulmonary Consumption, . . . 1G4

4. Palpitation of the Heart — Organic Disease of

the Heart, 16G

Case of Nervous Palpitation of the Heart, . 167

Chapter III. Diseases of the Nervous System, . . .172

Sect. 1. Nervousness — Neuropathy— Hj'pochondriasis, 174

Case of minor degree of Nervousness, . ISO

Another case of minor degree of Nervousness. 182 Case of Hj'pochondriasis, the greater degree of

Nervousness, ...... 185

2. Neuralgia — Nerve Pain — Tic-Douloureux —

Sciatica — Nervous Headache, . . . 1S8

Case of Sciatica, 193

Case of Neuralgia of botli Leg,-!, . . . 196

CONTENTS. XIU

PAGE

Case of Tic-Douloiireux of the Face, . . 198 Cases of Sciatica, .... 201,202

Sect. 3. Apoplectic Fulness of the Brain — Congestion

of the Brain— Pals V, . . . .208 Case of Apoplectic Fulness of the Head, . 217 Case of Apoplectic and Congestive Fulness of

the Head — Deafness — Intense Headache, . 220 Case of Palsy of the Right Leg, . . .220 4. Spurious Palsy — Chronic Congestion and Irritation of all the Ganglionic Nerves, . . 232

HAPTER rv. Diseases of the Limbs, 242

Sect. 1. Rheumatism, ...... 244

Case of Rheumatism of the Knee-joint, . . 255

Case of General Rheumatism of the Body, . 259 Case of General Rheumatism, with Nervous

Signs — Neuralgic Rheumatism, . . 262

Case of Nervous and Chalky Gout, . . 273

3. Rheumatic Gout, 277

Cii.MTER V. Diseases of the Lower Organs of Digestion —

Diiieases of the Excretory Organs,

. 280

Diseases of the Colon — Constipation,

. 281

Cases of Constipation, ....

. 297

Iliemorrhoids or Piles,

. 300

Case of Intemf.l or Blind Piles,

. 304

Drop.sy.

. 307

Ca.se of Dropsy of the Belly and Skin, .

. 315

Skin Diseases, .....

. 317

Cases of Skin Diseases,

. 323

xiv

CONTENTS.

PAET III..

PRINCIPLES AND DETAILS OF THE WATER TREAT- MENT OF CHRONIC DISEASE.

PAGE

Chapter II. Details of the Water Cure, .... 362

Sect. 1. Hot and Warm Fomentations, . . . 363

2. Packing in Damp Towels and Sheets, . . 3GS

8. The Sitz Bath, 374

6. The Dripping or Rubbing Sheet, . . . 381

7. The Spinal Washing, 38G

10. Foot and Hand Batlis, and Jlinor Ablutions

and Frictions, ..... 397

11. Water Drinking, 400

12. Air and Exercise, ...... 403

Diet Table for Patients under W.ater-Treatnient, 407

Remarks on ^Vater Cure Establishmc.itr-. . 419

Appbndi.x,

PART 1.

OF CHRONIC DISEASE IN GENERAL.

CHAPTER I.

PRELIMINARY.

Nomenclature of chronic disease — Phases between that and acute disease — Acute disease always precedes chronic — Arrangement of the subjects to be treated.

The epithet "chronic" is given by medical men to disea-ses whose duration passes a certain limit of time ; and that limit has been fixed at forty days. All within this period are generally designated as "acnte;" but as this would foi-m but two extreme classes of disease, whilst Nature exl:ibits several intermediate phases, some ■^Titers have subdinded the "acute " diseases into the most acute, when they terminate in tliree or four days — into the very amle, when they do not continue longer than seven days, —into the mnply acute, when they endure for fourteen days — and into the nvh-acute when they reach forty days.

It will be plain, however, that these are merely arbitrary terms, of which there are far too many in medicine, since they are ajit to be taken by the young or by the routinier a.s_ guides in jjrac-ticc ; and tiuis najnes, instead of comlitions of Ijody, corne to be treated, and much mischief to be coufiefjuently perijctrated. Now, the term " chronic" lias in itself no reference whatever to tlie actual state of the disea.sed frame; and if I emjiloy it in this Essay, it is only that I may explain it. and fix aoiw, mcaiiiiig to it as regards that state— tlic won! Ijcing, in other respects, convenient and precise enough.

OF CHRONIC DISEASE IN GENERAL.

Every disease is, in its onsetting, acute ; that ls to say, the symptoms are intense, pressing in character, and if Nature, either mth or witliout the aid of Art, does not soon bring relief, extinguislies the individual.

_ The relief and the escape from death are brought about either by transfer of the morbid action from the original seat of disorder to some less important part, and the elimination of some secretions therefrom— an action to which the term crisis has for three thousand years been applied ; * or, no such transfer occuning, the acute state of disease in the affected part passes into the chronic statechronic disease is established.

_ Preliminaiy, therefore, to fixing what constitutes chronic disorder, it is necessary that we shoidd obtain some precise idea of what constitutes the acute form. I shall next proceed to inquire into the minute changes of organs which induce the phenomena of chronic disease. All the circumstances of chronic disease, generally, will then be considered. Applications of the general doctrine and circumstances will then be made to^iudividual diseases. In the course of these inquiries, I shall take occasion to show how acute disease is originated, and cln-onic disease maintained and exasperated by internal stimulation. And finally, I shall show how the treatment of chronic disease by water, and other hygienic means, obviates this inconvenience, is more safe than any other plan of treatment, and comes in aid of the naturcd and only permanent process towards recovery.

* It is well to note this, as all the world has of late spoken of a "crisis" as a new prodigy; a mistake wliich some writers on the water cure would seem to encourage, either from ignorai'.ce of the literature of medicine, or from some silly idea that the novelty may add to the cdat of the treatment they profess. Hippocrates was the first to use the tenn cnsis as applied to a termination of disease, and he lived A.M. 3500.

DOCTRINE OF ACUTE DISEASE.

CHAPTEE II.

DOCTRINE OF ACUTE DISEASE.

"What is meant by " general disease" and " general debility " — Disease always begins in one organ — The ganglionic system of nerves — Its centre and extensive influence — Control over the blood-vessels — Irritability and sensibility— Action of morbid causes on the irritability of the blood-vessels — Their contraction and exhaustion — Illnstrations — Changes in the movement and character of the blood —Periods in the process of acute disease — Its extension — Shown in acute indigestion and simple inflammatory fever — Ileal cause of death from acute disease.

We are mueli in the liabit of spealdng of " general diseasein truth, there is no such thing. All the organs of the body may give signs of diseased action, but there are invariably one or more parts whose malady originates all that we see.

The brain may evidence disease by impaired mental power, impaired volition, delirium, sleeplessness, &c.; the limgs, by rapid breathing, cough, &c. ; the heart, by exces- .sively quickened action ; the digestive organs, by dry tongue, thirst, loss of appetite, nausea, constipation, &e.; the kidneys, by diminislied secretion; the skin, by unnatural heat and drj-ness— yet all these midtiform disefLsed actions may, and very often do, depend on a small patch of inflammation in the stomach, perhaps no larger than a half-crown, or even a .shilling. To treat all these multiplied .sjTnptoms under the name of "general disease," woulfl be mere ignorance or sheer eliarlatanism, which ever aims at bu.stling complexity.

So also of "general tleliiiity " a t(^rm .so comnuin and HO unmeaning; there is no such thing. Debility rdvxiys .signifieH tlie disorder of one or more parts opjiressing the hea,thy functions of the rest of the body. Kemovc the di.sonler of those jiarts fit may be ]>y positively lowninq rerrie.lies;, and straightway the "geiu'ral debility"" vanishes. lr,tlammati( n of any of the digestive organs very shortly

n

4 DOCTEINE OF ACUTE DISEASE.

brings down the physical and mental vigom-; which as quicldy rises when a few flannels wrong out of boiling water, and applied over the abdomen, have removed the internal inflammation. On this head I shall have more to say hereafter.

Disease, then, always commences m some oue organ or set of organs, from which it .spreads, with more or less rapicUty, to others, by a sjonpathy whose physical agent is the nervous system. „ , , ■ • i

By this term, "nervous system," the bram, spinal cord, and the nerves proceeding from them, are ordmardy understood ; but there is another system of nerves, which, as it is iieither obedient to the will, nor cogTuzant ot pam, commonly so called, is rarely considered in the explanation of cUsease ; in which it, nevertheless, plays by far the most important-I may say, the only important part, iliis svstem of nerves has been called the "gau^ghonic, fiom the appearance of small Icnots or ganglions m the course of the nerves; the "organic," as regulatmg the charactei of the oroanization of parts; the "nutritive, a| presiding over the ortrans that minister to the nutrition of the body ; and the ".dsceral," as pervading and hayim its centre m the viscera,* that is, in the contents .of tlie chcs and abflomen; and I shall use these terms indiscrimmately m £ com-se of this Es.say. ^Perhaps the however, are the epitliets "nutritive, '^ud o game for, wherever there are organs m the oody, "/-^[^ nu rition goes on in it, there are nerves of m.tr tion o be found. Wherever, too, there is a blood-vessel (and ^^e know not of nutVition without blood), organic ner es accompany it and regulate its action. In em'!/ part ot the body therefore, or,^nic nerves exist, as m '^';'''7/ 1^^ ot the body blood-vessels exist : the point of the finest needle cannot be introduced into any tissue ot the tranie without entering one or more blood-vessels and organic nerves.t

* T1,P word visais, of wl.irli rhccm is die vlural, signilies in the 1 <■ L o A 1 d,e older onat.m.ists found the n>cnd.r..nes M Lalm, &1 me. An 1 " ' , ,he mucus they secrete,

line the '""f,;;"^' ^'^^^^ .i^V" er." V'^^-'^ themselves, cUliug

DOCTRINE OF ACUTE DISEASE.

The brain itsslf, containing, as it does, so large a proportion of the blood of the body, is, in tliis view, supplied also with a large proportion of organic nerves.

The coincidence of nutritive blood-vessels (called also capillary) and nutritive nerves points to some strict organic connection between them. In met, it is the presence of the nerves which imparts to the blood-vessels the property of receiving and reacting upon impressions from agents within or \\ithout the body— a property to which the name of "trritability" is .given.

_ Let not the reader confound "irritability" with "sensibility," another property of a portion of the body. Irritability exists in the blood-vessels and organic nerves all over the frame— has its central organs in the chest and abdomen— begets no sensation or volition— is ever in action. Sensibility exists in the nerves of the brain and spinal cord only— has its central organs in the brain and spmal cord— begets sensation and volition, and is suspended m sleep. But, on the other hand, sensibility and sensation are built upon u-ritabiUty and irritation ; as thus— the bram is compo-sed of matter deposited from the blood- Tes.sel.s, and these are regulated in tlie manner and quality of their deposit by the amount and character of theu- irritability; therefore, if the irritability be acted on vehemently (as m giving stimulants), the action of the blood-vessels, otherw-i.se called their irritation, is vehement also, and they deposit more than usual of the brain matter, which jtossesses the property of sensibility, and in this ivay augmented sensation is begotten. It is important to bear this m mind for the fiiture application to the doctrine of chronic (hH<ip(i~irntation precedes sensation, sensation is uuiu upon irritation.

The first effect, therefore, of causes of disease— excessive colfl or heat, infectious matter, &c.— is upon that nervous .system which presides over the capillary or nutritive moofI-ve.s.scls, and whose central ])ortions are in the viscera 01 the chest ami abdomen - the ganglionic system.

It IS a.scertained by numerous experiments that the first enect of all kinds of agents upon the nervously endowed capi lanes is to profluce contru(;tion of tliom-a diminution of their cahbre by the fact of their contraction. In other word.s, all agents are .stimulants to them, and bring them into nc-tion, and that action is contraction, lint as all action IS effort, such effort must, in a living Ijody, be g DOCTRINE OF ACUTE DISEASE.

Bucceeded by lassitude and exhaustion; and in the case of these small blood-vessels, relaxation and increase of calibre is the evidence of this secondary state ; and further, it follows that the amount of relaxation will be m exact proportion to the amount of the previous contraction. ^ _ Of course the condition of the blood as to quantity is affected by these two opposite states of the vessels that contain it When the vessels contract on the application of the morbid stimulus, they drive their coutamed blood from them ; and when relaxation ensues, the blood rushes into their increased calibre ; and the amount of blood tlius brou^dit into a part will be, of course, m exact proportion with" the relaxation, and tliis with the contraction, ot the containing blood-vessels. , o . -r ^

To illustrate all this:-I apply water at 3o of Fawenheit to the back of the hand when it is warm ; it hrst ot aU drives the blood from the skin, and renders it pale; thi.s is because the cold has stimulated the nutritive nerve.s ot the blood-vessels, and caused them to contract and drive the blood from tliem; but in a very short time the slan becomes more than usually red, and if friction be u.sed hot too This is because the vessels have been exJiausted by the contracting etibrt, have relaxed and admitted more blood into them. This is an approach to inflammation ot the skin of the hand. , , , ,

Or take a piece of frozen mercury, tlie temperature of which is 38° below the zero of Fahrenlieit, and apply it on the hand. The stimulus is so violent the contract, on _ so excessive, as to be instantaneovsh/ followed by excessive relaxation and total loss of vital power; of the Wood-vessek, and inflammation of the most destructive kind is produced The >art is burned, in fact, as eflectually as it the opposite stimulus of red-hot iron had been app bed.

Be ween these two instances the shades of s imulation and relaxation are inilnite, accord ng to the morbdrc agen an lied The more stimulating the agent, the more rapid n extreme the amount of blood broug,ht to the part, Sther that part be the skin of the hand, or the mucous liiiint' of the stomach or lungs. i • i „ ,f;„„

But whilst such are the rou(Utions of inorbid act on in the blood-vessels, what changes take place ni the blood

'^7n ^heSplace, its movement through the blood-vessels of ?he toed imrt is retarded, in consequence of the

DOCTEIXE OF ACUTE DISEASE.

diminished contractile power of those vessels. There is more or less excess and congestion of blood in the part, an excess which obtains at the expense of other and healthy parts. It is the excess which causes the sweUing of uidamed parts, their mlnass, their increased heat, tlie unusual quantity of blood secreting an unusual quantity of caloric, and their jjniiifuhiess, the pressure of the excessive blood on the surrounding nerves rendering them irritable : although, as I shall have occasion to show hereafter, inHammatiou of internal parts may exist "without pain, in the usual acceptation of the word, and without redness.

In the next place, the chemical changes that go on in the blood imdergo modiiicatiou, in consequence of this excess and retardation of its movement. This is shoA\ai by the increased heat already alluded to ; and further, if the inflammatory congestion be not relieved, the blood secretes y>w.s— the matter of abscess— either in the shape of a collection called an abscess, or the same flows freely from the surface of a mucous membrane, forming a bad kind of exj)ectoratiou, &c. But the chemical changes in question vary endlessly with the diseased part. In the .stomach, there is acid instead of insipid mucus and gastric juice ; in the liver there is acrid and dark instead of slightly bitter and yellow bile ; from the kidneys, acid instead of alkaline secretion ; and so on. The most fami - liar in-stance of this as a si,gnal of disease is the state of the tongue when the mucous lining of the stomach is disordered. The variety of the secretions there is endless, anrl each one coiTcsponds vnih. a certain shade of congestion of blood in the membrane that covers the tongue. Jud'je, _ then, liow numerous are the shades of diseased action in tliat single ti.ssue of the body !

Such, tlien, is the condition of a part when it is in the acute stage of disease. The ])hascs of the process may be briefly stated as follows : —

1. Tlie ajiplication of (•xc(!ssive stinudus to the nervously endowcfl Ijlood-ve.s.sols of the pait.

2. F>x'-e.H,sive contraction of the bldod-vessds in consequence, with expulsion of their contained bhiod.

Exhaustion and relaxation of the same blood-vessels, with con.sequcnt excessive influx and retention of blood in them.

4. Di.sea.sed sen.sation, .secretion, mid nutrition of the

8 BOCTKINE OF ACUTE DISEASE.

part, cnnRequent on the retention of the blood in the exhausted and rehixed vessels, the vital ehemistry being, for the time, improperly carried on. , , .

These phases apply to all acutely diseased parts whatever—from the small pimple on the skin to the most intense intlammation of the lungs or brain. In all, the same stages occur, whatever the exciting cause may be; whether it be the atom of ilirt irritating the toUicle ot the skin and iiroducing the pimiile there, or the rush ot C(j1(1 air into the lungs, irritating their mucous membrane, and dra\ving excessive blood into it. -i i

Froni what precedes, it appears that the mtimate A^tal condition of a mrt in acute disease is one of debility, ilie blood-vessels have lost their contractile energy, and are oppressed with l:)lood which they lack the^ power to throw off But we must not, meanwhile, lose sight ot the tact, that the organic nerves themselves whose re-actiou on excessive stimulus has produced all this mischief, are also supplied with and nourished by lilood-vessels ; and that therefore they, too, are in a state implying diseased sen«v tion and nutrition. In other words, they are eMiuiMte irritable, but their irritability is o a diseased c|iiah y a not sustained, because they are badly nourished by the b ood; the result of which is more than ordmary sens - ivene'ss to the causes which first induced he di.s e oi to any stimulus whatever applied to the part. ^ '^^ ^^-^ traction takes place, then more exhaustion ; f^ on again, and so until all power is lost, ^^u^ .^" '^^^Xl a slio-ht inflammation of the mucous lining ot the ^^^nd■ pipe from breathing very cold air; allows he same cause to exa Pate it daik by acting on the highly irritable but feeble nerves ami blood-ve.ssels of the membrane ;. and finally, induces the most inten.se form f^/^t^f^^"";! the lungs-a too frequent illustration ot t he tact, that the mnst fatal maladies cnmmence in a slight cold.

Ha S' the fact, that acute disease

of^ OTian implies extreme ^^^f^^^^:!^^^':!^^^^

;:Xc;;;K;ionon?si.ood-ve^^^^

rder— a prothc physical anu congesbiuu u. n.^ ...v.— . may now revert to the in-opositimi, th.it Sral disease originates in some local .lisorder-a pio-

(fpiirii-i ilisease or niiiaiL.^ m. .^"■■i^ ....... ...... .-^

™ tion that will b?st be developed bv tracing the physical TiSr of^^^^^ a local .'ondition as I liave above .le.scnbe.l AnS we will take the local inflammation of an oruan whose' sjanpatiiies are the most extensive-

DOCTKINE OF ACUTE DISEASE.

inflammation of the stomach, commonly called " acute iuiligestion."

A man ingests highly seasoned meats and alcoholic tlrinks, and begets in the mucous lining of his stomach a patch of such disorder I have minutely described. Now, though that disorder is, as regards the patcli itself, one of dejji-dssed vital power, it becomes to other parts a source of exalted action ; as if the very fact of the existence of a diseased point roused the system to efibrts for its relief — an opinion that was held by Hippocrates, and has prevailed -with some of the soundest physicians since his times.* The sympathy thus excited in other organs of the body is in proportion to the amount and kind of nervous matter they contain. Thus, in the case before us, the ganglionic nervous matter of the mucous membrane of the stomach excites the same matter distributed to the heart, whose beats are, in consequence, increased in frequency and force ; the pulse becomes rapid and hard ; as a result of this quickeneil pulse, the breatliiugs also quicken. Then comes the .sjTnpathy with the spinal cord and the brain, whose functions are rendered h-regnlar or are oppressed; hence the lassitude of mind and limb, the prostration of strength, the .sonmolence tirst, and then the sleeplessness, &c. Then there are the sympathies T^ath the mucous surfaces of all the other organs roused, causing the diminution and vitiation of their secretions ; hence the heaviness and the aching of the iorehead, the suffused eyes, the fevered and dry ton.gue, the thirst, the stoppage of the bile, the constipation of the bowels, the scantiness of the secretion from the kidneys, all of them dependent on mucous membranes. And as this mucous surface extends to the outer part of the body, forming the true skin, the .same morbid .sympathy extends thither, accompanied with the .same diminution and vitiation of sensation and secretion : lience the dry and hot skin called " feverish heat."