The principles of surgery / by James Syme.

  • Syme, James, 1799-1870.
Date:
1863
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The principles of surgery / by James Syme. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

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    eye may be iiufit for vision, while the impression of light pro- duces a painful effect. The pain of inflammation varies in kind as well as in degree; being sometimes hot and burning, as in the skin and mucous membranes, at other times sharp and cutting, as in the serous membranes, or dull and aching, as, in the bones. , It is impossible, in the present state of oui* knowledge, to account for these varieties in the pain, or even for the existence of pain at all. It is usually ascribed to the swelling that accom- panies iaflammation, causing pressure on the extremities of the nei-ves, whence it is said the most compact tissues occasion the severest pain ; but this explanation is not satisfactory, as many which possess the softest and most yielding structure excite exciaiciating pain when they are inflamed,-of which the mucous membranes afford a remarkable example. The pain is not always felt at the part affected, but often at a distance from it, as at the point of the penis when the bladder is inflamed, in the right shoulder during inflammation of the liver, or in distant parts of the limb when the joints are the seat of disease. We are sometimes able to account partly for this by the nei'vous communications, but more frequently it is quite inexphcable, though highly deserving of attention in a practical point of view. Derangement of Functional Action.—This symptom of inflam- mation cannot, of course, attend the inflammation of every tissue, and must be confined to those which i)ossess some vital property in addition to that of mere nutrition. It is sometimes, however, the only symptom present, or at least the only one that can be recognised; as when the organ affected is contained in an internal cavity. When the function of the organ is to receive the impression of some external stimulus, as that of the eye or the nose, it is performed either imperfectly, or not at all; and hence, as already observed, some have been led into the error of supposing, that the common sensibility of parts is diniinislied during inflammation. Deranfjemcnt of Nutritive Action.—In addition to the serous