On the pathology of ague & other intermitting disorders, and on the action of quinine as a remedy for them : being a dissertation preparatory to the degree of Doctor of Medicine in the University of Oxford / by Francis Willis.

  • Willis, Francis.
Date:
1864
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the pathology of ague & other intermitting disorders, and on the action of quinine as a remedy for them : being a dissertation preparatory to the degree of Doctor of Medicine in the University of Oxford / by Francis Willis. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    at last by the explosion of all false theories a true explanation of the phenomena may be arrived at; and therefore, even if the views which I have now to propose are proved to be untenable, an advance may be made in the exhaustive process, and a step thus gained towards the discovery of the truth. By the establishment of the efficacy of the Peruvian Bark as a remedy for Intermittent Fevers, a death blow was given to the humoral doctrines concerning them. Sydenham points this out very clearly. Speaking of “ the habit of referring the different species of Intormittents to the different redundant humours in different parts of the body, and of directing the treatment towards the alteration and evacuation of them,” he says, “that all this was an unfortunate attempt is shown in nothing better than in the success which attended the use of the bark itself; by means of which we can at the present time, regard - less of all humours and careless in the way of diet and regimen carry our point, simply by observing the proper method in the exhibition of the powder; failing only when, without any necessity, we confine the patient to his bed during the time that he is taking it; and even then, such is the power of the remedy that notwith- standing the inconvenience which is caused by the warmth of the bed in encouraging the fever, the recovery will generally take place in spite of the obstacles that should prevent it.” * Sydenham does not offer any theory in the place of the humoral doctrines which he rejects, but Hoffmann advances a statement with regard to the action of the most efficacious remedies in general, which I shall try to show applies especially to the operation of Quinine. His words are “ Demum omnia eximite virtutis medicamenta, non tarn in partes fluidas, earum crasin ac intemperiem corrigendo, quam potius in solidas et nervosas, earumdem motus alterando, ac moderaudo, suam edunt opera- tionem.”f Hoffmann's teaching on this point is confirmed by that of the most distinguished physiologists of the present day. That the most energetic drugs produce then’ effects by acting * Sydenham’s Works, Syd. Soo. Trans, p. 162. t Huflinaun. Medic, llutional. Systemic. Tom iii. § 1. chap. 4.