On some states which resemble inflammation / [William Brown].

  • Brown, William, 1796-1887.
Date:
[1839]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On some states which resemble inflammation / [William Brown]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    rapidly as they first appeared, by remedies directed to the diges¬ tive organs. The tendency of erysipelas to migrate from one part of the surface to another, or suddenly to be translated to an inter¬ nal organ, leaving the first seat of attack entirely free from dis¬ ease, marks it out as somewhat diiferent from common inflamma¬ tion. And, while energetic treatment is sometimes indispensable to preserve the limb or even the life of the patient, the very common (once the universal) practice of merely covering the affected part with dry flour, indicates very significantly that, in other cases, the do-nothing practice is quite sufficient. The truth is, that under tlie name of erysipelas we comprehend several affections different from each other, and it is very desirable that they should be distinguish¬ ed more correctly than they are. % Chronic Rheumatism has no claim to be called an inflam¬ mation, and is rather a consequence of that state; but it consists of severe pain, and the affected joints are always more or less swelled. It is a very intractable affection, often tiring out the patience of the practitioner, and affording a favourable opportuni¬ ty for the empiric. Leeching has sometimes been tried, but sel¬ dom with any benefit, and the treatment which is most approved consists in counter-irritants, alteratives, the warm bath, and the assiduous application of the hand-cure by shampooing. Acute rheumatism is generally treated in part by blood-letting; but the rule laid down by authors as to the treatment of internal inflam¬ mation, viz. that we are to bleed so long as the buffy coat appears on the blood drawn, is quite inapplicable to his disease. This appearance is shown after every bleeding, and is not less charac¬ teristic even when the patient is exhausted to an extreme degree. This circumstance marks out rheumatism as differing from other inflammations; and the capricious nature of its movements, desert¬ ing one joint, which it leaves free from uneasiness, and attacking another which had previously been so ; and then suddenly leaving all the external parts to attack the pericardium, would lead us to hesitate before we adopt the rule of bleeding for effect. 3. Pleurodyne is an affection of the muscles covering the sides of the thorax, or of the intercostals. It consists in severe pain increased on inspiration. It is sometimes a mere sprain of those muscles produced by some unusual effort, but often it is the re¬ sult of cold, is attended with catarrh, and hence there is more dif¬ ficulty in distinguishing it from pleurisy. The chief means of doing so are that in pleurodyne the pain is more severe, is increas¬ ed by muscular exertion, and usually abated by pressure, while in pleurisy there is a quickened pulse and other symptoms of febrile action. In pleurodyne the relief afforded by the pressure of the hand, or the support of a bandage or plaster, is astonishing. Some eminent men have considered the state of the pulse as the