A treatise upon gravel and upon gout : in which their sources and connection are ascertained : with an examination of Dr. Austin's theory of stone, and other critical remarks. A dissertation on the bile and its concretions, and an enquiry into the operation of solvents / by Murray Forbes, member of the Surgeon's Company.

  • Forbes, Murray, active 18th century.
Date:
MDCCXCIII. [1793]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A treatise upon gravel and upon gout : in which their sources and connection are ascertained : with an examination of Dr. Austin's theory of stone, and other critical remarks. A dissertation on the bile and its concretions, and an enquiry into the operation of solvents / by Murray Forbes, member of the Surgeon's Company. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Harvard Medical School.

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    fome lubricating fluid capable of mingling uni- formly with the various matters that pafs along, fo as to give harmony and greater folubility to' the whole, that the particles may be prevented from adhering and accumulating. Such a fluid is the bile, which, with the properties of a foap, combines into one fmooth and uniform mixture the different kinds of matter with which it becomes blended, and, by rendering the furface eafy and glibe, forwards their de- fcent and expulfion. Mucus alone, not mingling readily with other fluids, would have been un- equal to the tafk. There was required a fome- thing of certain vifcidity, yet univerfally infi- nuating and diffufible, which fhould become the connecting medium of heterogeneous parti- cles by that particular degree of attraction which fhould allow them to Hide eafily upon; each other, while the contents of the inteftine were retained by it in a fit confiftence for being propelled. There was neceffary a flippery at- tenuating matter that fnould defend the gut,- and, by facility of conjunction with other fluids, effectually fecure againft cohefions, unnatural* collections, and painful interruptions to peri- flaltic motion in a canal ol fuch extent. Such are the purpofes which have been fre- quently afcribed to bile, when there was lefs certainty