Observations on phthisis pulmonalis, and the use of the digitalis purpurea in the treatment of that disease : with practical remarks on the use of the tepid bath / by Isaac Rand, M.D. ... ; read at the request of the Massachusetts Medical Society, June 6, 1804.

  • Rand, Isaac, 1743-1822.
Date:
1804
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Observations on phthisis pulmonalis, and the use of the digitalis purpurea in the treatment of that disease : with practical remarks on the use of the tepid bath / by Isaac Rand, M.D. ... ; read at the request of the Massachusetts Medical Society, June 6, 1804. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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    with which it was blended, will continue to be intimately mixed with the water ; thus the pus will be detected. It is acknowledged that pus confined in a cyst seclud- ed from the air is inno^v&us, and, except from its gravity, and pressure, excites no perturbation in the system. The motion of the heart and lungs, although not synchronous is commensurate with each other, and an accelerated circulation of the blood is attended with a correspondent increased respiration, and a retardation of the circulations with a slower respiration ; from whence it follows, that the more the circulations are retarded, the less pus is formed, either by the diseased action of the arteries or by ulcers in the bronchise ; and the less fre- quent the respiration, that process is retarded and par- tially suspended, by which it has been ascertained that the pus is aerated by its attraction of Oxygen. The digi- talis, by its action on the vital powers, promotes two im- portant processes ; it promotes the absorption of the pus before it is converted into an ichorous poison by the air, and by lessening the irritability of the heart and arteries, prevents the profuse secretion of pus. Thus these two processes mutualty aid each other and prove curative. The cautious and continued use of the digitalis will produce these effects, and often render them sufficiently permanent to effect a cure of phthisis pulmonalis. These changes, sometimes without any previous sick- ness of the stomach, will be gradually produced, although a nausea is often excited, and by a peculiar sympathy be- tween the stomach and the heart, the pulse is retarded in consequence of nausea ; and as subsequent to the retarda- tion of the action of the heart, absorption frequently oc-