Dissertations, On cynanche trachealis or croup, and On the functions of the extreme capillary vessels in health and disease : to which were awarded the Boylston premiums for the years 1820 and 1823 / by William Sweetser.

  • Sweetser, William, 1797-1875.
Date:
1823
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Dissertations, On cynanche trachealis or croup, and On the functions of the extreme capillary vessels in health and disease : to which were awarded the Boylston premiums for the years 1820 and 1823 / by William Sweetser. 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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    It is said that terror will sometimes make the hair to stand erect. Whether this ever happens, or how it is caused if it do happen, I am ignorant. Baron Larrey, in a memoir on partial tetanus, relates a case of this disease in which the .hairs of the mustachios on the right side stood on end, and were excessively painful on being cut, or even touched. The effect which the depressing passions have on the appearance of the skin may be daily witnessed. How sallow, pale, and sickly is the complexion of the man whose days are passed in gloomy, melancholy repinings! The blood deserts the capillaries of the surface, and all the actions of these vessels become sluggish, or, in some instances, even morbid. But very different is the external appearance of those, who with light hearts and buoyant spirits, gratefully receive all the blessings which are bestowed upon them. In such, there is a fulness of the vessels of the surface, imparting to it a fresh and ruddy hue, lighting up the eye, ami giving beauty and intelligence to the whole countenance. In some of the passions, as fear and horror, the blood seems entirely to forsake the skin ; it becomes pale, cold, and shivering, and often a peculiar creeping sensation is felt in it, which persons commonly express by saying, the) crawl all over. This feeling is proba- bly connected in some way with its capillary circula- tion. Some of the passions, when excessive, as anger and grief, are said to produce erysipelas. I have at this time under my care a young lady, possessing a pecu- liarly delicate, irritable skin, in whom mental agitation. 13