Of the causes and signs of acute and chronic disease / translated by T. F.Reynolds.

  • Aretaeus, of Cappadocia.
Date:
1837
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Of the causes and signs of acute and chronic disease / translated by T. F.Reynolds. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.

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    soft, free from smell, smooth and round, and quickly coughed up or evacuated below, betokens good, while, what is very pale, of a bilious hue, or not of uniform consistency, portends mischief; the livid or black, how- ever, are much worse than the other varieties, for they indicate putridity and eroding ulceration. Attention must be paid to the habit of the patient, and the concomitant symptoms of the disease. If after this excretion, he find himself better, free from fever, di- gestion return, he become firm in flesh, and of good appetite, if the cough be easy, the pulse and general tone of body good, he is out of danger; while, if there be an accession of fever, and matters get worse, the case is hopeless. Regard should also be paid to the place where \ abscess occurs, for when empyema takes place in the sternum, suppuration goes on slowly, for the parts here are cartilaginous, and not fleshy, and such are not readily affected with any great inflammation, bnt remain for a long time without suppurating, for cartilage is cold in its nature, and its inflammations not dangerous; and although they may waste the body, the process of suppuration is not of long du- ration, but the spleen, liver, lungs, and diaphragm soon fall into this state, which is highly dangerous : and fatal.