A manual of the practice of medicine / by George Hilaro Barlow.

  • Barlow, George Hilaro, 1806-1866.
Date:
1861
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A manual of the practice of medicine / by George Hilaro Barlow. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Leeds Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Leeds Library.

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    EFFECTS OF HEAT AND COLD. seDsation of cold applied to the surface ; and so favour its action in producing internal congestions : and it is probably, on tbis account, that during sleep the system is much more prone, than at other times, to suffer from the influence of cold. The effect of cold, m producing internal inflammations,_ is very remarkable, when it is applied to parts, _ largely su.pplied with sentient nerves, and which are ordinarily protected, by warm covering or otherwise; especially when compared with its effects upon other parts, similarly supplied with nerves, but not similarly protected: thus the sensation, produced by cold ap- plied to the feet of those who are commonly warmly shod, is most intense, and apt to produce internal congestions ; although the same individual may expose his hand to great cold without any ill effect, or even inconvenience—a circumstance which seems to imply that the nei-vous system plays an active part in the production of these results. Another illustration, of the effect of cold acting through the agency of the nervous systgm, is seen, in the-almost sudden death which has sometimes ensued upon drinMng large draughts of cold water, when the system has been much heated and exhausted by previous exertion ; in such cases it is probable that the heart has been stopped by the shock produced by the sudden impression upon the nerves of the stomach, much as a pugilist has been sometimes felled by a blow over the same organ. Cold liquids, taken internally, have also been known to pro- duce an injurious effect, in a less sudden manner, by checking the action of the skin, and, probably, that of the kidneys also, and so inducing dropsy. Of this, an instance is recorded by De Haen, who mentions that the greater part of the army of Charles V., in his expedition against Tunis, were attacked with dropsy, in consequence of the soldiers having freely quenched their thirst with cold water, when under great fatigue and per- spu'ation. The depressing effects of cold may be resisted, or greatly mitigated, by a vigorous state of the circulation, which quickly restores the heat that is lost; and, by that tone, or power of endui-ance, in the nervous system, which we can best describe, by characterizing it as opposite to that which is induced by, a too careful, exclusion of cold, and application of artificial warmth. This vigorous state, of the vascular and nervous systems, is promoted by habitual exercise, the occasional pradent application of cold, and by a moderate nourishing diet. There are causes of disease which act on large numbers, and with great violence at certain times, and in certain places only, (generally by the slow introduction of a poison by the prima} vise, or in some cases by the lungs), but wliich can hardly be said to be endemic. Of these we have instances,—