Clinical researches on auscultation of the respiratory organs, and on the first stage of phthisis pulmonalis. Part 1 / by Jules Fournet ; translated from the French by Thomas Brady.

  • Fournet Jules.
Date:
1841
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Clinical researches on auscultation of the respiratory organs, and on the first stage of phthisis pulmonalis. Part 1 / by Jules Fournet ; translated from the French by Thomas Brady. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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

    37/262 (page 11)
    Ihiiraidity ; and tliis cliaracter becomes more and more marked, in propor- ttion as the sponge contains a greater quantity of liquid. When this pas- «ses a certain limit, when it is in such quantity that each little column of nair that penetrates into the cells of the sponge can expand, and form a i little bubble, such as is formed by blowing with a tube into any kind of 1 liquid, then the sensation changes. C. If this change in the sponge, from a dry to a humid state, be con- , ducted by insensible gradations, we perceive the humid character increase, I remain for a time homogeneous, and then divide into a number of smaU 1 imequal consecutive sounds; these afterwards become more marked, sepa- irate a little from each other, assume each a rounded form, and at length , produce the sensation of bubbles originating, being developed, and burst- i ing; at this point, the humid character deserves the name of buhhUng; but • it always leaves on the ear its primary impression of humidity. We can easily vary the results, by varying the fineness or coarseness . of the sponge, its degree of expansion, the conditions of its tissue as to textm-e and motion, and the nature of the fluid with which it is moist- ened. I have, in this way, by producing in the sponge a certain number of the anatomico-pathological conditions of the lungs, succeeded in ob- taining artificiaUy several of the physical signs furnished by these organs. I con&ie myself to a description of some effects which have a more direct connexion with some symptoms I shall have to describe. 1st. The character of dryness and hardness in the sound produced by the alternate compression and expansion of a dry sponge, may have dif- ferent degrees; these degrees vary according as the sponge is more or less fine or pliable, and free from all admixtui-e with foreign bodies, or as it is hard, stiff, coarse, and contains the Uttle sheUs we sometimes find scattered through it. These different forms, these different degrees of dryness and hardness, may be compared to the same characters presented sometimes by the respiratory murmurs; for example, to the character of dryness in cases of severe emphysema, or rather to the hard, rough, crumpling character we meet in the first stage of phthisis; or still more to the crumpling sound, to the dry crackling ronchus which is in like manner produced in the same disease at the same period. 2nd. If the sponge be moistened with water simply, the impression of humidity felt resembles the sensation produced by the respiration of an {edematous lung. It seems as if the ear perceived that the liquid, with which the sponge is moistened, is devoid of consistence and viscidity. 3rd. In fact, if the sponge is soaked in blood, or in a slightly sirupy or gummy liquid, the ear at once feels that the dilatation of the sponge no longer takes place in the same way ; it feels distinctly the impression of something viscid,fatty, glutinous; and this impression resembles the sen- sation produced by the auscultation of a lung in a state of active sangui- neom congestion, (see first part, ch. 17, sect. 2, 5, 3). This character of the respiration accompanies htemoptysis.