On rheumatism, rheumatic gout, and sciatica : their pathology, symptoms, and treatment / by Henry William Fuller.

  • Fuller, Henry William, 1820-1873.
Date:
1856
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On rheumatism, rheumatic gout, and sciatica : their pathology, symptoms, and treatment / by Henry William Fuller. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    57/494 (page 31)
    CHAPTER II. ON THE HEEEDITAEY CHAHACTEE OE RHEUMATISM. In tlie Introductory Chapter, I have directed attention to a certain state of constitution in which a strong tendency to rheumatism exists as a sequel of disordered or perverted nutrition. To determine the conditions which favour the production of such a state, to ascertain the laws which govern its development, and to discover, if possible, some means of checking or arresting its progress, is a matter of some importance; and I will, therefore, endeavour to bring together various circumstances which appear to throw some light on the subject. One of the most suggestive, and for practical purposes the most important, is the hereditary character of the disease under consideration. Rheumatism, like gout, is distinctly hereditary. From father to son its seeds are transmitted and bear fruit in exact proportion to the degree in which circumstances prove favorable to their growth. In those persons who are exposed to atmospheric vicissi- tudes, and pay little heed to their general health, the soil is congenial and admirably adapted for the full development of the disease; malassimilation is very likely to occur; the skin performs its function irregularly; and the poison thus generated and retained in the system can hardly fail to bear fruit to perfection. Not only will a rheumatic diathesis be