A compend of the practice of medicine / by Dan'l E. Hughes.

  • Hughes, Daniel E., 1851-1902.
Date:
1903, ©1899
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A compend of the practice of medicine / by Dan'l E. Hughes. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Augustus C. Long Health Sciences Library at Columbia University and Columbia University Libraries/Information Services, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the the Augustus C. Long Health Sciences Library at Columbia University and Columbia University.

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    When the disease is allowed to run its natural course without attempting its removal, but being constantly on the alert for obstacles to its successful issue, such as the generally adopted plan of treating continued fevers, it is called Expectant treatment. When the disease is incurable, and removal of marked suffering is the object, it is called Palliative treatment. When marked weakness and prostration are to be overcome, it is called Restorative treatment. FEVERS. Fever is a condition in which the temperature of the human body is raised above .the normal limit,—98.2° F.,—and there are present the phenomena of quickened circulation, marked tissue change, and disordered secretions.^ ^'Wq primary cause of the fever phenomena is still a mooted ques- tion, and is either a disorder of the sympathetic nervous system giv- ing rise to disturbances of the vaso-motor filaments, or a derangement of the nervous centres located adjacent to the corpus striatum, which have been found, by experiment, to govern the processes of heat pro- duction, distribution, and dissipation, or a toxsemia,—viz. : ptomaines, uraemia, or other poisons,—or of a bacterial origin. Rise of temperature is the preeminent feature of all fevers, and can only be positively determined by the use of the clinical thermometer, TJie i&rmfeverishness is used when the temperature ranges from 99° to 100° F.; slight fever if 100° or 101°; moderate, 102° or 103°; high if 104° or 105° ; and intense if it exceed the latter. The term hyper- pyrexia is used when the temperature shows a tendency to remain at 106° F. and above. Quickened circulation is the rule in fevers, the frequency usually maintaining a fair ratio with the increase of the temperature. A rise of one degree Fahrenheit is usually attended with an increase of eight to ten beats of the pulse per minute.