Volume 1

Two lectures on the application of the stethoscope to the diagnosis and treatment of thoracic disease / By William Stokes.

  • Stokes, William, 1804-1878.
Date:
1828
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Two lectures on the application of the stethoscope to the diagnosis and treatment of thoracic disease / By William Stokes. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    certainty of diagnosis in diseases of the heart has been considered by some as useless, because they are gene¬ rally incurable ! Such an opinion is hardly worth refuting. “ If we are ignorant of diseases of the <c heart,” says Senac, “ we shall pronounce rashly on “ an infinite number of cases; we shall fatigue our “ patients with hurtful or useless remedies; we shall “ hasten death by treating some diseases like those “ which are of a totally different nature; we shall be “ exposed to shameful discoveries by the opening of “ bodies. Finally, danger will be at hand when we “ think it at a distance.” It is quite erroneous to say, that because a disease is incurable it is useless to detect its existence. How many diseases are there whose cure is beyond the power of art, and in which the duty of the physician is to alleviate suffering and prolong life; but to do so with any prospect of advantage, it is absolutely neces¬ sary that he should understand their nature. With respect to diseases of the heart there are two important applications of the Stethoscope; first, as an assistant in their detection. One of the principal diffi¬ culties in this investigation is, that when the lungs are engaged, the action of the heart is often so much increased as completely to simulate disease. Hence it is obvious, that before we can make any diagnosis as to the existence of disease of the heart, the state of the lung must be known. This is only to be done with accuracy by the Stethoscope, for this reason, that if disease of the heart exists, it very often masks the symptoms of pulmonary affections, so as to make them undiscoverable by external symptoms alone.