A treatise on fevers : including the various species of simple and eruptive fevers / by A. P. Wilson Philip.

  • Alexander Wilson Philip
Date:
1820
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A treatise on fevers : including the various species of simple and eruptive fevers / by A. P. Wilson Philip. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by King’s College London. The original may be consulted at King’s College London.

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    knowledge extends, an acquaintance with them may prove more useful. Those whose observations have served most to advance the knowledge of diseases, have accurately observed and re- corded every fact which presented itself. And many facts which appeared useless have, in a more advanced state of science, served to point out distinctions and analogies, which could not have suggested themselves to the first observer. Of the foregoing sets of symptoms, that which forms the diagnosis is the most important. The diagnostic symptoms of diseases have been collected into short sentences, which have been termed their characters or definitions, by means of which the learner is assisted in acquiring the power of dis- tinguishing them ; and for the purpose of farther aiding the memory, these characters have been variously arranged, or digested into systems. The general principle on which such systems are con- structed is very simple. From the symptoms common to the characters of those diseases which resemble each other, a general character is formed, under which the particular characters are arranged, and which is termed the character of the order. And in like manner from the characters of several orders, having certain symptoms in common, the character of a class including these orders is formed. Thus diseases are arranged under classes, orders, and genera.. The genera being occasionally divided into species, and these into varieties. There are two things, then, aimed at by the nosologist; the first, to give an accurate character of each disease, by which is meant (as appears from what has just been said) not an account of all the symptoms, not a description of the disease as it really appears, but merely an enumeration of a certain set of its symptoms, which either at the same time or in suc- cession constantly attend it, and distinguish it from others.— The second thing aimed at by the nosologist is to arrange the characters of diseases methodically, that is, in such a way as best assists the memory. In each we shall find difficulties which appear to be unsurmountable, so that a perfect system of nosology is not to be expected ; but we have reason to believe that there is still much room for improving our pre- sent systems. Dr. Cullen’s system, both in its arrangement and defini- tions, so much excels those which preceded it, that it will
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