A treatise on relapsing or famine fever / by R.T. Lyons.

  • Lyons, R. T.
Date:
1872
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A treatise on relapsing or famine fever / by R.T. Lyons. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    altogether to doubt or deny tlie reality of this form of fever as a distinct disease. It must be patent to all, that under this name has been comprised every form of specific fever now recognised as existing in tbis country. One after tbe otber bave typboid and relapsing fever and typbus, as tbey were recognised by various observers, displaced or reduced tbe prevalence, so to speak, of malarious remittent fever. Tbe universal and constant occurrence in tbe past of tbis disease, was in fact due to tbe non-recognition of tbe specific fevers, wbicb were accordingly promiscuously set down as malarious remittent fever. Its prevalence in tbe future will, I believe, be reduced to still smaller dimensions, as tbe practical knowledge of tbe specific fevers becomes more generally diffused. Its existence appears to depend upon tbe circumstance tbat tbe specific fevers are not always recognised, and tbat tbeir symptoms are in many mstances obscure, or modified in tbis country in a'manner wbicb bas not yet been fully investigated. Tbe occurrence of relaps.es bas afforded a safe index, un- embarrassed by tbe imaginary risk of confusion witb rnalari- ous remittent fever, as tbis cbaracteristic is not attributed to tbe latter disease by tbe systematic writers. Unfortu- nately, several of tbe accounts contain no statement regard- ing relapses; but tbe omission bas been ascribed to tbe sbortcomings of tbe writers in all cases wbere tbe general symptoms are consistent witb tbe natural bistory of relaps- ing fever. In some of tbe accounts it will be observed tbat tbe narrators bave overlooked tbe relapses m tbe des- cription of symptoms, but bave accidentaUy, as it were, m tbe course of tbe narrative, amply suppbed tbe omission. It will not, tberefore, be deemed to be altogether^ arbiti-ary to infer tbat those writers who bave not mentioned tbe occurrence of relapses in an epidemic which m its general features was one of relapsing fever, had failed to note an incident wbicb bad actually transpii-ed. It should also be remembered that relapses do not invariably happen, while in many instances they are so moderate as hardly to attract tbe attention of an observer who is not speciaUy on the watch for them. , ., . t i f^u Witb regard to some of tbe mmor epidemics, I bave telt
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