An introduction to hospital practice, in various complaints: being a clinical report of fever, gout, rheumatism, cholera, jaundice, erysipelas, insanity, &c., and diseases of the chest and heart. With remarks on their treatment and pathology / by C. J. B. Aldis.

  • Aldis, C. J. B. (Charles James Berridge), 1808-1872.
Date:
1835
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: An introduction to hospital practice, in various complaints: being a clinical report of fever, gout, rheumatism, cholera, jaundice, erysipelas, insanity, &c., and diseases of the chest and heart. With remarks on their treatment and pathology / by C. J. B. Aldis. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.

    51/154 (page 29)
    from the effect of the opium. The next day he was quite well, and left town for Woodstock. Pathology of Continued Fever. “ It has long been acknowledged in the schools of medicine, that the foundation of a rational education in physic must be laid in a minute and accurate acquaintance with the appearances and treatment of the different kinds of fever.”—Thomson on Inflammation, p. 40. In this department I shall confine myself principally to the post-mortem appearances, the symptoms having already been detailed in the cases. The pathology of fever is very interesting, but our patholo- gical inquiries will fail us in many respects; nevertheless, there are many organic changes which come under the notice of the physician. What part is most frequently affected in fever? It would be inconsistent, in a work like the present, to give all the different opinions on this subject, which may be found in the dif- ferent publications on the practice of physic. Some have thought the brain the most frequent local seat of fever, others the intes- tines. I was taught to consider serous effusion on the surface of the brain or in the ventricles the most common pathological appearance; since I have collected numerous cases of fever, and seen a great number examined, I have been compelled to come to the conclusion, that the mucous membrane of the intestines is more frequently affected than any other part. Sometimes we are unable to discover any structural lesion after the most careful examination. We will now describe the morbid alterations, or organic changes, which may exist in the three different cavities of the body during continued fever. Head.—Increased vascularity of the membranes of the brain, with serous or purulent effusions. Opacity and thickening of the arachnoid. Sometimes minute red spots are found in the sub- stance of the brain, when vessels are cut through, distended with blood. Sometimes the veins connected with the brain are very turgid. Fluid in the ventricles. Effusions of coagulated lymph. Chest.—The lungs may be full of blood, or frothy serum. In a subsequent period they become condensed from a deposition of coagulable lymph. The trachea and bronchi may exhibit patches of ulceration. These pulmonary obstructions will account for the lividity of the countenance, noticed in some cases of fever.