Lettsomian lectures delivered at the Medical Society of London, 1872, on the pathology and treatment of some diseases of the liver / by S.O. Habershon.

  • Habershon, S. O. (Samuel Osborne), 1825-1889.
Date:
1885
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Lettsomian lectures delivered at the Medical Society of London, 1872, on the pathology and treatment of some diseases of the liver / by S.O. Habershon. 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.

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    the same fact. In glycosuria we have the formation of products closely allied to other normal constituents, glycocoll, &c.; in ordinary bilious disturbance the presence of uro-haematine in excess shows also that the blood-relation function is changed; but in acute yellow atrophy we have, to use the expression of the late Professor Miller, the elements of putrefactive change; for these abnormal products that have been mentioned may be produced from albuminoid sub- stance by fusing with caustic alkali, aminonia is thereby evolved, and an offensive ffecal odour is admitted. Leucine is an unctuous substance, but tyrosine is easily obtained in long fibrous crystals, sparingly soluble in water. Acute yellow atrophy is nearly always fatal, and its whole history testifies to its close connection with the nervous system. We believe that successful treatment must be in the same direction; the administration of mercury is probably as likely to be successful as when given in severe septicEemia. There are, however, instances of the disease in a partial as well as in a more chronic form^ in which there is, red discoloration of the liver, and these cases sometimes recover; we have thought that the partial fatty degeneration may have been due to some such cause. The microscopical examination of the gland in acute yellow atrophy shows that the hepatic cells are degenerated, or replaced by granular matter— crystals of tyrosine may be observed ; but in instances of red discoloration fibroid tissue may be detected permeating the minute structure of the acini. In the