An inaugural dissertation, upon the action of cold, upon the human body, and its application to the cure of diseases : submitted to the examination of the Rev. John Andrews ..., the Trustees and Medical Faculty, of the University of Pennsylvania, on the tenth of April, 1807 : for the degree of Doctor of Medicine / by Robert Miller, of Virginia.

  • Miller, Robert, 1792-1857.
Date:
1807
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: An inaugural dissertation, upon the action of cold, upon the human body, and its application to the cure of diseases : submitted to the examination of the Rev. John Andrews ..., the Trustees and Medical Faculty, of the University of Pennsylvania, on the tenth of April, 1807 : for the degree of Doctor of Medicine / by Robert Miller, of Virginia. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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    Athly, From the gradual diminution and final extinc tion of the powers of life, produced by the continued action of cold. Those who perish from cold, we are told are affected iji the following manner. '* After having their feet first seized till they grow past feeling it, the rest of their bodies is so invaded that they are taken with a drowsiness that gives them an extreme propensity to sleep, which if indulged, they awake no more but die insensibly. 5tbly, from the great susceptibility which it creates to the stimulus of heat. Hence the glow which almost every person has experienced on coming out of the cold bath. Hence Catarrhs, Pleurisies and the train of diseases which depend on the sensible qualities of the atmosphere. Cold by accumulating excitability predisposes to those diseases, but it doe's no more. It is the stimulus of heat succeeding too suddenly an exposure to Cold, that does all the mischief. This is proven by the fact that a person who has been exposed to cold though ever so intense, will experience no disease provided he is careful to restore the heat of his body gradually. Those who maintain that cold stimulates, have often ascribed to cold what was the effect of heat. 6tb, And lastly, I infer that cold is a sedative from the strong analogy which it bears in its effects to fear, to Venesection and the like powers which are known to be directly debilitating. This analogy will be frequently hinted at in the subsequent pages of this essay. It will be particularly obvious when we come to apply our remedy to the cure of diseases. I shall endeavour to shew that it is of especial use in cases of high morbid excitement where Bloodletting is indicated; in short I view cold as aai auxiliary to the Laneet.