Researches on Primary Pathology, and the Origin and Laws of Epidemics (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1858 edition. Excerpt: ... of flux, hemorrhage, dropsy, pain, convulsions, coma and appoplexy. To recapitulate: --It has now appeared, 1, that there is nothing in the present state of Medicine which forbids the conclusion that it is capable of being reduced to a demonstra tive science--nothing in the diversity of pathological phenomena which forbids the conclusion that all are produced by a common cause. 2. That the names of special diseases refer to organs, localities, and prominent symptoms, but do not imply states or causes, and therefore do not obstruct the conclusion that all are produced by a common cause. 3. That all exciting or predisposing causes of disease, produce a common state, marked by the terms debility, dilatation, congestion and obstruction. 4. That these terms are marks of each other, and marks of pressure. 5. That congestion, pressure--venous congestion, a retrograde pressure of venous blood--is a vera causa of flux, hemorrhage, dropsy, pain, convulsions, coma and apoplexy. We have thus obtained the inductive step to the general conclusion that debility, congestion, or pressure, is the cause of ALL pathological phenomena--that venous congestion, a retrograde pressure of venous blood, is the cause of all constitutional diseases-and if it hereafter appears that congestion is common to all, that venous congestion is common to all constitutional affections, that it precedes and coexists with all, then that general conclusion will receive, if not demonstration, at least very strong support. The deductions do not appear to us to be sound, much as we respect the effort at generalization. Every effort of this kind is valuable. The cause of all disease cannot lie far, it appears to us, from defects in the causes of life and health--the...