The nature of inflammation, and the principles on which it should be treated, examined from a common sense point of view / by Thomas Inman. To which is added, A history of atheroma in arteries, its nature and alliances, showing the bond of union between consumption, aneurism, apoplexy, scrofula, and fatty degenerations of the heart and other organs.

Thomas Inman

Date:: [1860?]

Credit: The nature of inflammation, and the principles on which it should be treated, examined from a common sense point of view / by Thomas Inman. To which is added, A history of atheroma in arteries, its nature and alliances, showing the bond of union between consumption, aneurism, apoplexy, scrofula, and fatty degenerations of the heart and other organs. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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have come to the conclusion that they are, in the majority of cases, absolutely unnecessary, and in many, really prejudicial; and, farther, that when they do appear to do good, it is simply by giving increased comfort to the patient: no one enjoys a stuffed rectum, and all, V'hether well or ill, like to have it emptied, as they would a midden when it was chock-fuU. The persistent use of pm-gatives weakens the system, produces flatulence, and impairs digestion. Opium is of indirect good in some inflammations ;—it relieves pain and procures rest. This saves the patient's strength. It does farther —it diminishes the vital attraction between the blood and the tissue, and, in some instances, e. g., ordinary catarrh, reduces the secretion from mucous membranes, (a fact recognized, too, in the dry mouth accom- panying the after-effects of laudanum, &c.) It is particularly useful in peritonitis, severe pleurisy, and orchitis. I will not, at present, continue this subject farther, but wiU, with your permission, attempt to epitomise the conclusions to which I have been wishing you to arrive. 1. —That many things are called inflammation which are not so in reality. 2. —That the presence of inflammation pre-supposes an overcoming of the vital powers by some cause of disease. 3. —That inflammation is, to a certain extent, the result of debility, and always the cause of local or general diminution of vital power. 4. —That it is essentially a process of deteriorated nutrition. 5. —That the type of inflammation varies with its cause and the condition of the patient. 6. —That most inflammations have a definite course, which can only be slightly modified by treatment. 7. —That the adhcesive or suppurative types of the complaint are determined by the vital condition of the patient. 8. —That in all inflammations there are two stages ; one of invasion, mischief-making, and destruction, the other of reparation. 9. —That any plan of treatment, e. g., vcnoesection, which materially weakens the constitution, though it may appear to mitigate the first stage, materially lengthens the second. 10. —That bleeding has already been abandoned in many inflammatory diseases, in which it once was popular, and that modern experience is adding others to that category ; that the same may be said of antimony and mercury. ] 1.—That many inflammations, such as the rubeolar, scarlatinal, gouty, erysipelatous, and catarrhal, have a direct tendency to get well of themselves, without any interference.

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