First principles of medicine / By Archibald Billing.

  • Archibald Billing
Date:
1831
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: First principles of medicine / By Archibald Billing. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    138/142 (page 130)
    » said, and is still thought by many, that when blood is vomited, or passed downwards, or coughed up, that there has been a rupture of a blood vessel, but though this does sometimes happen, the most common source of the blood is the capillary exhalants. Amenorrhea causes sympathetic vomiting of blood, so does chronic hepatitis, the local inflammation or con- gestion of the intestines in fever, and other affections, brings blood from the surface of the prime vie, bron- chitis causes spitting of blood, and sometimes tolerably copious, without rupture of vessel. Now in all these cases, the symptom must not be combated by any specific treatment, no more than inflammation, or dropsy, but according to the state of the constitution, according to the distinction made of active, and passive hcemorrhages ; the active by antiphlogistic means, bleeding, and seda- tives; the passive hcemorrhages such as those at the close of fever, and many cases of menorhagia, most directly, and safely by opiates, with astringents of course, in both cases. And even after active hoemorr- hages are subdued the patient must not be kept too low, as some strength is required to produce the healthy healing of parts which have been injured. I have here endeavored to lay down principles in abstract, which may apply to particular cases of disease as they occur; for the explanation of phenomena refer- ring to the action of nerves and capillaries, nerves and capillaries together, not artificially separated, but con- sidered as they exist, ramifying with and supporting each other mutually throughout; by their combined action upon the blood, sent to them by the heart, pro-