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.

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    vapour; all this time there is another process going forward also, which is the removal of superfluous matter by the absorbents, if it were not for these there would be inconvenient accumulation of what is deposited by the arteries, the serous cavities as that of the abdomen for instance would become dropsical, if the capillary arteries went on moistening the internal surface and there were no absorbents to carry off the superfluous moisture, thus we see that absorbents take up the nourishment from the food to supply the wants of the system, absorbents take up also the particles which be- come superfluous according as the arteries deposit fresh matter, and these absorbents, like the lacteals, mix their contents with the old blood to be repurified; the de- posit or precipitation of solid matter by the arteries is not difficult to understand, and we can by a reference to chemical action account for the removal also of solids, for solids become fluid (or gaseous) by what is called spontaneous decomposition and thus removable by absorbents, now whilst bone is healthy it is protected by its membranes from the action of solvents, but when inflammation surrounds it there is an extravasation of serous fluid in contact with it which helps to dissolve it and when dissolved the absorbents will carry away the solution. The REMovAL of Bone by the pressure of tumours, aneurisms, abcess, &c. as well as the CHANNELS left in exostoses for the vessels which traverse them, is effected by pressure against vessels, not against bone, the pres- sure of a tumour causes death of the part of bone, by compressing its vessels and so stopping the supply of nourishment, the bone when dead becomes decom-