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.

    34/142 (page 26)
    disorganisation that would otherwise take place, in common language prevents blistering; the mischief is caused by exhaustion of the nervous influences, the sudden removal of the excitant leaves the capillaries destitute, and they yield immediately to the ordinary injecting force, but if the excitation is renewed by hold- ing the part to the fire nervous influence is supplied from the neighbouring parts to the capillaries, with pain certainly, but by gradually removing from the heat the nervous influence will be gradually supplied, till the excitant be reduced to a natural standard, re- lieving the pain and incipient inflammation, this I con- sider to be a proof that the diminution of nervous in- fluence rather than alteration of tissue is the proximate cause of the relaxation of the capillaries, for if it were alteration of the tissue not diminution of tone, the re- newal of the heat would add to the previous mischief instead of relieving. The progress of inflammation shews the dependance of the capillaries on the nerves, a part may in certain cases be observed to become tender before it is red; for it may be seen by experiment that the pleura or peritoneum of an animal is not tender immediately on exposure, it first becomes tender and then red. The ac- tion of cantharides in producing inflammation is another proof that inflammation begins in the nerve, for can- tharides have no effect on the tissue of the capillaries, do not corrode or act in any way on their substance after death, when the nerves have no influence, whereas any really corrosive agent would act even more on the dead, than on the living capillaries ; without at present seeking for further proofs, I deduce from blushing, and