The water-cure in chronic disease : an exposition of the causes, progress and terminations of various chronic diseases of the digestive organs ... and of their treatment by water, and other hygienic means / by James Manby Gully.

  • Gully, James Manby, 1808-1883.
Date:
[1847?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The water-cure in chronic disease : an exposition of the causes, progress and terminations of various chronic diseases of the digestive organs ... and of their treatment by water, and other hygienic means / by James Manby Gully. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    CHAPTER III. DOCTRINE OF CHRONIC DISEASE. Passage of acute into chronic disease—How caused hy drug medication —Imperfect and forced crises produced by it—Loss of vitality in tlie blood-vessels, a source of irritation to other parts—Parallel between the states producing acute and chronic disease—Changes of secretion and sensation illustrated in dyspepsia, chronic disease of the lungs, &c.—General conclusion. SurrosiNG acute disease neither to terminate in death nor in some complete critical action raised in another than the morbid organ or set of organs, there remains a third ter- mination of it—and that is “ chronic disease.” To this the ordinary mode of drug medication in acute diseases tends most powerfully. I will endeavour to show how. A simple inflammatory action of the stomach, such as I have described in the last chapter, being endowed with the name of “ acute indigestion,” is treated as such; that name is treated; the inflammation would appear never to be considered — at least it is charitable to suppose so. For what is donel Three or four grains of a highly irritating compound of mercury, called calomel, are ad- ministered, the aim being to urge the liver to pour out its bile. After this has remained in the stomach for a few hours, violently irritating it, and calling to its already gorged mucous membrane a further sujjply of blood, another kind of irritant is administered, in the shape of a ])urgative saline draught; the aim of that being to cause tlie secretion of a vast quantity of mucus from the whole digestive canal, and especially from the stomach. Now, in this process two things are to be remarked: first, that calomel does not stimulate the liver to act, ex- cept by previously stimulating tlie stomach; it acts, and can act only, by extension of irritation from the stomach to the liver; it never touches the liver at all—it is phy-