An experimental inquiry into the laws of the vital functions : with some observations on the nature and treatment of internal diseases / by A.P. Wilson Philip.

Alexander Wilson Philip

Date:: 1817

Credit: An experimental inquiry into the laws of the vital functions : with some observations on the nature and treatment of internal diseases / by A.P. Wilson Philip. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by King’s College London. The original may be consulted at King’s College London.

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$totfl§%i'th'th^'fchanges of structure which occa-: sidtrf'<h^{li£Jfor although the sensations of whichn t&S pkti'eWt complains are often ill defined, anda If sometimes not referred to the seat of the mornr bid action, yet the same morbid action almost always produces nearly the same train of sympr^? toms. Nothing appears more to have retarded th'^'^^Drogress of medical knowledge, than th©i obstacles which have in all ages been opposed to the inspection of dead bodies. The gi'eat importance of the information thus obtained^s however,* has been slowly reconciling the public ^ iiiind to il j- send we rnay with confidence antii7 ci]!)ht^f^*be 'g¥e?i1feefet improvements from the inn cr^liiing'frfeq'fifetid^ of this practice ; without which' Wei carl no more acquire a knowledge ©I th^ diseased states of the body, than we can bfiv its healthy state withdut the aid of anatomy^/xior -Ji.But neither aiiafiOitiy nor the inspection of morbid bodies cati teach us the nature of th©) functions.'f« A! knowledge of them can only be acqtiired bfy comparing the' structure of th©! oro-ans with the actions observed in them whileii their vital pbwer remains. Some of these ac-»i tioTis-are *he objects of simple observation in oUf'^'btrw /bbdieS'and those of other animals. AT*atoTfty>'^for/exatnple, teaches us the structure;* position, and attachments of the muscles; < obn ? s^iV^tion readily points out their function,and - by'-the lesion of this funtitidn we jodige .'qf-thxp'$