A manual of medical diagnosis / by A.W. Barclay.

  • Andrew Whyte Barclay
Date:
1857
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A manual of medical diagnosis / by A.W. Barclay. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.

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    ■ j CHAPTER III. I - GENERAL CONDITION OF TEIE RATIENT. i ■ yjeclire and Subjective Phenomena—General Sjimptoms ; Skin; II Pulse; Tongue; Bowels and Kidneys ; Thirst and Hunger-— I Appearance—Position or Posture—Sensations—Particular j Signs. I ’^E next proceed to inquire into the genei'al state of '^te patient at the time of observation ; our information juing derived from a consideration of all those phe- j'jmena which are not confined s])ecifically to any par- ■ cular organ. They are either objective or subjective. ]'Objective phenomena, in their relation to a genei'al j-ate, are those changes in the condition of vital !3 . . ^ J inctions of which the observer becomes conscious by (iis own perceptions. They may, to a certain extent, oiut out the actual seat of disease, but generally they ijkknowledge a variety of causes, and therefore only ive the way for further investigation. They are |luuch more trustworthy than subjective phenomena, l/ecausc to them we can ajijily the test of experience j, ad comparison, which gives them a certain relative |•aluo, in all cases in which they are found. They are < idependent of the patient’s sensations or imagination, are le.ss under the control of his volition ; they I'e therefore less liable to be simulated or exatrsie- Mited. I Subjective phenomena have special reference to the |i msations of the patient; they express to a certain xtent his consciousness of general derangement of rfjital functions; but their more direct tendency is to f oint out the jiarticular function which is disturbed, i tid hence the particular organ or portion of the body i[l'here tlisease is located.