The morbid anatomy of the liver : being an inquiry into the anatomical character, symptoms and treatment, of certain diseases which impair or destroy the structure of that viscus / by J.R. Farre.

  • Farre, J. R. (John Richard), 1775-1862.
Date:
1812
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The morbid anatomy of the liver : being an inquiry into the anatomical character, symptoms and treatment, of certain diseases which impair or destroy the structure of that viscus / by J.R. Farre. 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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    greater degree than it was fair to impute to the great bulk of the liver; his pulse was natural, his appetite defective, his bowels rather torpid. There was no obstruction to the circulation of blood through the liver, for there was no effusion into the peritoneum, nor to the flow of bile, for the skin and urine were not in the slightest degree jaundiced. Very little was at- tempted by medicine, except to regulate the bowels by rhubarb, and to allay pain or procure sleep by opium. In the month of April he still attended to his business, and was strong enough to go up and down two pair of stairs without assistance. On the 31st of May he was seized with a suppression of urine, which was removed by a full dose of opium. Early in June a recurrence of this affection, in a slighter degree, yielded to the same remedy. In this month serum was effused into the peritoneum. The quantity was inconsiderable, but this superficial interposition of a fluid between the peritoneal tunic of the liver and the other peritoneal surfaces, so much diminished the uneasy sensations which he had before felt, that the opiate was now less indicated to relieve pain, than to control a diarrhoea under which he began to suffer. The enlargement of the liver had been progressive, and the gibbous edges of its right and left lobes were, at this time, felt much below the umbilicus. Now the functions of the alimentary canal were badly performed: his tongue was red and glossy, and his appetite failed. His pulse became frequent, his dyspnoea and cough increased, he expectorated thickened mucus, sweated pro- fusely, wasted rapidly, and was incapable of helping himself. In
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