Volume 1

A system of medicine / edited by J. Russell Reynolds.

Date:
1866-1879
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A system of medicine / edited by J. Russell Reynolds. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    911/976 (page 891)
    RHEUMATISM. By Alfred Baring Garrod, M.D. F.R.S. The subject of Rheumatism will be discussed in the present article under the heads of Articular and Muscular Rheumatism; the first, or Articular Rheumatism, in its more acute form, being commonly known as Rheumatic Fever. Such a division has been adopted, as it is a question, at the present day, whether the articular and muscular affections are in reality manifestations of the same disease. A. Articular Rheumatism. Definition.—(1) Acute Articular Rheumatism. A specific inflam- mation of the structures in and around the joints, attended with great febrile disturbance ; erratic ; not accompanied with deposits of urate of soda, and (?) not leading to suppuration. (2) Sub-acute Articular Rheumatism. The same affection as the above, but manifested in a much less intense degree, and with little febrile disturbance ; generally following upon the acute disease. , Synonyms.—Rheumatic fever. Arthritis. History.—Although there is every probability that mankind was afflicted with Rheumatism from the very earliest periods, still we gather from the writings of ancient physicians that they did not separate this malady from other forms of joint disease, but com- prehended all of them under the general term arthritis, the only distinction being made dependent on the particular articulations implicated. Monsieur Baillon, a French physician, first made use of the word Rheumatism (from pev/ia, a stream, a fluxion): in a Latin treatise published in 1642, entitled De Rheumatismo et Pleuritide Dorsali, he separates this disease from gout in the following sentence : “ Gout is a disease of a certain part, and periodical; rheumatism of the whole body, and more uncertain in its attack.” Sydenham afterwards makes a distinction between the two affections: “ This disease, when unattended with fever, is frequently mistaken for gout, although it differs essentially therefrom, as will easily appear to