The annual address, delivered before the members of the Hunterian Society of London, on February 19th, 1851 / by John C.W. Lever.
- Lever, John C. W., 1811-1858
- Date:
- 1851
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: The annual address, delivered before the members of the Hunterian Society of London, on February 19th, 1851 / by John C.W. Lever. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.
12/24 page 12
![13th experiment of Cruvcllhier is in my opinion one of the greatest importance, he took a thin piece of wood, and intro- duced it into the femoral vein, as far as the ham, and placed another portion into the external iliac, which he passed as far as the ascending cava, but not content with this he used most violent friction, no evidence of pain was produced, tumefaction ensued and the animal lingered for six days, the whole extremity was infiltrated and the infiltration extended to the thorax of the same side the muscular tissue was in a state of red induration; there was pus in the femoral vein, also in some branches given off from it, but these were in other respects perfectly healthy; the knee joint contained pus, and the epigastric vein was completely distended. In my opinion this experiment of Cruvcllhier is of extreme value, for it proves that not only may the blood be infected by the injection or absorj)tion of vitiating substances, but that the products of inflammation produced by a mechanical cause, mingling or mixed with the circulating fluid are ca]>able of causing simiUir symptoms and lesions. 1 cannot agree in the opinion ex- pressed by some authors, that the symptoms are due to the mere inflammation of the vein itself. John Hunter was im- pressed that phlebitis destroyed life, by the extension of inflammation to the heart; but Mr. Amott’s researches, pub- lished in the Royal Medico Chiriurgical Society’s Transactions have refuted tliis, and further, Bouillaud in 1825, attributed the typhoid symptoms and phlebitis to the admixture of pus with the blood, and proved most convincingly that die symptoms are produced by the vitiation of the circulating fluiii. But, Sir, it will be asked, arc these causes winch can vitiate the blood prevalent in the puerperal condition or state? Most assuredly! Is not the separation of the placenta from the uterus accomplished by a process of avulsion? and the number of vessels rent is by no means smaU; look at the changes induced in the womb itself by pregnancy; estimate the effects produced by labour, and examine the cavity of the uterus after the expulsion of its contents; to use the words of](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b22334750_0014.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
