General observations on the elimination, catalysis and counter-action of poisons : with especial reference to oxaluria and ague / by J.A. Easton.
- Easton, J. A. (John Alexander), 1807-1865.
- Date:
- [1858?]
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: General observations on the elimination, catalysis and counter-action of poisons : with especial reference to oxaluria and ague / by J.A. Easton. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.
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![bonate, if present, would very soon be broken up and disappear under their influence. It may be objected to these views, that they are theoretical rather than practical, savouring too much of the chemical mate- rialism which many regret is ])revailing so extensively in the medical literature of the day, and 1 am quite prepared, conse- quently, for a large amount of ridicule, and of sneering at the absurdity of resorting to chemical equations aiul blackboards for the elucidation of pathological and tlierapeutical changes. It is at all times, however, more easy to ridicule than to refute; and though our attempts to arrive at truth may be often unsuccessful, it is better, I maintain, to make tliese attempts than to plod on in miserable routine, without being able to assign any reason for the course we are pursuing. Better, surely, to give some reason, even though it be a wrong reason, than to give no reason at all! At the same time I need scarcely add, that we should not dog- gedly cling to a theory which has been proved to be wrong, but should instantly abandon it in quest of a better. An objection of some weight, however, may be urged against the pathological views which have now been advanced, on the ground, that, assuming them to be correct, they refer merely to an effect, and not to a cause. The oxalate of lime, it may be said, is not the disease, it is merely a sequence of some antecedent morbid con- dition, and the rational practice would be to alter that condition, and then there would be no such sequence at all. Now, I am not sure that we should greatly err if we affirmed, that, in those cases of oxaluria of which neuralgia is the prominent symptom, the oxalate of lime is in reality the immediate cause of the pain which is felt. It will not be considered improbable that the calcareous salt may be deposited in the neurilemma, and if it be, pain of necessity will be produced in the nerve with which the foreign body is in contact. We know that the presence of urate of soda in the several structures of joints, including even their cartilages and bursas, is the chief cause of the sufferings of the victim of gout, and there is no reason why a similar result should not follow the deposition and imperfect elimination of the oxalate of lime. At the same time I readily admit, that he who is imbued with that spirit of philosophical inquiry which ought to animate every member of our profession, will not rest satisfied with the mere knowledge that oxalate of lime is present, but will try to find out why it is present, whence it has come, and what is the precise nature, and what the signs, of that antecedent constitutional error which has generated the abnormal product. In the course of these remarks I have more than once alluded to the fact of uric acid being in excess in the blood of those who are suffering from gout, and I have also spoken of that excess as being the result of actual over-production, of deficient renal elimination, or](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21478818_0011.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
