Volume 1
A system of practical medicine / by American authors ; edited by William Pepper ; assisted by Louis Starr.
- Date:
- 1885-1886
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: A system of practical medicine / by American authors ; edited by William Pepper ; assisted by Louis Starr. Source: Wellcome Collection.
20/1084 page 36
![Anothci- linlc is to be found iu tlie fatty degeueratiou resulting from tlii.s lack of blood. Such a degeneration may have long existed in the walls of a blood- vesselj and yet the individual ai)i)ear in the best of health. The sudden rupture of the weakened wall results iu death or disease. With the manifestation of the disturbances which render the condition of the vessel obvious the individual is said to be diseased. In most instances, however, the morbid process makes itself early ap- i:)arent. Disturbances of nutrition, formation, or function soon become sufficient iu quantity to attract attention from the resulting discomfort, and the presence of disease is then recognized. The latter is thus essen- tially a conventional term, and begins when the morbid processes occasion a sufficient degree of inconvenience. The process is never at a standstill. It either tends toward a return to the ])hysiological conditions, or its course is in the direction of their destruc- tion. As })hysiological processes are absolutely dependent upon the vital- ity of the elements of the tissues, so those which have become pathological cease to exist with the death of such elements. In the dead body there is no disease, although its results remain, and furnish the most efficient means of ideutifyiug the processes which occasioned them. In the study of morbid ])rocesses, therefore, one must appreciate the normal conditions and manifestations of life in the individual. Phys- iological laAvs govern pathological phenomena, and the latter must always be submitted to the tests furnished by the former. Just as little, however, as the study of anatomy familiarizes the student with the anatomical changes resulting fi'om diseased processes, does the study of physiology accustom the student to the features of disease. Pathological processes nuist be studied by themselves and for themselves, although the means which are employed may be the same as those used in physiological research. It is evident that the exactness of method wliich is the demand of the physiological investigator cannot be secured by the pathologist. The material of the latter lies farther, beyond his control. Nevertheless, much of the ground to be gone over is common, and the object sought for is essentially the same—the knowledge of the conditions necessary to main- tain life. In an introduction to the study of disease there are certain jirocesses which deserve early recognition. They are both tlie cause and the result of disease, and may occur in various diseases, either limited to one organ or present in a series of organs. Their ti'eatment at present obviates the necessity of repetition, and prej)ares the reader for the special considei-ation of their occurrence iu the various structures and systems of the body. These processes are named in virtue of some ])romiuent characteristic, and each is made uj) of a com])lex scries of conditions and disturbances. In part, they represent modifications in the circulation of blood and lym])h ; in part, they consist of mitritive derangements, whose conse- quences appear as the various degenerations, or as the additions to the body, the new formations. The processes and groups of processes in question are those included under the following heads: inflanuiiation ; thrombosis and embolism; efliisions; degenerations; tuberculosis; and morbid growths.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b20415023_001_0020.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
