An inaugural dissertation on the dropsy : read and defended at a publick examination, held by the medical professors, before the Rev. Joseph Willard, S.T.D. president, and the governors of the University at Cambridge, for the degree of Bachelor in Medicine, July 3d. 1795 / by William Dix, A.M.

  • Dix, William, 1772-1799
Date:
1795
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: An inaugural dissertation on the dropsy : read and defended at a publick examination, held by the medical professors, before the Rev. Joseph Willard, S.T.D. president, and the governors of the University at Cambridge, for the degree of Bachelor in Medicine, July 3d. 1795 / by William Dix, A.M. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

    26/40
    [ « ] phragm and abd. mufc. facilitates the expel- ing of air, the diflodging of any offending or extraneous matter, and the cure of difeafe.— Though not fecured by bones and cartilages, it fortunately pofTefTesan elaftic property, the advantage of which is evidenced in a variety of inftances j viz. difeafes of the liver, inflam- mation, geflation, Sec.—From whatever caufe the abdomen is over difTended, the veflels of the peritonaeum may lofe their elaf- ticity j or a rupture of their coats be produc- ed, and dropfy enfue. Thefe veffels be- ing much thinner than thofe of other parts, become the foonefl affected, and fuffer more from debility. The abdomen being the leafl fortified part; its mufcles poffefied of a lefs degree of firmnefs ; the thin and delicate texture of the peritonaeum, all unite in rendering it more liable to relaxation and difeafe : And thefe are moil: probably the principal reafons why this fpecies of dropfy more frequently occurs. The ufe of liquids in this difeafe, whether beneficial or detrimental, has been a point unfettled