On the therapeutical action of medicines in dilated conditions of the blood vessels / by Archibald Reith.

  • Reith, Archibald.
Date:
1868
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the therapeutical action of medicines in dilated conditions of the blood vessels / by Archibald Reith. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    of the bloodvessels, the necessary consequence is, that, when the force lias expended itself, the reaction will be proportionally excessive, and the line will fall lower than usual, say to d. The point d, then, will represent inflammation as manifested to our senses by its ordinary symptoms. The condition indicated by the point c, that of excite¬ ment, is often invisible, or at least unnoticed, and can only be pre¬ sumed to have existed from the appearance of the opposite state of reaction. It has not received the attention it deserves, but it is, nevertheless, the primary and essential step of the whole morbid process. Inflammation cannot take place without it, for, as I shall hereafter show, all these causes which induce the inflammatory state, act primarily as stimulants of the vaso-motor system. A very simple experiment will place this in a clear light. If ether spray be directed on the skin by means of Dr Richardson’s apparatus, the effects of the intense cold will be seen by the naked eye. All the symptoms of galvanization of the sympathetic which I mentioned a little ago, are at once observed, namely, contraction of bloodvessels, diminution of blood, and decrease of vital properties, manifested by whiteness and insensibility of the part. When the stimulus is removed, reaction gradually takes place till the parts resume their natural appearance; but it does not stop there. It goes beyond health, and approximates disease. The surface is congested—there is dilatation of the bloodvessels,' more blood, and more vital energy, as increased heat and sensibility, than are found in the ordinary state. And if the cold were applied for a sufficient length of time, stagnation, with its consequences, would doubtless follow. I need scarcely refer to the familiar example of what takes place in the web of the bat’s wing or frog’s foot under the microscope, when pricked with a needle or touched with a drop of alcohol. It has long been known that the first effect of the stimulus is to contract the vessels, to be followed by their dilatation and stagnation of blood. Such is exactly the course of inflammation. Cold, or some other agent, first of all stimulates the vaso-motor system, causing spasm of the bloodvessels. Simultaneously with this, and perhaps in consequence of it, there is derangement of the cerebro-spinal in¬ fluence, and suspension of the concurrent exercise of function among the minute elements of the tissues. Then follows reaction, pro¬ portionate in intensity to the previous stimulus, paralysis of the vaso-motor system takes place, causing dilatation of the blood¬ vessels, with all those local changes in succession which constitute the inflammatory stated In thus endeavouring to explain the origin of inflammation, it is not to be understood that I am underrating the influence of the 1 11 When bloodvessels in the ear and face of a dog are made to contract con¬ siderably by a very powerful galvanic excitation of the cervical sympathetic nerve, we find that, after a short time, they become exhausted and paralyzed, and that, consequently, they dilate as much as when their motor nerve is divided and paralyzed.”—Brown-Sequard, Lancet, 10th March 1866, p. 248, note.
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