TREATMENT OF INFLAMMATION. 179 



to be visible under the microscope, when a minute 

 quantity of some irritating substance is applied to 

 the transparent structures of any animal. In this 

 case, however, as the obstruction is produced through 

 the action of an irritant on the vital properties of the 

 contractile tissues, the resulting pathological state is 

 termed inflammation. Whereas, if the same physical 

 phenomena followed the application of any purely 

 mechanical cause of obstruction, such as pressure, or 

 the ligature of a vein, the morbid state produced 

 would, I presume, then be considered an instance of 

 mere congestion. But as the ultimate effect of both 

 classes of causes is the same, the only difference 

 being that in the one case the local disorder of the 

 circulation is a direct and immediate, in the other an 

 indirect and secondary, consequence of their applica- 

 tion, I cannot acquiesce in Dr. Williams' views on 

 this point, nor can I perceive, in the circumstances 

 dwelt upon by him, any adequate ground for regard- 

 ing inflammation and congestion as two distinct dis- 

 eases. For that increased motion of the blood in the 

 surrounding vessels is a purely physical phenomenon, 

 explicable on common hydraulic principles, and re- 

 sulting from the additional force imparted to those 

 columns of blood by the constant rush or flow 

 through the anastomosing channels of the fluid pent 

 up and accumulated in the vessels leading to the 

 obstructed capillaries. 



It being thus, I think, rendered evident that in- 

 flammation and congestion are but two forms of the 



N 2 



