A CHAPTER IN TRANSCENDENTAL PATHOLOGY. 661 



is a general assertion that holds good of inflammation in every part of 

 the body, that from the first stage to the last it tends to blend and 

 confuse together, to destroy the distinctive features of the individual 

 structures of the part affected. In the beginning we have infiltration 

 with leucocytes, replacing with cells of indefinite type the muscular, 

 nervous, fibrous, and other naturally well-defined elements of the part 

 affected. Finally, we have every trace of the latter lost ; the definite- 

 ness of structure, its coherence and heterogeneity have gone, and we 

 have in place simply a collection of fluid homogeneous pus. The 

 progress is clearly from the definite, the coherent, and the heterogene- 

 ous, to the indefinite, the incoherent, and the homogeneous. The last 

 part of the definition asserts that the retained motion undergoes a 

 like transformation. This we have partly touched on already. The 

 healthy body contains structures which absorb, transform, and give 

 out force that is, motion in different ways. By the intestinal canal, 

 force stored up by plants and animals is taken into the body. By the 

 lymphatic and vascular system it is transferred from the place where 

 it is taken in to the place where it is wanted for use. By the nervous, 

 muscular, and glandular apparatus it is converted into sensible motion 

 of the organism as a whole, or into secretions capable of setting up 

 various changes in the substances with which they come in contact, or 

 of producing and nourishing a new being. We have, therefore, in 

 the normal organism, motion given out in many heterogeneous forms, 

 each form being definite, and each so related to the activity of the 

 rest that the body forms a whole as coherent in function as it is in 

 structure. When inflammation affects a part, these features of its 

 dynamic activity disappear. Natural function is either lost, or per- 

 formed only in an imperfect way. In place of the exertion of force 

 in ways heterogeneous, but definite, we have the homogeneous molec- 

 ular motion manifested by liquefaction, swelling, and warmth. Defi- 

 niteness of function, as of structure, is lost ; heterogeneity of tissue- 

 changes, as of the tissues themselves, is altered to homogeneity ; and 

 in place of the part fulfilling its function to the advantage of every 

 other part, that is, in a manner coherent with functional activity else- 

 where, it exercises only a perturbing, injurious effect its functional 

 activity has become incoherent instead of coherent. 



The subject is a very large one ; and in the space that we are able 

 to give to it we can not do more than imperfectly indicate the analo- 

 gies which inflammatory changes bear to those of dissolution gener- 

 ally. If our remarks should incite others to follow up the subject in 

 a more exact and comprehensive manner, our object in making them 

 will have been amply fulfilled. Medical Times and Gazette. 



