THEORY OF DISEASE. 257 



continue uniform, the whole action of the excess of 

 oxygen must be exerted on the diseased part alone. 



According as a single organ, or a system of organs, 

 is affected, the change of matter extends to one 

 part alone, or to the whole affected system. 



Should there be formed, in the diseased parts, 

 in consequence of the change of matter, from the 

 elements of the blood or of the tissue, new products, 

 w^hich the neighbouring parts cannot employ for 

 their own vital functions ; — should the surrounding 

 parts, moreover, be unable to convey these products 

 to other parts, where they may undergo transforma- 

 tion, then these new products will suffer, at the place 

 where they have been formed, a process of decom- 

 position analogous to fermentation or putrefaction. 



In certain cases, medicine removes these diseased 

 conditions, by exciting in the vicinity of the dis- 

 eased part, or in any convenient situation, an artifi- 

 cial diseased state (as by blisters, sinapisms, or 

 setons) ; thus diminishing, by means of artificial 

 disturbance, the resistance offered to the external 

 causes of change in these parts by the vital force. 

 The physician succeeds in putting an end to the 

 original diseased condition, when the disturbance 

 artificially excited (or the diminution of resistance 

 in another part) exceeds in amount the diseased 

 state to be overcome. 



The accelerated change of matter and the ele- 

 vated temperature in the diseased part shew, that 

 the resistance offered by the vital force to the 



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