127 



we may at present wJsebLgonsider inflammation as " the localatteinpt at 

 jthe^rppair of I'IPFy-" The fundamental conception upoiT which this 

 characterization is based is that inflammation is an emergency measure 

 incited by injury, in which the body adapts to unusual ends as best it can 

 mechanisms and powers normally maintained for other purposes. 



This view of inflammation, however much it may be modified as our 

 knowledge grows, recognizes a far-reaching significance in the complex 

 processes involved. And while throwing light upon the practical prob- 

 lems of the physician, it points the way to a broader conception of other 

 abnormal conditions in which also the adaptation of physiological cell 

 capacities to new conditions seems to furnish a clew to many manifesta- 

 tions of disease as yet but little understood. ' 



Now that we have gained a conception of the inflammatory processes 

 in general and some clews as to their significance, it does not seem neces- 

 sary to enter here upon a detailed description of the variations which they 

 present, since these are largely influenced by the character of the incit- 

 ing agents and by the situation in which they act. Such details as may 

 fall within the scope of this work are given in the section dealing with 

 micro-organisms as inciting factors in disease, and in the part dealing 

 with the lesions of special organs. 



1 Consult, for a clear and comprehensive view of adaptation in pathological proc- 

 esses, Welch, Transactions of the Congress of American Physicians, vol. iv., p. 284, 1897. 



