OF FEVER AND IX FLA MM ATI ON. 



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altogether to the febrile action which invariably 

 follows the introduction into the system of every 

 kind of contagious germinal matter, and is indeed 

 a constantly attendant phenomenon. 



But fever, as is well known, may be due to changes 

 induced within the organism, and which do not de- 

 pend upon the introduction into the body of disease 

 germs or other particles from without. If in these cases 

 of idiopathic fever there be a poison at all, the special 

 morbid bioplasm must necessarily have been, generated 

 in the organism itself during or just previous to the ill- 

 ness. In the simple feverish state, and in febrile con- 

 ditions induced by the introduction of contagious 

 bioplasm from without, we find the essential pheno- 

 mena identical. These are to be noticed : altered 

 chemical changes, impeded capillary circulation, and 

 elevation of temperature, which is maintained as long 

 as the fever lasts. These phenomena cease when 

 free action of the skin, kidneys, and bowels occurs. 

 By this free action, is effected the removal of a large 

 quantity of imperfectly oxidized compounds which 

 had been accumulating during the continuance of the 

 febrile condition. The escape of these substances is 

 soon followed by complete disappearance of febrile 

 symptoms and return to the healthy state. The most 

 virulent and fatal fevers excited by the introduction 

 of poisonous disease germs into the organism differ 

 from the simple feverish condition only in degree, and 

 in the immediate exciting cause of the early changes. 



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