584 PRACTICE OF PHYSIC. 



tainly depends in a great measure upon the fulness of the ves- 

 sels, so when the action of the heart is weakened, there is a re- 

 markable shrinking of the whole external parts of the body ; 

 and as the determination is so readily to the face, the want of 

 it there must be a bad mark. This, in the common language 

 of authors, is termed the Hippocratic face. Hippocrates has, 

 indeed, described the face of persons worn out by a highly col- 

 liquative fever, and it amounts to this, that there is a consider- 

 able collapse of the whole surface, the eyes are flat, the nose 

 sharp, &c. and we find that this when it appears in fever, and 

 when not preceded by the causes of collapse and exhaustion, 

 may be taken as a mark of the weak action of the heart in pro- 

 pelling the blood to the extremities. 



" To this we may subjoin cold sweats occurring about the 

 head and neck, particularly when they appear on the forehead, 

 while at the same time the countenance is pale and the features 

 collapsed ; from experience we know that these cold sweats are 

 a mark of debility, but how they are to be explained is not so 

 evident ; nay, I would have concluded that it is commonly the 

 expression of the increased action. But though every exertion 

 may be considered as a mark of the impulse of its vessels, the 

 matter is not always so, for we know that certain excretions may 

 appear increased from a relaxation of the extremities, while the 

 impetus of the blood is no greater than usual. Whether the 

 excretories every where are furnished with a kind of sphincter, 

 we cannot determine, but where these are more evident, the re- 

 laxation of them does produce a seemingly increased excretion. 

 If we can, therefore, suppose that the extreme vessels are under 

 a considerable degree of atony or debility, a quantity of fluid 

 may be squeezed out, with the smallest degree of force in the 

 large vessels, or even by their contractile power. This to me 

 is the most obvious and satisfactory account with respect to the 

 symptom of cold sweats, which so frequently announces the de- 

 liquium animi itself, especially the cold drops of sweat standing 

 upon the forehead. These, upon the whole, are the marks of 

 debility, as relating to the circulation of the blood. 



" 2. The marks of debility, expressed by the weakness of the 

 Respiration. 



" We may consider the respiration as under a state of debil- 



2 



