INTUMESCENTIVE. 59! 



the objects of practice ; and many of them, though in some 

 measure discernible, do not seem to be curable by our art. I 

 the more especially avoid mentioning very particularly the sev- 

 eral species, because that has already been sufficiently done by 

 Dr. D. Monro, and other writers, in every body's hands. I 

 must confine myself here to the consideration of those species 

 which are the most frequently occurring and the most common 

 objects of our practice ; which are, the Anasarca, Hydrothorax, 

 and Ascites ; and each of these I shall treat of in so many 

 separate sections. 



SECT. I. OF ANASARCA. 



MDCLXVIII. The Anasarca is a swelling upon the sur- 

 face of the body, at first commonly appearing in particular parts 

 only, but at length frequently appearing over the whole. So 

 far as it extends, it is an uniform swelling over the whole mem- 

 ber, at first always soft, and readily receiving the pressure of the 

 finger, which forms a hollow that remains for some little time 

 after the pressure is removed, but at length rises again to its 

 former fulness. This swelling generally appears, first, upon the 

 lower extremities ; and there too only in the evening, disappear- 

 ing again in the morning. It is usually more considerable as 

 the person has been more in an erect posture during the day ; 

 but there are many instances of the exercise of walking prevent- 

 ing altogether its otherwise usual coming on. Although this 

 swelling appears at first only upon the feet and about the ankles ; 

 yet if the causes producing it continue to act, it gradually ex- 

 tends upwards, occupying the legs, thighs, and trunk of the 

 body, and sometimes even the head. Commonly the swelling 

 of the lower extremities diminishes during the night ; and in the 

 morning, the swelling of the face is most considerable, which 

 again generally disappears almost entirely in the course of the day. 



MDCLXIX. The terms of Anasarca and Leucophlegmatia 

 have been commonly considered as synonimous; but some 

 authors have proposed to consider them as denoting distinct dis- 

 eases. The authors who are of this last opinion employ the 

 name of Anasarca for that disease which begins in the lower 

 extremities, and is from thence gradually extended upwards in 



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