THF.ORY OF FEVER. 683 



it follows, that whatever impairs its natural pro- 

 perties, must derange the nutritive process by 

 which the healthy condition of the body is main- 

 tained. Nor is it possible that disease of the 

 stomach, brain, or any other organ, could exist 

 for any length of time, while supplied with an 

 abundance of good arterial blood ; for if the latter 

 be sound and healthy, so must be its products. 



But if its natural condition be so far deranged, 

 that its power of uniting with the solids, and of 

 maintaining the various secretions, is seriously 

 diminished, a portion of the caloric obtained by 

 respiration, that is transferred to the solids during 

 health, and expended in carrying on the various 

 functions, is given out in the free state, or rather 

 accumulates in the blood, causing a preternatural 

 elevation of temperature, and loss of power in the 

 general system. In other words, so long as the 

 balmy vital warmth received in the lungs is em- 

 ployed in combining the proximate constituents 

 of blood with the solids, and in elaborating the 

 various secretions, the temperature of the body 

 remains at the natural standard ; all the functions 

 are performed with healthful regularity, and there 

 is no preternatural or morbid accumulation of 

 heat.* Here then is a key to the whole theory of 



* Similar effects may be traced in the phenomena of nature 

 on a grand scale. For example, so long as the caloric received 

 from the sun is employed in combining with water, and convert- 

 ing it into vapour, which is carried off to colder regions by winds, 



