796 LARYNGITIS, BRONCHITIS, 



with spasmodic shuddering, pains in the head, 

 back, and limbs, loss of appetite, hot and dry 

 skin, constipation, red urine, derangement of all 

 the secretions, and a general prostration of 

 strength. 



If from any local cause, the membrane lining 

 the trachea or larynx, is weaker than any other 

 part of the respiratory apparatus, the same kind 

 of exposure that induces catarrh in ordinary cases, 

 brings on inflammation of the parts, with an ef- 

 fusion of lymph, by which the free admission of 

 air into the lungs is obstructed, and suffocation 

 produced, as in croup and laryngitis, unless 

 the debility and congestion of the capillaries be 

 speedily removed by local depletion, warm fo- 

 mentations to the throat, the frequent use of hot 

 gargles, warm drinks, the inhalation of steam, and 

 whatever tends to equalize the circulation, restore 

 the action of the lungs, and bring on perspiration. 



If from any cause, the capillaries of the lungs, 

 bronchi, or pleurae, are in a weak state, the same 

 exposure induces congestion and inflammation, 

 followed by the effusion of serum, lymph, and 

 sometimes red blood, by which respiration is im- 

 peded, and sanguification greatly diminished, as 

 in pneumonia, bronchitis, and pleurisy.* If at 



* We have seen that asthma is five times more fatal in England 

 and Wales during winter than summer. In a very large majo- 

 rity of cases, respiration is so far diminished, owing to an ob- 

 structed state of the lungs, that the temperature of the body is 



