1086 SYMPTOMS OF INFLAMMATION. 



the conclusion is inevitable, that any obstruction 

 to the free circulation of blood must be attended 

 with more or less throbbing of the affected part, as 

 in all local inflammations. Hence it is, that 

 when the brain has been seriously weakened by 

 concussion, violent emotions of grief, or intense 

 thinking, and the free circulation of blood through 

 it is impeded, there is a throbbing of the caro- 

 tid arteries. And hence also it is, that when 

 torpor of the stomach, bowels, liver, and whole 

 capillary system has been induced by impure 

 air, want of sufficient nourishment or clothing, 

 the depressing passions, &c. palpitation of the 

 heart is caused by a slight degree of muscular 

 exertion, which augments respiration, and rouses 

 the heart to send more blood to the capillaries 

 than can freely pass through them, until stimu- 

 lated by the warm bath and other appropriate 

 remedies. 



The leading symptoms of local inflammation 

 are tumefaction, redness or a livid hue, increased 

 temperature, pain, and more or less throbbing of 

 the part, with a manifest diminution of secretion 

 and nutrition. In nineteen cases out of twenty, 

 it is brought on by the immediate influence of 

 cold,* which retards the circulation through the 



* And it must always be remembered, that the influence of 

 cold is relative to the size of the lungs and general strength of 

 the constitution, that the same temperature which diminishes 

 respiration and the power of the heart in a feeble individual, 



