CONSUMPTION. 147 



diseased part when it is said to be organized. Blood 

 vessels are supplied and the healing is permanent; the 

 natural lung tissue is never replaced. Degeneration 

 may cause the tissue to soften and break down liquefy 

 and this may be followed by absorption; i. e., the 

 matter is carried away by the circulation; it may be 

 expectorated, or both. It is by such marks that post 

 mortem examinations demonstrate that consumption 

 has existed in some part of a lung at some time. 



Arteries last longer than lung-tissue, hence they may 

 extend through cavities where the lung is destroyed. 

 These gradually become weaker until during the act 

 of coughing they may rupture, causing hemorrhage 

 and sometimes death. Or the inflammation may allow 

 blood-clots to form in an artery, and the artery may 

 be obliterated before the advancing disease can reach 

 it. This lessens nutrition and hastens the disease. 

 An artery may be weakened where it is in close relation 

 with a cavity. This will cause bulging into the cavity. 

 This constitutes an aneurism. As fast as the cavity 

 increases the aneurism may continue to fill it, until 

 rupture occurs, which results in fatal hemorrhage. 



The pleura, a thin membrane which encloses the 

 lung, may become inflamed, greatly thickened and more 

 or less obliterated by inflammatory adhesions; i. e., it 

 may become attached to the chest wall at one or more 

 points, forming cavities, and these may be filled with 

 a clear, purulent or bloody effusion, the result of the 

 inflammation. The development or first stage is in- 

 sidious or without the patient's knowledge. There may 

 be a gradual loss of flesh f and strength without any 



