112 THE LAWS OF ORGANIC 



and fatal ; and unless there were some general 

 character of the system favourable to the pro- 

 duction of the disease, we cannot conceive it pos- 

 sible that one-fourth of the population of Europe 

 should annually die of phthisis, as is stated by Dr 

 YOUNG. The exciting causes in civilized life are 

 numerous ; but unless there were a predisposi- 

 tion on the part of the system to the development 

 of such a malady, these causes would not act so 

 extensively as to occasion the most general and 

 destructive chronic disease to which humanity is 

 subject. The general and local means that have 

 in all ages been found the most beneficial in re- 

 tarding its progress, or the most powerful in ef- 

 fecting a cure, have produced their effects be- 

 cause they have universally been such as tended 

 to equalize the circulation of the blood. Gentle 

 exercise of the body, removal to a more tempe- 

 rate climate, sudorifics, emetics, the warm bath, 

 and warm-aired rooms, friction, and the applica- 

 tion of stimuli to the chest, have been recom- 

 mended, and are allowed to be the most effectual 

 in controlling or removing the affection. The 

 action of these is to overcome the morbid inter- 

 nal distribution of the blood, and, by diffusing 

 it more generally throughout the system, enable 

 the lungs to regain the vigorous exercise of their 

 function. 



CXI. The greater number of the disorders of 

 the female are to be attributed to irregularities 



