MEDICINE. . 



39 



Prartie*. 



their appendage*, which arc MbMrricnt to the rmnhon- 

 i-aa of the circulation, are liable to become ossified, and 

 rts large arterial trunk* are subject to the tame affection. 

 without iimiminjr the bony texture, the 

 i parti become* rigid and inelastic ; nmr 

 on the contrary, the muscle* that caaipoar the 



tractile power 



of the heart appear tn low their tone or con. 

 , awl are relaxed, so as to admit of the 







I . "i 



beside* theae, there are dim i wit kind* of ma 



in the original construction of die heart, which 

 e with the performance of its appropriate func- 

 The aymptom* that are produced are very va- 

 and often are difficult to be accounted for; they 

 seldom enable ae to predict ia whet state the part* wit 

 be found after death, and even when we have ascertained 

 ..int by dissection, it is not always easy to recon- 

 cile die symptom* with the actual disrasr. A very re- 



i the disproportion between the violence of the symp- 

 tom* produced, and the actual akention in the organ ; 



, 'and finally to prove fatal, that 

 not bren previously indicated by 

 pain in the part, or even by the state of the pulse 

 nave already had iiccasion to remark, that the disease of 



V-. tnr * * lr jii- : ' ' ( r i : -t .1 u i- 



i witn a straclaral derangewMvit of toe valves, 

 or great vancular trunk* contiguous to the heart; 

 on to beliete that many *fntium, 

 I to the long* or the stomach. rigi- 

 from the same cease It MM* be obviow that the 

 cea* of those fries ei ia, for the most part, beyond the 



:,r.- n..f ..t.V (,, .1.. n. .,,-. . . , r, 





tion a* poanblr 



of the blood. Uolaa* there dtoald be any pccuL 



citemom, blaoaW ia not 



adviaombfe a* a (reneral practice, unlea* there* he's* ob- 



traction in the buau, or aoma fatuji of 



for we may remark, that in order to prevent a plethoric 

 state of the irctein, it is much more desirable to avoid 

 repletion of the stomach, than to endeavour to obviate 

 ha elect*. Blister* and issues applied to the chest have 

 been found useful in relieving affections that have cer- 

 tainly seemed to proceed from an organic disease of the 

 heart, and it win therefore be proper to try their ef- 

 fect. As it u so difficult to substantiate the existence 

 of these complaints, we are, for the most part, reduced 

 to the neceanty of prescribing for particular symptoms ; 

 and although in this way we can expect to do little 

 more than palliate, it must be admitted that very un- 

 expected cure* have occasionally rewlted. Cases have 

 sometime* occurred, where every circumstance seemed 

 cmtee nerious organic affection, but where, by the 

 tion of some medicine* that improved the state of 

 the stiasMfh. all the alarming symptom* have vanish- 

 ed, and the patient has regained a state of perfect 



" iui time uuvti v 



that we proposed to 

 In a work nprcady 



\V lt i> theae obaervations we shall conclude the sketch 

 of the principle* of medicine. 

 " for general perusal, we 



have abstained from entering Mia minute detail*, con- 

 vinced a* we are, that popular treatise* of practical 

 medicine are seldom useful and often dangerous. U c 

 have endeavoured to produce a work whicn may mark 

 the present state of medical science, and which may 

 serve a* a baai* for those who are desirous of 

 more minutely into the subject. We have given a 

 ci*e view of roost of the doctrine* which have either 

 produced any considerable effect upon the state of me- 

 dical practice, or which, from their real merits, teem to 

 be entitled to our attention. t '> inan\ }> nt- *t 



The oaly general principle upon which wr < 



to moderate the force of the cirruU- 

 the vital power*; by avosding 

 moUon. by a strict plan of 



*"*****: *** >ia i M 



HefT* 1 AsWfMsMI OWl UM OpMUsMI Of (MHT pt^MtCCVMOTsI, 



our polofj must be that they, in their day, dissented 

 a* ranch from those who went before them ; and if it be 



objected that we have frequently confcased the insuf- 

 ficiency of oar art, and have left many formidable die. 



i- !i u rr|t,\ . th i* HM ( luf <t ;:i-^l,i - v inntl |tri>- 



bably have attained a greater degree of pcrtrttion, if 

 writer* had more strictly confined themselves witliin 

 the limits of experience and correct deduction, and had 

 not thought it mcambent upon them to point out a re- 

 medy for every disease. () 



i ..-. | - 



n, KSW H) v* XIH. d 

 IXDEX. 



IBOM bd.w 39. IB UN prmai TaloaM. 



