THEORY OF DISEASE. 245 



This state is called a febrile paroxysm. 



In consequence of the acceleration of the circulation 

 in the state of fever, a greater amount of arterial blood, 

 and, consequently, of oxygen, is conveyed to the dis- 

 eased part, as well as to all other parts ; and if the 

 active force in the healthy parts continue uniform, the 

 whole action of the excess of oxygen must be exerted 

 on the diseased part alone. 



According as a single organ, or a system of organs 

 is affected, the change of matter extends to one part 

 alone, or to the whole affected system. 



Should there be formed, in the diseased parts, in 

 consequence of the change of matter, from the ele- 

 ments of the blood or of the tissue, new products, 

 which the neighboring parts cannot employ for their 

 own vital functions ; should the surrounding parts, 

 moreover, be unable to convey these products to other 

 parts, where they may undergo transformation, then 

 these new products will suffer, at the place where they 

 have been formed, a process of decomposition analo- 

 gous to fermentation or putrefaction. 



In certain cases, medicine removes these diseased 

 conditions, by exciting in the vicinity of the diseased 

 part, or in any convenient situation, an artificial dis- 

 eased state (as by blisters, sinapisms, or setons) ; thus 

 diminishing, by means of artificial disturbance, the re- 

 sistance offered to the external causes of change in 

 these parts by the vital force. The physician succeeds 

 in putting an end to the original diseased condition, 

 21 * 



