20 INFLAMMATION. 



Inflammation may be either acute, subacute, or 

 chronic. It may have suddenly arisen, may be ex- 

 ceedingly violent, and may endanger life; but by- 

 prompt treatment it may speedily disappear, leaving 

 scarcely any trace behind. At other times it may 

 rapidly destroy the part by its intensity. This is 

 called acute inflammation. Sometimes it will have 

 gradually commenced ; — it may never reach any great 

 degree of intensity, but it is evidently doing per- 

 manent mischief: — it is altering the structures, as well 

 as disarranging the functions of organs. This kind 

 of inflammation lasts a long time, and hence is termed 

 chronic. The subacute is a variety not very well 

 defined, but it runs between the two which have been 

 already mentioned. 



The treatment will vary according to the nature of 

 the organ attacked and the violence of the inflamma- 

 tion; but among the successful opponents of inflam- 

 mation when established, are bleeding and purging, 

 although it is a better plan to support the strength in 

 the first instance and thus afford nature a chance of 

 mastering the disease. 



BLEEDING. 



In general inflammation blood should be extracted 

 from a large orifice, and the jugular vein is the most 

 convenient vessel to extract blood from, because it 

 may be readily got at and easily fastened up again. 

 In violent inflammation of any part which has 

 acutely involved the whole system, the practitioner 

 should bleed. The precise quantity of blood that 



