182 FEVER OF TWO KINDS. [BOOK IT. 



the whole class of inflammatory fever ; and this being 

 our principal object at present, let us postpone fur- 

 ther consideration of the pulse until we come to 

 treat of " blood-letting." 



FEVER. 



There are two kinds of well-marked fever, simply 

 so called — -first, that which arises from the pain an 

 animal may be put to by the derangement of some 

 main organ of life, by misusage, hard riding, wounds, 

 &c. ; and, secondly, that which consists in a general 

 inflammation of the blood arising from a cold, a 

 chill, or sudden check, as before described. 



To what is there said, let us here add, that 

 another prolific cause of fever, as well as inflam- 

 mation of the lungs and of the intestines, is ascer- 

 tained to have been brought about by putting horses 

 into hot stables after long exposure to the air, when 

 this is sharp or frosty. An effect that is thus ac- 

 counted for : the suddenness of the change from 

 cold to heat, occasions the blood in the capillary 

 vessels to enlarge, first, {heat occupying space) 

 whereby the blood, unable to get back into the 

 larger vessels, finds its way out of them, and as is 

 seen in the human patient, reddens the part affected 

 by its heat. If this suffusion be general, fever 

 ensues; though the part commonly affected is the 

 respiratory organs — the nose, the throat, gullet, or 

 lungs, sometimes the whole together, and we then 

 term it catarrh. A cold in the head, is the mildest 



