126 



. There exists in all the parts of the human body, in the interior, as well 

 as on the surface of our organs, vessels whose office it is to absorb, and 

 to carry into the mass of the blood, those substances by which our ma- 

 chine is maintained and kept in repair, as well as what comes off in the 

 continual destruction of our parts; for, it must not be forgotten, that the 

 organized and living machine, inwardly acted upon by a double impulse, 

 is perpetually undergoing decay and renovation. 



XLI. Absorption is effected on substances introduced from without ; 

 such is the absorption from the skin, and the absorption of the chyle, 

 &c. At other times, absorption takes place in fluids effused by arterial 

 transudation ; such is the serosity which moistens the serous membranes, 

 the fat, the marrow of the bones, and this absorption, almost always, 

 bears a proportion to transudation, so that the serosity, absorbed as fast 

 as it is effused on the surface of the membranes which lie in close con- 

 tact, except in cases of dropsy, never accumulates so as to separate 

 those membranes. Finally, there is a kind of absorption, which may be 

 termed nutritive or molecular, because it exerts its influence on mole- 

 cules, which, in the process of nutrition, are separated from the organs, 

 and replaced by others. It is this absorption which brings about the de- 

 composition of organs, and to which John Hunter gave the name of in- 

 terstitial absorption. By means of it, the thymus, so voluminous in the 

 foetus, disappears entirely in the adult. This absorption seems to be in- 

 cessantly going on, and to carry on decomposition, with a force that can- 

 not be resisted. It explains in a satisfactory manner, the spontaneous 

 erosions of the living solids, of which ulceration* is the consequence. 

 M. Dumas has endeavoured to explain in this way, the sensation of hun- 

 ger, which, in the opinion of that physician, is felt when the absorbents 

 exert on the solid coats of the stomach, their activity previously employ- 

 ed in taking up liquids. But to give even a degree of probability to that 

 supposition which is entirely gratuitous, it would be necessary to show, 

 that the parietes of the stomach have been found destroyed or thinned, in 

 persons who have died of hunger. The parietes of the stomach of such 

 perspns, have, on the contrary, been found thickened and in a state of 

 contraction. This inward absorption is promoted by inflammation, hence 

 the advantage of applying heat to indolent tumours, and of exciting a 

 slight inflammation in swollen glands, in order to bring about resolution. 

 It is on that account, that in swelling and induration of the testicle, unat- 

 tended by cancer of the part, the operation for hydrocele by injection, 

 may be safely employed. Of this I had a convincing proof, a few years 

 ago; a gardener, born deaf and dumb, had for some years an hydro- 

 cele, which he was in the habit of getting tapped every six months. 

 When I last tapped it, I found the testicles swollen and hard, and three 

 times larger than in its natural state ; the patient, however, was free 

 from pain. A considerable quantity of a reddish serous fluid was dis- 

 charged; at the end of two days, inflammation of the tunica vaginalis 

 came on, the scrotum became enlarged, and was covered with emollient, 

 poultices. At the end of twenty days, the testicle was a good deal lessen- 

 ed in size, and adhered to the inside of the tunica vaginalis : the cure 

 was considered radical, and proved such; for, though it is now ten years 

 since the operation was performed, the water has not collected, and the 

 patient continues in the laborious employment of his business. I frequent- 



* NosograpUe Chirurgicale tome 1. art. Ulceres ^tomques. 



