f j 



Diagnosis. 93 



ness. Eye, ear and sense of touch, partly unaided, partly aided 

 by instruments of precision and special technical methods (em- 

 ployment of reflecting mirrors for illumination, of instruments 

 used in percussion and auscultation, of methods of mensuration, 

 weighing, thermometry, microscopy or chemical tests) contribute 

 to our power of appreciation of the signs of disease. With ex- 

 perience it is possible that the examiner at a single glance 

 (diagnosis at a distance) may recognize some types of disease, 

 some forms which manifest themselves by sharply marked ex- 

 ternal features appreciable even at a hasty inspection. Other 

 morbid conditions may be more or less correctly conjectured 

 from the information given by some person from his observation 

 of the patient (diagnosis from the aiiaiiiitcsis: ava-ixifj-vriffKO}, to 

 recollect). Both methods are open, however, to serious error if 

 practiced alone, being based on incomplete data and imperfect in- 

 vestigation ; and although practical experience with quick per- 

 ception of frequently observed facts may often arrive at the 

 truth by such methods, only careful objective study will guaran- 

 tee an absolutely certain diagnosis. In order to gain a compre- 

 hensive idea of the pathological process presented, it is essential 

 not only to consider the functional disturbances of one single 

 part of the body, which is apparently the seat of the disease, but 

 to systematically inquire into the condition of every part of the 

 economy and every function. 



(For fuller discussion of these points the reader is referred 

 to Friedberger-Frohner. Lchrhncli dcr kliiiiscJicii Unfersiicliuiigs- 

 methodcn, or ^loller, Klin. Diag. dcr dusscni KraiikJicHcii dcr 

 Haitsticrc. F. Enke, publisher.) 



The art of diagnosis concerns itself, after the proper recog- 

 nition of the symptoms manifested, with the condition of the 

 oreans, finallv reaching a definite conclusion through processes 

 of comparison of the features appreciated with the commonly ac- 

 cepted pathology of known diseases. All possible affections are 

 carefully considered, the symptoms presented by the subject con- 

 trasted wath those of each different known disease, and determina- 

 tion of the aft'ection attempted from the strongest features of 

 correspondence. 



[In systematic study of a given case it is well to follow some 

 routine of investigation. Thus commonly one takes into consider- 

 ation such general features as the age, sex, race or species of the 

 subject, the general surroundings and habits of life and features 



