GENERAL PATHOLOGIC CHANGES 163 



perature tends to retard the growth of many pathogenic organisms. 

 Furthermore, in proper limits it is stimulative to a worn-out and 

 wasted economy. 



Six ounces of Glauber's salts or other gentle laxative will be 

 found beneficial in the first stages of fever. This simple remedy 

 helps to reduce the temperature by emptying the intestinal canal, 

 and by hastening the elimination of infectious materials through 

 stimulating the intestinal gland secretions. Drastic purges should 

 be avoided, as they are likely to set up a diarrhea which may be 

 impossible to control. Various agents, known as antipyretics, are 

 used to reduce the body temperature. They act either by pre- 

 venting oxidation or stimulating the radiation of heat. Among the 

 commonly used antipyretics are aconite and acetanilid, but they 

 are dangerous in the hands of the inexperienced man. The anti- 

 septic treatment of fever is discussed in the section on Wound 

 Fever. 



HYPERTROPHY 



By the term hypertrophy is meant the enlargement of a part 

 of the body. The increased size may be due to either physiologic 

 or pathologic causes. In either case the part or organ involved 

 takes on increased functional activity. An example is seen in the 

 case of a giant, where the condition is general. Physiologic hyper- 

 trophy occurs because an increased demand is made upon the 

 organ; for example, the muscles of a gymnast or the biceps of the 

 blacksmith. The heart shows the effects, especially in horses 

 used for fast or very heavy work. In these the heart is always 

 much larger than in animals not placed under such strain. Com- 

 parison of the heart from a dog with one from a sheep or pig of the 

 same weight will reveal a decided difference, due to their mode of 

 life. If one kidney becomes diseased and cannot function, the 

 opposite is increased to double the usual size (compensatory hyper- 

 trophy); but there is usually no indication of kidney disease ob- 

 servable during life. 



ATROPHY 



Atrophy, the reverse of hypertrophy, is a wasting away or 

 diminution in the bulk of one or more of the component parts of 

 an organ, accompanied by a diminution in function. Examples 

 of atrophy are seen in the thymus gland of young animals, the 

 uterus of old mares, and "sweeny" following injury to the shoulder 

 muscles. A peculiar form of this change is called "senile atrophy," 



