﻿400 
  DEFENCE 
  OF 
  THE 
  DOCTRINE 
  OF 
  VITAL 
  AFFINITY. 
  

  

  any 
  contractile 
  organ 
  by 
  which 
  it 
  is 
  propelled 
  into 
  those 
  parts, 
  — 
  the 
  most 
  copious 
  

   effusions 
  sometimes 
  taking 
  place 
  when 
  the 
  impulse 
  of 
  the 
  blood, 
  passing 
  along 
  

   the 
  larger 
  arteries, 
  is 
  distinctly 
  feebler 
  than 
  natural 
  during 
  the 
  whole 
  disease 
  ; 
  

   thus 
  we 
  can 
  understand 
  how 
  the 
  blood 
  passing 
  through 
  an 
  inflamed 
  part 
  should 
  

   undergo 
  a 
  change 
  in 
  its 
  own 
  constituents, 
  and 
  how 
  the 
  fluid, 
  which 
  escapes 
  from 
  

   the 
  vessels 
  there, 
  should 
  possess 
  a 
  peculiar 
  composition, 
  and 
  be 
  peculiarly 
  fitted 
  

   for 
  certain 
  vital 
  actions, 
  and 
  thereby 
  for 
  repairing 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  injuries 
  resulting 
  

   from 
  the 
  inflammation 
  itself. 
  Thus, 
  also, 
  we 
  can 
  understand 
  and 
  admit 
  a 
  prin- 
  

   ciple 
  which 
  has 
  been 
  confidently 
  disputed, 
  but 
  which 
  I 
  have 
  long 
  thought, 
  and 
  

   now 
  find 
  to 
  be 
  maintained, 
  as 
  fairly 
  established, 
  viz., 
  that 
  matter 
  exuding 
  as 
  a 
  re- 
  

   sult 
  of 
  simple 
  inflammation, 
  may 
  afterwards 
  degenerate, 
  according 
  to 
  the 
  state 
  of 
  

   the 
  constitution, 
  into 
  various 
  forms 
  of 
  heterologous 
  deposit. 
  (See 
  e.g. 
  Copland 
  and 
  

   Quain, 
  in 
  Medico-Chirurgical 
  Transactions, 
  vol. 
  xxxiii., 
  p. 
  144.) 
  Still 
  more, 
  if 
  we 
  

   regard 
  it, 
  as 
  I 
  think 
  we 
  may, 
  as 
  an 
  established 
  fact, 
  that 
  the 
  vital 
  properties 
  of 
  

   living 
  fluids, 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  solids, 
  are 
  of 
  temporary 
  duration 
  only, 
  and 
  are 
  subject 
  

   to 
  the 
  general 
  law, 
  of 
  increased 
  action 
  being 
  followed 
  by 
  diminished 
  action, 
  or 
  

   accelerated 
  loss 
  of 
  vitality, 
  we 
  can 
  understand 
  how 
  the 
  most 
  important 
  con- 
  

   sequences 
  of 
  inflammation, 
  both 
  beneficial 
  and 
  injurious, 
  should 
  be 
  produced, 
  — 
  how 
  

   the 
  matter 
  that 
  was 
  concerned 
  in 
  it 
  being 
  peculiarly 
  excited, 
  and, 
  therefore, 
  

   quickly 
  rendered 
  effete, 
  should 
  be 
  peculiarly 
  liable 
  to 
  Absorption, 
  which 
  we 
  know 
  

   to 
  be 
  the 
  agent 
  by 
  which 
  its 
  injurious 
  effects 
  are 
  chiefly 
  effaced, 
  — 
  how 
  the 
  

   increased 
  absorption 
  should, 
  under 
  certain 
  circumstances, 
  extending 
  to 
  the 
  ad- 
  

   joining 
  sound 
  parts, 
  effect 
  that 
  destruction 
  of 
  texture 
  which 
  we 
  call 
  Ulceration 
  ; 
  

   and 
  how, 
  in 
  other 
  circumstances, 
  either 
  of 
  peculiar 
  violence 
  of 
  the 
  inflammation, 
  

   or 
  depressed 
  vitality 
  of 
  the 
  organ 
  inflamed, 
  this 
  form 
  of 
  diseased 
  action 
  should, 
  

   by 
  the 
  established 
  laws 
  of 
  vitality, 
  lead 
  to 
  premature 
  death 
  of 
  the 
  diseased 
  

   part, 
  i. 
  e., 
  either 
  to 
  partial 
  Sloughing 
  or 
  more 
  extensive 
  Gangrene. 
  All 
  these 
  

   are 
  facts 
  of 
  the 
  highest 
  practical 
  importance, 
  of 
  which 
  we 
  have 
  explanations 
  so 
  

   far 
  satisfactory, 
  on 
  the 
  strict 
  principles 
  of 
  induction, 
  when 
  we 
  look 
  to 
  the 
  changes 
  

   that 
  take 
  place 
  in 
  inflamed 
  parts 
  in 
  those 
  living 
  actions 
  which 
  I 
  have 
  referred 
  to 
  

   the 
  heads 
  of 
  Vital 
  Attractions 
  and 
  Repulsions, 
  and 
  Vital 
  Affinities 
  ; 
  but 
  I 
  will 
  ven- 
  

   ture 
  to 
  say, 
  that 
  we 
  never 
  shall 
  have 
  any 
  explanation 
  of 
  them 
  consistent 
  with 
  the 
  

   supposition, 
  that 
  the 
  contractions 
  of 
  living 
  solids 
  are 
  the 
  only 
  changes 
  in 
  organic 
  

   life 
  which 
  are 
  truly 
  vital, 
  i. 
  e., 
  dependent 
  on 
  laws 
  essentially 
  distinct 
  from 
  those 
  

   that 
  regulate 
  the 
  changes 
  of 
  inorganic 
  matter. 
  

  

  