francis' cases of morbid anatomy* 533 



The preceding facts warrant the deduction, that the temperament of 

 the patient, and the extreme feebleness of her digestive powers, were 

 the primary causes of the organic disease of the stomach : that repeated 

 attacks of inflammation, and an inert mode of treatment, laid the foun- 

 dation for the uncommon appearances of the liver. Habitual excess in 

 the use of ardent liquors, and acute inflammation, are generally con- 

 sidered the principal causes of those changes which lead to the forma- 

 tion of tubercles of the liver : but the tubercles thus produced vary 

 materially in their character : those that are the offspring of long in- 

 dulgence in spirituous drinks, are, perhaps, in a very great number of 

 instances, of comparatively small size, and the natural bulk of the liver 

 itself is, in these cases, diminished : on the other hand, those tubercles 

 that seem to have been the result of inflammatory action, are of re- 

 markably large size, and often occasion an astonishing increase in the 

 growth of the liver. These facts are strikingly exhibited in the annex- 

 ed plates. 



I have denominated the large white masses found in the liver depicted 

 hi plate second, figures one and two, tubera, conformably to an arrange- 

 ment lately proposed by Dr. Farre, of London, who has furnished so 

 clear and interesting a description of these morbid bodies in his elegant 

 work, the Morbid Anatomy of the Liver.* How far the tubera I 

 have endeavoured to describe, bear a resemblance to the character 

 of the tubera circumscripta of Dr. Farre, is left to the decision of the 

 reader. 



* Fasciculus I. 



