392 
INFLAMMATION. 
student cannot pay too much attention to this subject; he will 
find his account hereafter in the credit which a little tact exer¬ 
cised upon this point will obtain for him. Professor Coleman, 
when lecturing upon inflammation, is, I believe, in the habit 
of explaining his ideas, by saying the arterial trunk is acting as 
equal to two, whilst the corresponding capillaries are acting as 
only equal to one, and consequently these minute tubes receive 
more blood than they have the power to dispose of; congestion 
takes place therefore, and inflammation is established. As a 
proof of the validity of his doctrine, that the artery itself, and 
not the capillaries, is the primary seat of the disease, he states, 
that if he were to take a hammer, and bruise his finger, the 
throbbing pulsation would not take place at the part where the 
contusion was inflicted, but in the supplying artery. With all 
respect for the high talents of the Professor, I venture plainly 
and openly to pronounce this reasoning (to use his own words) 
“ shallow and illogicalthe position is altogether untenable, 
and the theory will not bear the test of physiological inquiry, 
neither can it be supported by any acknowledged principle in 
medical science. Its fallacy is so palpable, that I will not in¬ 
trude myself upon the time of my readers by entering into a 
refutation; but will merely hint, that it appears somewhat para¬ 
doxical that the really gifted Professor should apply his remedies 
to that part which exhibits the prominent symptoms of inflam¬ 
mation, when he does not, in fact, believe it to be the seat of 
the affection. 
The symptom of which I have now to speak is redness , and 
sorry I am that we are so seldom able to avail ourselves of its aid 
in our diagnosis; not on account of its rare occurrence (for it is 
an essential character of inflammation), but because it is most 
frequently hidden from our view by the covering of hair which 
Nature has bestowed upon our patients; nevertheless, there are 
cases where it is almost our only guide, as in inflammation of 
some of the mucous surfaces, &c. This redness is of a bright 
scarlet hue, exactly as might be looked for in a part possessing 
an extra and constant supply of arterial blood ; it is most in¬ 
tense at that point where the inflammatory process is at its 
greatest height, gradually decreasing and being shaded off into 
the surrounding sound parts. I need no other proof than the 
simple fact, that in inflammation there is an increased redness— 
bright, arterial redness, to overturn in my mind all the theories 
of congestion, spasm, debility, &c. &c. I cannot conceive it 
possible for this symptom to be manifest under any state of the 
capillary vessels, in which either a smaller quantity of blood is 
sent to them, or a larger quantity sent but delayed within their 
