INFLAMMATION. 395 
is not a question of much practical importance, therefore I need 
not pursue it further. 
The swelling attendant upon inflammation is referrible to three 
circumstances : First, the increased capacity of the vessels them¬ 
selves, and the consequent increased quantity of blood contained 
within them. This of itself can have but very little effect in pro¬ 
ducing the great swelling we sometimes witness. Secondly, the 
deposition of serum, or coagulable lymph, into the surrounding 
cellular membrane. And thirdly, the cessation, to a certain extent, 
of the function of absorption. The chief agent, however, I ap¬ 
prehend, is the deposition of lymph, or probably of the proper 
secretion of the vessels at first; for their natural action is de¬ 
cidedly increased at the commencement of the affection, 
although the controlling influence, by means of which we see 
each individual tube labouring at its own individual function, and 
producing in the aggregate such exquisite beauty and regula¬ 
tion, is lost, and a chaotic tumour is the result. 
The sensation of pain, as a symptom of inflammation, may in 
a great measure be assigned to the pressure upon the sentient 
nerves, produced by the distended vessels and effused matter. 
But this is not the only cause ; for I think we may attribute it, in 
a considerable degree, to the communication of the excitement of 
the ganglial system of nerves to the sensitive, by means of their 
free anastomoses. In the human subject, the pain has been no¬ 
ticed to be more intense during the diastole of the arteries. I shall, 
however, have more to say upon this point when I come to speak 
of the causes of inflammation. 
Before I dismiss that part of my subject bearing upon the 
assertion of an increased action of the capillaries, 1 must briefly 
mention a few facts, as further confirmatory of that theory ; and 
in so doing I may remark, that the more I bestow consideration 
on those very simple facts, the more am I astonished that the 
subject of inflammation has been shrouded in so much mystery, 
and has given rise to such endless disputes ; for laying aside alto¬ 
gether the satisfactory arguments which may be adduced from 
the first two symptoms, there are other circumstances, daily placed 
before our eyes, which offer equally incontestable proofs of the 
perfectly baseless notions of congestion, debility, spasm, 8cc. 8cc. 
The first fact I shall adduce is, that twice as much blood flows 
from a wound in an inflamed part, in a given time , as from a 
similar wound in a healthy part. To elucidate this I will select 
a familiar example: Suppose a horse affected with inflammation 
of the laminae in one foot only ; from that foot we can obtain 
twice as much blood as from the sound foot in the same space 
of time; i. e. the circulation in one foot is twice as vigorous as 
