INFLAMMATION OF THB LUNGS. 
239 
count in the last lecture of its alarming effects when adminis¬ 
tered in a case of bronchitis. We, however, have that which is 
even more effectual, and which never did harm,—the digitalis. In 
the course of twenty years’ practice, I do not recollect a single 
case in which I had cause to repent of the exhibition of digitalis; 
but I have attributed the deaths of more patients than one to the 
incautious use of hellebore. The nitre is a refrigerant and a 
diuretic, and the emetic tartar is a nauseant and a diaphoretic. 
General Care ,—Having determined on the medicine, I think 
of the kind of care which the patient needs. I direct his legs to 
be well hand-rubbed, in order to restore, if I can, the circulation 
to the extremities ; and I direct that comfortable flannel rollers 
shall encase the legs from the foot to the knee. I cover him up 
warm. Can there be a doubt about this? I wish to divert the 
current of blood as much as I can to the skin. I know that 
cold applied to the surface will determine the blood to the 
centre, and cause it still more injuriously to congest upon and 
around the seat of inflammation; therefore I uniformly clothe 
him well. As for air, in warm weather he cannot have too 
much. In cold weather his box must be airy, but not chilly. 
I want to determine the blood to the extremities and the skin, 
but not all the clothing in the world will keep my patient warm, 
if he is placed in a cold and uncomfortable situation. 
Food .—As for food, I think not of it. In nine cases out of 
ten he will not touch any thing ; and if he is inclined to eat, I give 
him nothing but a bran-mash, or a little green-meat, or a few 
carrots. 
Blisters .—I now look about me for some counter-irritant. I 
wish to excite some powerful action in another part of the frame, 
and which shall divert the current of blood from that which was 
first affected. I recognize it as a law of nature, and of which I 
here eagerly avail myself, that if I have a morbid action in some 
vital part, an unusual determination of blood to it, I can abate, 
perhaps I can at once arrest, that morbid action by exciting a 
similar or a greater disturbance in some contiguous and not dan¬ 
gerous part. Therefore I blister the sides and the brisket; I 
produce all the irritation I can on the integument; and in pro¬ 
portion as I do so, I abate the inflammation within. But then 
there are certain considerations which I must not forget. The 
original inflammation may be so intense that it will occupy— 
absorb, as it were—the whole energy of the vital principle. The 
system shall be so oppressed, overpowered, as to be insensible to 
every thing else. Then I must somewhat abate the original in¬ 
flammation by other means, before I can hope to derive any 
benefit from my counter-irritant ; and, more than this, it is pro- 
