The star of the north. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1849-1866, 1856-08-20
NUMBER 81.

temperature of this fluid often rises TO l06e,
or even more, and this degree of heat is Of
ten manifested in the tissues that are the
seat of inflammation. Through the circu-
lation, the animal heat generated in the lungs,
is transmitted to every part of the body, and
if an unusual quantity of blood is sent to
any particular locality, the temperature Of
that part is increased in a corresponding ra.
ito: but this temperature never can exceed
that of the scource from which it is derived.
The pain of inflammation seems to be en-
tirely dependent upon the amount of COM
preston .exerted upon the nerves ofthe part
by the unusual fullness of the blood-vessels
and tissues of that locality. Hence in the
more dense and inelastic tissues, the pain
| accompanying inflammation is, cGteris par.
ibus, much more severe than in the muscu:
lar and more elastic structures of the body.
An naamed tendon is much more pain.
! full under an equal am5hnt contamination,
than a muscle, because the latter structure,
more than the former, yields to the pres
| sure applied. The tenderness or extreme
sensibility of the inaamed part when pres
sure is applied, is in a great measure the
result of the same condition. the pressure
increases the compression, and consequent
| ly the pain. 1t is but another turn of the
screw of the vice that is already compress.
| sing the intervening finger to very painful
| degree. That there is an exaltation of flnc:
tion in the nerves of the part, we do, and
have heretofore admitted, in the beginning
OF this chapter, and is it not reasonable that
this should occura lrritability is vital
property of nervous matter, and this prop
erty may be excited far beyond its normal
exhibitions by the continued application of
an irritant, as is the case in the condition
under consideration. Apart from the con-
tinued irritation applied 10 the NERVES Of, an
inflamed part by the compression to which
they are subjected, it is not an unreasona-
BILE inference that the increased flow of
blood through The uninjured and unobstuct.
ed vessels OF the inf1amed vicinity, should
impart an increase in the nutrient matefinf
OF the nervous structure whereby its natural
function is increased. Simon, general pa!
| thology p. Boy tells us, that; s'the use of an
organ, in proportion as il is intense and long
continued, occasions an additional abund-
ance of developmental blasterna to exist in
that organ, as is evidenced by the greater
rapidity with which the elements of the or,
! gan are reproduced.o s.si ,
Another OF the symptoms of i9fainpa.
ton, and one which perhaps requires a more
extended analysis is that of swelling. This
phenomenop depends also in great degree
upon the unusual distenson of the vessels
OF the infiamed part. If all the blood yes.
sells with which an infamed locality is sup
piled are filled to their utmost capacity,
swelled out, enlarged, this must give an in
crease of bulk to the whole part in which
the condition obtains. Blu, much of this
phenomenon is the result of another change
which is of great interest and importance I'd
the student of pathology; refer 10 that of
efusion. 1t is well established physio-
logical fact that the different tissues of the
body are nourished from the blood by sys;
tenn OF capillary exudation in which the nuI
TRENT material passes through the delicate
coats OF the capillary vessels. Says the
author last quoted, (same book, p. 81, } "If
the capillaries did not suffer this certain
quantity 10 trausueio for ieeding the parts to
which they are distributed, then the circula-
ton would be fruilless performance; the
blood might as well be in bottle. You
may say of all growing parts of the body
that their elements lie in an atmosphere Of
fluid material derived by ,ransudation from
the capillary od-vesses-material con-
stantly renewed from the same source, and
possessing all the characteristics of the orig
inal fluid, (.e. of the liquor sanguinis,) with
no other differences than those of varying
concentration" oF31 ps sta
In inflammation this transudaiion is great
ly increased, owing to the increase of hy-
drosiatic pressure made upon the column of
blood in the capillary vessels by the increas-
ed determination of this fluid toward the
inflamed locality. This increase in the phys.
biological activity of the circulation must be
: followed by corresponding increase in the
natural exudation of the ultimate vessels:
and when the inhammatory action is in
tense, the character of the exudation par
takes more of the more solid and plastic
J constituents of the blood; and the force with
which the circulation is driven to the part
may be so great, as, in some debilitated con-
dition of the vessels, to even rupture their
delicate coats and allow all the Constituents
of the blood to pass into the interstices of
, the tissues. This increase in the nutrient
exudation of an inhamed part fills up the
cellular tissue and angments the phenome-
non Of which we speak 49,
In describing the condition of an infam.
ed part the fluid which find their way into
the interstices of the tissues are by patholo-
, gists generally reckoned a, the result of
effusion But it must be evident ,hst there
can be no effusion, properly speaking, ex-
cept the coats of the vessels are ruptured
| either by the force of the original remote
cause of the inflammation, or by the amount
of pressure exerted by the congestion. The
exudation through the porous coats of the
capillary vessels may be so considerable
as to produce all the symptoms characteris-
tic of effusion, but the product in such a
condition does not contain all the constitu-
ents Of effused blood, and the terminations
| :. L.. f4r