Fallacies of the faculty, with the principles of the chrono-thermal system of medicine : in a series of lectures originally delivered in 1840, at the Egyptian Hall, Piccadilly / by S. Dickson.

  • Dickson, Samuel, 1802-1869.
Date:
1843
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Fallacies of the faculty, with the principles of the chrono-thermal system of medicine : in a series of lectures originally delivered in 1840, at the Egyptian Hall, Piccadilly / by S. Dickson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.

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    monkish institutions—the College of Physicians. Railroads, steam-boats, galvanism, and gas, have all come to light within the last half cen- tury. A revolution in thought and action has been the result; petty objects have given way to comprehensive views, and petty interests have been destroyed by the general improvement that has already been accomplished. Is Medi- cine the only branch of human knowledge destined to stand still, while all around it is in motion? Is the march of intellect to sweep on and on, and leave behind it this so-called science, untouched and unimproved in its pro- gress ? When the monarchs who have succes- sively wielded the medical sceptre—who each in their day were looked upon as demigods in physic, have in turn declared that all that they knew of it was that they nothing knew,” shall blame be attached to him who would attempt to rescue his profession from this worse than darkness visible ? If, by their own confession, the Knightons and Baillies were ignorant of the first principles of correct practice, surely it were but charitable to suppose that men so intelligent and sagacious on most other matters may, in this instance at least, have pursued a deceptive mode of investigation? Like the racer on the wrong road, how could they in that case get to the end of their journey? Pursuing their professional studies chiefly in the dead house, these physicians forgot that medicine has no power over a corpse. Gen- tlemen, the reflections which I shall have the honour to submit for your consideration, were the result of observations made on the ever- shifting motions of the living. Who will tell me that this kind of study is only proper for medical persons? Who shall say that this description of knowledge may not be made interesting to the world at large ? Greek, Latin, High Dutch, and Hebrew,—are these repetitions of the same signs more im- portant than an enlarged knowledge of the sense—moYQ instructive to those who pursue them as a study, than a consideration of the revolutions and constantly changing relations ■ of the matter of their own bodies ? Without a proper knowledge of the laws of your own organization, how can you possibly put in practice the Greek maxim, “ Know your- selves?” Having premised this much, I now come to consider-in detail the phenomena of Intermittent Fever or Ague ; for ague being the type of every other modifica- tion of disease, it is necessary you should be well acquainted wdth its principal symptoms. I have already told you there can be no disease, no morbid motion without change of temperature. The subject of ague, then, among other sensations and changes, succes- sively experiences a Chill and Heat, fol- lowed by a profuse Perspiration. These three stages, commonly called the Cold, Hot, and Sweating stages, constitute the Paroxysm or Fit. The patient, during each stage, is consequently in a diflerent condition of body from either of the others; his sensations, moreover, differ during each of them. To the state of Perspiration, which terminates the fit, an Intermission, or interval of comparative health, succeeds; and this interval of immunity from suffering usually lasts one, two, or more days, (giving rise to the terms tertian^ quartan^ and other agues, according to the interval of duration), before the recurrence of another similar fit;—such fit generally making its inva- sion with a wonderful degree of exactness at the same hour of the clock as the former, and lasting about the same time,—when it is again followed by a similar periodic intermission of the symptoms as before. In all the stages of the fit, every function of the body is disturbed— some more, some less. During the cold stage, the face becomes pale, the features shrink, and the muscles are tremulous or even spasmodic: the patient, in other words, shivers, has cramp, and his strength is prostrate. The breathing and circulation are variously altered,—his urine, if he passes any, is generally pale and plentiful, and his other secretions are similarly changed in quantity and quality. The senses and mental powers are for the most part de- pressed, or even curiously vitiated, though sometimes they are preternaturally exalted. A gentleman, who was recently my patient, in- formed me, that during the cold stage his intel- lectual powers were more than usually clear, and his sensations throughout highly pleasur- able j he felt as if under the pleasurable feel- ing produced in some people by opium; but