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" As all the vital functions are performed immediatel y by the organic nerves , and mediately through the capillary vessels ; and as derangement of these svstems are the proximate causes , or material conditions of diseased action ; to rectify this derangement , to restore their lost energy to the nerves and to the capillaries , is the final end and object of all remedial agents . All drugs and medical therapeutical resources whatever , infinite as they are in number and modification , are reducible in their ultimate action to the simple and unique object of increasing the tone of the nerves and capillaries . This result remedies produce bv their action either as stimulants or
sedatlVfiS " All the complicated divisions and subdivisions of the Pharmacopoeia resolve themselves finally into nothing more or less than these two grand classes of agents , namely stimulants and sedatives ( if indeed the primary action of all remedies is not stimulant , and the secondary result sedative ) . The effect of stimulants is directly to call forth , in diversified ways , a temporary or permanent increase of nervous energy . The effect of sedatives , as bleeding , derivation , purgatives , emetics , diuretics , diaphoretics , and evacuants of all kinds—with the more or less prolonged application of cold—is to diminish capillary tension , to equalise the general circulation , and to remove or diminish that general excitement of the heart and arteries by the continuance of which local inflammation may be produced or prolonged .
" It is the inemcacy of drugs fully to accomplish these ends , that increases their number , and necessitates their change . If any single drug or remedy could be produced , at once easy of access and simple of control , and which should safely and efficiently bring about these two grand objects of stimulation and sedation , either singly or combined , according to the necessities of the case—then a valid substitute would be found to supersede the exhaustless and oft poisonous compounds of the Pharmacopoeia . Beyond all controversy pure cold water makes good its claims in this respect . According to the mode and dose of administration , its action is preeminently sedative or stimulant . No single medicine or combination of medicines can compete with it either in power , certainty , or safety of action .
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BOOKS ON OUR TABLE . The World and its Workshops : A Critical Examination of the Fabrics . Machinery , and Works of Art contained in the Great Exhibition . By Jamea Ward . Second Division . ^ ^ ^ The second division of this lively description of the Exhibition and its contents , embraces the sculpture , wood-carving , designs and decorations , painting on glass , paper - etaining , cabinet - work , p ianofortes , papier-mache , pottery and porcelain , silks , printea fabrics , carpets , &c . The exposition is familiar aria unpedantic . In his account of the sculpture , Mr . Ward's criticism is occasionally instructive ; as , lor instance , in his remarks on the " Amazon , " the error of the artist in making the horse ' s ears thrown bacK to signify terror is pointed out . But the critic misses the defect of that group—viz ., in the Amazon herstlt , whose muscles are not in the state of tension whic £ accompanies the act of will . Mr . Ward ' s little dook is a good shilling ' s worth . Man and his Migration * . hy II . J . Lathum , M . l > - t-Dr . Latham in -well known as an ethnologist , und al he writes deserves respectful attention . The preaen little volume- in a reprint of a course of lectures < ^ livered at the Mechanic' Institution of Liverpool , during the present year ; but it is rather a di " 0011 " on general points than a popular exposition of rcau The Elements of ( Grammar taut / ht in English with Question * - Hy the ltuverciul Edward Thi'iiiir , M . A . ¦ <¦„ Mttcmilliui uixl t ><> - A clear , useful little work , intended for twlcll ^ mind with the princiles of grummar so an to ><•
p , great advantage in the study of all other langui " , - On tho delieato queHtion of shall and «»«» . uU ( j Englishmen , use correctly , an by instinct , lrisl ^ ^_ Scotch incorrectly , an by instinct , Mr . 'Inrm { \ iI 1 ( , deavoura to lay down a decisive rule . In H l ' . ^ . of yourself , your own " will" you uro certain ol ; «• ' auxiliary exprensing " will" in therefore tho att ' ' J word . In speaking of uny other but yourself , „ necessity or obligation from without , not hi » ' * " * i ' is what you are most certain of ; therefore , auxiliary expressing conviction of neceaaity or oouj
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" Before being able to establish sound therapeutical principles for the safe and scientific employment of water in the treatment of diseases , its p hysiological and pathological effects must first be ascertained , — the laws of the operation of cold on the living organism attempted , at least , to be deduced ; and those morbid conditions of the body then determined which indicate or contraindicate its various aid . This knowledge can al me enable us to employ with intelligence and succors the varied powers of water , to appreciate its diversified grades of action , and to multiply our curative resources , in knowing how to fulfil with one unique a"ent a multitude of indications .
" 1 . Physiological and pathological effects of the cold bath : —In the outset of this inquiry it is necessary to premise , that hot and cold are merely relative terms . Individual susceptibility or sensation is the only true physiological criterion of hot or cold . The gradations of the thermometer are false guides . The distinctions of cold , cool , tepid , warm , hot , as applied to baths , afford no accurate data for the calculation of their effects : what is cold for one person is tepid for another , or for the same person under altered circumstances of bodily temperature or temperament what \ h hot for one is only tepid for another .
" We now inquire into the effects of water at that temperature that produces the absolute sensation of cold , or -what is uwually understood by shock . The sudden application of this degree of cold to the Hiirface of the bod y determines an instantaneous change —a vivid impression on the nervouH centres : probably the moat powerful and momentarily pertuibative physical sensation that can be experienced : ( superficial heat is abstracted ; the capillary vessels , glandular orifices , and minute arteries and veins of the Hurface , are constringed ; exhalation is suspended . If the immersion be but momentary , the blood in not driven into the interior organs , and no accumulation or congestion taken place : the constriction of tho Huperiiciiil vessels is shared by tho . se deeper-Heated .
. But if tin ; bath be prolonged for a ivw ( minutou the blood in repelled from the surface , and accumulates in the larger vessels of the interior ; the skin Bhrinks and becomes pale . The results of these elnmgeH effected in the . system are a keen Hensation of cold , shivering , trembling of the limbs ; uneasy weight of chest ; difficult ., incomplete , and gasping respiration ; the pulbc ; is diminished in frequency and force ; and the animal temperature is lowered by a few degrees . Up to this point all the organic functions are temporarily ( lepieM . scd ; the duration and intensity of this depletion an ; in relation to the severity of the cold and prolongation of the contact , the power of { rimerating uuiiual heat , the constitution , predinpoHition , temperament , and habits of the individual .
"This first aeries of p henomena in now succeeded by those of reaction : the shock and unpleasant hciitmtion Biilmide by degrern , mid give place to others of » u agruoublc nature—to tt general glow of heat which perviulcb the whole frame ; tho blood returns to the
surface j the skin reddens and dilates ; the circulation is more energetic ; respiration is easy ; the animal temperature elevated ; the exhalation free ; increased nervous power is elaborated ; every organic tissue shares the impression ; the entire system becomes preternaturally excited ; all the functions are exalted ; the whole body is buoyant with recruited energies ; and the mind and spirits partake of the general exhilaration . This energetic reaction takes place in the water , only in the case of the m ore vigorous subjects , and when muscular exercise is use in the feebler it takes place only after very transitory contact . In
all cases , if the immersion be unduly prolonged , the feeling of warmth and vigour more slowly or rapidly decreases ; chattering of the teeth , convulsion , trembling , numbness of the extremities , languor , and exhaustion ensue ; secretion is suspended ; the pulse flags ; the features sharpen ; the eyes sink ; the nose and cheek-bones point ; the fingers and toes become bloodless and shrunk ; painful constriction of the head and chest occur ; the senses fail ; the mind is stupified ; delirium or convulsions ensue ; the limbs become rig id ; and the individual sinks into the sleep of death , unless relief be at hand .
** The intensity of these phenomena , and the struggles of the circulation to counteract an influence which rapidly exhausts the vital principle , are in relation to the mental and physical energies of the subject , the severity of the cold , and the duration of the
contact . "In patients rescued from this state , and in those wherein the prolonged cold stage of ague , or the collapse of cholera , has produced severe internal congestions , the reaction , when it supervenes , is proportionably intense , is morbid , is a veritable fever . " Individuals who habituate themselves to the use of the cold bath , by degrees are obliged to increase the length of the immersion or the severity of the cold , before reaction ensues . But when it does occur , it is stronger and more permanent . * ? * * * * " The effects of the impression of cold are widely opposite , according as it is prolonged or transitory .
" When the operation of cold is prolonged , that is , when heat is abstracted more rapidly than it is produced , in the whole or in a part of the body , cold is a sedative . It first depresses , and , if continued , extinguishes the vital manifestations—exhausting that sensibility and irritability of the organic structures , which is the exclusive endowment of life , and the condition indispensable to the healthy performance of their functions . The intrinsic operation of cold , therefore , is sedative .
" The sedative power of cold is primarily exerted on the nervous centres . It blunts sensibility ; and , by diminishing the afflux of blood to the part whereon it acts , by constringing its capillaries , and making them propel onwards their contents , it takes off the vascular tension that keeps up nervous irritation . It thus removes , or prevents from , accumulating , the first material conditions and elements of inflammation . No other known means effect this so efficaciously or so promptly . Cold , therefore , by the justest title , establishes its claim as the best Antiphlogistic .
" The sedative effect of cold is in direct proportion to the inability to generate animal heat , the lowness of the temperature , and the duration of the exposure . " When the application of cold is transient or brief , it is a stimulant . It augments the sensibility and irritability of the tissues ; exalting the vital principle ; developing organic activity ; increasing nervous power and vascular action . This stimulant effect is an indirect result of the operation of cold ; and is the exclusive effort of the conservative powers of the economy to repel an invading foe—a principle whose unchecked action is destructive to life . This counteractive organic effort its called Reaction .
" Reaction is , caiterin paribuu , in direct proportion to the coldness of the wat « r , the suddenness and duration of the immersion , the vigour of the circulation , and the heat of the surface and extremities at the moment of contact . " The excitement or increiiKcd action produced hy drugs is a premature and factitious using up of the energies of the frame , at too great an expenditure ol its vital endowments—irritability and sensibility ; a proportionate languor and exhaustion , ' or collapse , always follows . The stimulus of water produces a permanent exaltution of tho vital energies , without any subsequent collapse . " Much if not most of the benefit of the stimulant
power of water lies in the shock of itn sudden application—the instantaneous and vivid impression made on tho nervous centres by the cliange effected on so large a surface as that of the body—and the energies ol the entire organism which an ; thus aroused . " Tho ex < ito-motory , or npinal system , is the medium of this impression , and the route along which the increased energy of tho nervous centres diffuses itself in increased contraction of the muscular fibres . Hence cold , applied to tho luad or spine , equally lulls morbid sensibility , or nrrests haemorrhage , in a distant part , us when applied to the seat of the affection . Hence the power of strong nervous impressions in ayncope and asphyxia , whether applied at the nervous centrea or the extremities . Tho actions denominated sympathetic are referred distinctly and
accumulates in the larger vessels of the interior and the circulation is weakened . Reaction is more ' slow to ensue ; but it is stronger and more permanent In proportion as the impression of cold is continued bes yond this point , that is , when it is too great and too prolonged relatively to the constitutional powers the internal congestions augment ; Ineffectual struggles at reaction ensue , ending in exhaustion , torpidity , and death . The sinuses of the brain , and the large veins and viscera of the chest and abdomen , are found gorged . "
exclusively to the spinal marrow . Qre 7 ~ n 2 matter , wherever situated , elaborates » ervn » o « ^ The ganglia ( centres of grey matter and sonr ?* *; power ) form a beautifully connected chain th 1 ? out the body , subservient to excito-motorv S The spinal marrow is but a chain of ganglia on < " If the impression be momentary or brief and tl , vital powers not previously sunk too ' low th 2 and large vessels react on the severe constriction + W for an instant paralyzes their functions * and creased vigour of circulation , and development ^ animal heat and power , ensue . But if the immersion be a little more prolonged , this constriction increase to congestion : the blood repelled from the surfacp
Nothing , perhaps , would more astound an ordinary person than to propose the application of cold water in a case of raging fever- —the great object always being to keep the fevered body warm . Yet , in support of the Hydropathy practice , and in illustration of the effect of cold , we will cite an anecdote Mignet tells of the celebrated French physician Broussais .
Seized with a violent fever at Nimeguen , Broussais was attended hy two of his friends , who each prescribed opposite remedies . Embarrassed by such contradictory opinions , he resolved to follow neither . Believing himself to be seriously in danger , he jumped out of bed in the midst of this raging fever , and almost naked , sat down to his escrutoire to arrange his papers . It was in the month of January ; the streets were covered with snow . While thus
settling his affairs the fever abated , a sensation of freshness and comfort suffused itself throughout his frame . Amazed at this result , Broussais , like a bold theorist as he was , converted his casual forgetfulness into an experience . He boldly threw open the window , and for some time inspired the cold winter air that blew in upon him . Finding himself greatly benefited , he concluded that cool drink would be as refreshing to his stomach as cold air had been to his body . He deluged his stomach with cold lemonade , and in less than forty-eight hours he was well again !
The Hydropathists ought to thank us for the anecdote : they will see in it a direct confirmation of their principles .
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972 Cft * ULtmtt * [ Saturday ,
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 11, 1851, page 972, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1904/page/16/
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