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most injurious agent when operating very mildly may stimulate function without impairing power.[1]
Active congestion, or arterial dilatation with consequent free flow of blood through the capillaries, is an early and prominent symptom of inflammation of a vascular part in man. Unlike the morbid condition which is produced by the application of irritants to the frog s web, it is brought about indirectly through the nervous system. A striking illustration of this was presented in a case which occurred at the period to which I have been referring. A schirrous mamma had been removed by transverse incisions, together with a considerable amount of integument; and the cutaneous margins had been brought together, in spite of a good deal of tension, by means of a few stitches. Two days later I found the lips of the wound gaping slightly; but the sutures, though subjected to much traction, were still holding; while the skin presented an inflammatory blush extending both upward and downward from the wound, so that it occupied an area of about 4 inches in breadth. I removed the sutures, and I particularly noticed that no blood escaped from any stitch-track. The procedure occupied about two minutes and (to quote from a note taken at the time) "no sooner had I done this than I observed that the
- ↑ It would appear that all agents that act with destructive effect upon the tissues produce suspension of vital energy without loss of life when operating in a minor degree. Whether all such agents are also stimulants of function when in a still milder form is quite another question.
